Lately I have been asked many times, "How can I help?" . " I read your blog, and I had no idea about the sad reality that you describe....I would love to do something ....but what can I do?? I will not change anything! I am useless concerning this big problems....".... WRONG !!
I will share with you some of my thoughts about how to answer this question.
1st) TO KNOW : We will never change anything if nobody knows what is going on.... try to know, look for the information..... share that with as many people as you can!! Open the newspaper in the World section, instead of reading how is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie :) .... Go to the internet, to look for news of the countries that we know nothing about... Ask yourself why the war in Iraq is in every tv or magazine.... and nobody knows that there is a war in Somalia, in Congo, Liberia, etc... ask the media why they dont search for that!! The Media give us what we want.... if we want reality shows, they will give us that.... if we want to know why children are carrying guns, women are being raped, HIV, malaria (it kills millions of children and its so easy to treat), hunger, thirst, etc.... they will give us that... and we dont need to cry about it.... we need to do something and smile about what we did !
2nd) MONEY: No money, no love.... find an organisation that you trust and give money.... There is nothing that can be done without money.... I always had this 1% idea in my mind! 1%...its nothing ...if we give 1% of our income every month we will not feel in our budget and for sure it will make a huge diference .... I have been doing that since I was living from my parents money... I gave 1% of what they were giving me :) .... Think that maybe you dont need a new car... that a 5 stars hotel maybe its not necessary to enjoy the place that you are travelling to, etc.... Think if your luxury is really making you happy ....
3rd) IDEAS: Besides money, we can give our work, our ideas.... its not just doctors that they need in Africa....they need everything!! They need the knowledge that we have from our developed world for sure. It will be very important in many countries.... health, business, law, art, engineering, sports,etc.... !!! They need help in every field that you can imagine....
4th) EDUCATION: In my opinion...much more important than Doctors without Borders would be Teachers without Borders.... It might sound very obvious what I will write.... but instead of treating their patients we should be focusing more in educate them to be Doctors..... Its easier to count the lives that we save when we work in a hospital.... but for sure we would save much more by educating them with our knowledge.... Teach what you know...
5th) ANYWHERE: We dont need to go to Africa to save the world.... There is so much we can do right next to our comfortable lives.... Just open your eyes and choose to see!
Never give money to a poor.... or a pen, or a soup, or whatever.... they will get use to get things for free.... Give your money for a service.... as reward or a payment of something.... Give your money to an organisation that knows to whom and why they are helping.... that gives food to the ones that really dont have, and will try to find a job for them or community service....
These were just some thoughts and opinions of a person just like you....
Yes, there is hope in all of us, yes, there are solutions to these huge problems, Yes we all can help in many ways ....
We all live our lives to be happy..... And Helping will make you really HAPPY!
