I have two sons, and i talked with them last night about what's going on in Darfur. I mainly wanted them to understand that they are fortunate to be born into a life relatively free of suffering AND that its all of our responsibility as human beings to do our best to help others that are suffering. ESPECIALLY children.
I know that the answer to the world's problems is nowhere near as simple as my sons think it is...and besides that, there are so many issues that need our attention. How is one to choose? I mean i care about what's happening in Sudan and Uganda, the plight of the Sierra Leone diamond miners, the continuing war in Iraq, the destruction of our wildlife, i mean the list is too long...far too long. And let's be real here: there's only so much of my time and resources that i'm willing to commit. I'm not going to be joining Greenpeace anytime soon. That just isn't the path my life is on. Now that i think about it, if i'd had this level of social awareness when i was 22 years old, i just might have signed up.
But the whole point of this is just to say that no matter how little or how much time or money we have, every single one of us can help in some way. We can volunteer our time to worthy charities, donate money, attend rallies....anything. If you're reading this, please help.
tags: Darfur, children, Uganda, volunteering
4 comments:
It just seems so simple when viewing the world through a child's eyes, doesn't it?
I think it's awesome that you are educating your children & exposing them to the realities of the world outside their backyard. If more people did the same, we would live in a very different world.
Kudos!
aw thanks, Miss. i'm trying...who knows how much of it will stay with them throughout their lives...
we all believe that there's a limit to what children can comprehend, particularly in a situation as complex and horrific as this. but i wonder if even the child nightwalkers of darfur have the different perspective that we might expect.
there's only so much that experience can accelerate age. in many ways, i'm sure they still view the problems/solutions in ways akin to your own children.
on the flipside, an innocent perspective can often slice thru the artificial scaffolding that a so-called mature mind erects around supposedly complicated matters, obscuring the priority: saving lives.
i doubt that even the powers-that-be could answer your son's request reasonably.
first lemme say how beautifully you write. it flows like the river, man...
i don't think that horrible experience ages the nightwalkers, per se. i think it mainly makes them that much more aware of their own mortality than the average child.
and oftentimes the powers-that-be are wholly devoid of any real power.
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