President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who came to power in June 2014, has
become the first Egyptian President to attend Christmas Mass.
In
an unusual event, attendees were shown on television cheering and
clapping as the President entered Cairo’s Abbasiya Cathedral in an
unannounced event.
In a short speech given during the mass, President Sisi said he was there to wish them a Merry Christmas.
President
Sisi said that the world is watching at Egypt during these difficult
times and urged Egyptians to remain united as ‘one hand.’
Egypt’s
President added that ‘we will build the country together…we will love
each other,’ and ended his speech congratulating Egypt’s Coptic
Community.
Coptic Christmas is held on January 7 each year. The difference in the date is the result of using the Gregorian Calendar.
“One, two, shhhh, she's
counting. Ariel runs, tiny legs waddling across pavement, her chubby
fingers barely able to grasp her daily Pepsi, she runs.
Poison in hand, smile on face, looking for hiding spots, three. Ariel
stops, she takes a sip. She's already consumed 1460 sodas in her
lifetime, she's 5. She runs, inhaling deeply as her lungs try to catch
up with her feet.
Kayla's 35, 4, 5, she counts the lights hanging from the hospital roof
as she's rushed to surgery, they flicker above her as she tries to
remember every memory she's ever had involving her feet, but her mind
won’t let her wander from this moment, this second, this flickering
light, a hush whisper, the last moment she'll have with her feet. She
blames it on her diabetes, as if this disease has a mind of its own.
Doctors blame it on the 4410 Pepsis she’s been drinking since childhood.
Little Ariel can barely spell, she's 6, and knows nothing about fructose
or dextrin but neither does Kayla. Beaten, living in a broken home, she
just keeps trying to find pieces of herself at the end of that bottle.
Ariel only knows the sizzle of bubbles, the aches she feels in her
tummy, the big words doctors use to describe her condition. They tell
her mom that her kidney's are failing, her blood sugar is too high, the
pain she feels that mommy can't fix because mommy's been surviving off
of ramen and sodas because mommy can barely afford to live.
Kayla sits back in her wheelchair trying to look over her stomach but
she can't. She can't see the stumps, the spaces where her feet used to
be, she can't see herself, when she looks at the reflection staring back
at her she's just a person she turned into but she can't stop, bottle
after bottle she can't stop, 6, 7. When Ariel turns 7 they see her dying
behind overstuffed teddy bears and deflated balloons, it was her
birthday. 8, 9, I've heard of death before, but I swear, there's
something foreign about the way it creeps to the lips of a 7-year-old,
10.
Every 10 seconds someone dies from diabetes, and in the time it's taken
me to recite this poem, 15 people will die.”
This haunting spoken word poem comes from The Bigger Picture, an
organization spreading diabetes awareness.
I cried when I watched this video. A frightening reality planted itself
in front of me as I remembered that my own grandmother had passed away
from diabetes almost 20 years ago. She spent her last years injecting
multiple daily insulin shots, in and out of a hospital bed 300 km away
from her hometown. I remember my mother telling me that nan used to
drink a lot of soda.
The implications of a disease are hard to fully grasp unless you or
someone you love has suffered through it. But even more horrifying than
my nan's sole story, is the fact that diabetes is a reality for millions
of people worldwide at this very moment. In America alone, over 29
million people were diagnosed with diabetes in 2012. It stands as the
7th leading cause of death in that country.
Think About The Sugar You Consume
According to these statistics, Americans consume close to 50 billion
liters of soda per year, which equates to about 216 liters, or about 57
gallons per person. That is a colossal amount of sugar. And not just any
sugar, but some of the worst we know of – fructose, in the form of high
fructose corn syrup (HFCS).
Tragically, high fructose corn syrup, in the form of soda, has become
the number one source of calories in the United States, and it is very
clear that it is the primary cause of the obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Soda companies are masters at fooling customers and masking their
products as fun, cool and delicious. Take this commercial for example:
The “Thin Line” spoken poem not only exposes the hard reality about
diabetes, but it also raises attention around the specific
socio-economic demographic who are commonly affected by this disease,
“Nearly 1 in 2 children of color born in the year 2000 will get diabetes
in their lifetime.”
The truth is that most low-income families often end up spending what
little they have on these junk food products because they don't have
access to healthier options. The consequences are heartbreaking and
pretty terrifying. With the ever-increasing cost of living and declining
wages, more and more families are being forced into poverty as the
middle class is being eradicated.
It may seem like common sense for some to stray far away from
high-fructose corn syrup sodas, but a large majority of the population
are not properly educated on the implications of poor nutrition, a vast
percentage of these people being low-income families.
If someone you know consumes soda on a regular basis, be the one to
supply them with the facts they need to know. Soda is an empty, modified
can of death.
Raise your voice today and join the conversation about diabetes.