I heard the story of a fellow islander whose kidneys failed and was medevac to the Philippines for treatment and to get transplants. The story goes on to say that upon arrival at the hospital in Manila, donors were already lined up outside to be screened and hopefully to get a match so that they could give one of their kidneys to the patient in exchange for cash. Luckily for the patient, his bood type or DNA or chromosomes or whatever was matched with one of the donors so his operation was done and he received his new kidney. And also luckily for the donor, he walked away with only one kidney but was richer by several thousands US dollars in cash.
Whether or not the story was true, that is besides the point that I am trying to make here. As one can deduce from the story, each person has two kidneys but can survive or live with only one. As such, some people, especially poor folks such as me, now view the kidney as a valuable commodity that can be sold, exchanged, or traded for money, food, designer clothes, jewelry or used for dowry. It's value is right up there with gold, a Google share, or a studio in Honolulu.
It has become so important that some Chuukese are now thinking of using it to name their kids. Until recently, they only used the names of other important organs for names (i.e., Apple of My Eyes, My Heart, etc.). Just the other day, my friend Masaichy (masai=eyes; ichi=number one)was telling his son J4 that, because he loved him so much, he is going to change his name to "My Kidney".
How about that?
I heard that it now illegal to sell organs and body parts in the PI.
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