The people I
met in Larabanga are truly inspiring. Their vision and drive to make a better
future for themselves and the community of which they are a part is a strong
encouragement that change can happen.
I believe that
everyone is born with the capacity to make a stand for what they are passionate
about and to make changes possible. Yet, in our society people are generally afraid
of the consequences that stepping out can have. When you are in a situation
where people are struggling to survive I suppose your human instinct to help
and prioritise need kicks in and you forget the whole ‘fear of the unknown’
aspect.
We have all seen
the compelling advertisements on television that, accompanied with emotive
music, display images of children with bloated stomachs from extreme hunger,
fetching water from unsanitary sources, living in raw poverty. We are mostly
all guilty of thinking how sad it is yet concluding that ‘I do a lot for
charities and we always give money for comic relief etc’ so are almost
desensitised from the reality of what we are seeing.
Imagine, if
every person who has seen those images had the courage to stand up and say,
actually, this is really not ok that there are so many needs that are not being
met in the world, so many infact, that I have allowed myself to become detached
from reality. Imagine if, instead of thinking how sad it is, each one of those
people were filled with a passion to make a change. To get off their sofas,
make time to raise money, serve abroad or support these people, our extended
community, in whatever capacity the feel able. The world we live in could be
transformed by a mass decision to stand up against poverty.
Imagine if
every single person that was financially, passionately and physically able to
take the question of ‘what if?’ and use it to tackle issues of sanitation for
example. In many communities that are living in poverty around the world the
main killers are diseases linked with poor sanitation. This is not something
that would be difficult to resolve and would make a considerable difference to
the lives of many people.
If Nelson
Mandela had just passively thought about making a change, how different would
things be for South Africa right now? He started off life in the same way as we
did. He was born into the world with no knowledge of anything, as a tiny baby
with the capacity to achieve anything. And he took that attitude and look what
he accomplished.
If the founders
of organisations such as UNICEF, Save the Children and Oxfam had just decided
that actually, this is too large of an issue to tackle, imagine how many less
people would be benefiting from theirs and many other charitable organisations
work. People who really, truly need and rely on this support to survive.
Literally.
If each and
every person worked together using their combined knowledge, expertise and
problem solving skills, along with creative ideas and passionate hearts to
tackle such issues, imagine the larger scale impact this would have. I often
find myself thinking, we are not stupid as a human race. We have all get a
great range of skills and talents within us. Why don’t we join together on a
more large scale more often to tackle world issues?
Yes world
hunger and poverty are massive issues that are not in any means going to be
miraculously overcome overnight. But, this change of mindset could move
mountains in whatever capacity the person, or group of people, choose to focus
on. Imagine the power behind that…
Be encourage
that you have the capacity to make changes. Yes, one person may not appear to
be making a lot of difference. But, if every individual that considers such a
change, wholeheartedly went through with their aspirations, something big time
could happen.
