15 minutes of your life

15 minutes is the average time an American primary care physician spends with each patient. In the 2/3rds world where doctors are scare the average time is even less. In 15 minutes you can feed a child and they can actually savor their food. In 15 minutes you can wash your car. In 15 minutes you can bath a child even if they are covered in feces. In 15 minutes you can read the book of Philippians. In 15 minutes you can teach a child to make eye contact with another human being. In 15 minutes you can clean out your e-mail inbox. In 15 minutes you can sing a child to sleep. In 15 minutes you can cook dinner. In 15 minutes you can help a toddler take their first steps. In 15 minutes you can swim 10-20 laps. In 15 minutes you can give an infant a massage that can stimulate brain development. In 15 minutes you can clean your room. In 15 minutes you can teach a child to say your name. In 15 minutes you can land a airplane. In 15 minutes you can teach a child to sing a new song. In 15 minutes you can watch half a TV show. In 15 minutes you can make a child feel safe and secure just by holding their hand. In 15 minutes you can read a chapter of a book. And in 15 minutes, an ophthalmologist can correct primary congenital glaucoma and give a child sight.

Aurel (a Romanian child who I worked with this summer) has PCG too advanced now for surgery. And I cried for 15 minutes when I found out simple it is to correct. The procedure is available in Bucharest. The reason he didn’t get was because he was abandoned and there was no one to take him to the eye doctor.

15 minutes of your life, 15 minutes of your time, if you could do anything what you do?