Vulnerable populations & my travels

I have lived and visited many places around the world, but no matter where I go, I can always find individuals or groups of people who are clearly more vulnerable than the rest of the population. A luxurious hotel I stayed at in Malaysia was situated right next to a huge slum…In Bangladesh there were countless numbers of street beggars constantly tapping on the windows of cars passing by…The street children and orphans in Mongolia who rummage through the garbage piles and live in the underground sewers…undocumented immigrants in LA who have no access to healthcare…I would say that the disparities in Japanese society are the least obvious out of what I've seen, but I think they are just better at hiding them away in the corners of society…and then you have New York City…I would say that my four years in New York were the most eye-opening in terms of exposing me to issues concerning vulnerable populations…because everything was so close together on one small island. In Manhattan, it is easy to see and feel the full range of lifestyles people live. All around you there are people who have mental disorders having conversations with themselves on the subway, people in wheel chairs begging on the streets, people who can’t speak English having trouble getting what they need, people who are isolated in little corners of the city (its easy to forget you are even in America when you get deep into places like chinatown), drug addicts, homeless people, dangerous neighborhoods…..all of these juxtaposed right next to 5th Ave, celebrities, rich wall street workers (although debatable right now!), leaders from around the world, the greatest institutions, and the richest neighborhoods in the country. When you see the clear disparities between the extreme rich and the extreme poor and those with easy access to resources and those with absolutely no access to health care or safety…all right next to each other…that’s when you know that something is wrong. So do I believe that vulnerable populations are deserving of help? DEFINITELY. As a public health professional…and as a human…I strongly believe that our efforts need to focus on helping these people in order for them to live better lives…lives that we wouldn’t mind living ourselves. I think everyone has the right to health and happiness and we should work toward this ultimate goal.