TakingITGlobal - Panorama - What in the world...

Published on: Dec 13, 2002

Topic:

Type: Opinions

https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=851

In other parts of the world it's summer. Here in Germany, winter is just a few days away. We awaken to icy cold mornings. Some of us would rather turn over and go back to sleep than to have to get up and go out into the cold. After a nice, hot shower and a warm breakfast, it's a bit easier to go out into the cold in order to reach our school, workplace or friends' homes. We spend our days doing what we need to do, or doing what we like and enjoy doing. Evenings are usually spent warm and cozy in a pub, restaurant, at home in front of the television set, reading a book, or surfing through the internet.
Yes, life is usually easy and comfortable here in Germany. Winter is a time of cozy pleasures with little thought of what is going on somewhere else. While skiing down a slope or sipping a hot cocoa with a good book on our laps, it's difficult to think of the young child in the slums of Kenya working to care for his/her brothers and sisters because their parents have died of HIV/AIDS.
Who thinks of the little girls who are - at this moment as I write this article and as you read these words - being circumcised because during the hot December/January weeks the girls have 6 weeks time to heal before returning to school? That is, if they heal; if they live to remember the agony; if they live to experience the pain of sexual contact or childbirth.
Who thinks of the parents who have no idea where to find food for their children - while we are strolling down the snowy streets and searching for the 'just right' Christmas present?
Who thinks of the children dying of HIV/AIDS because someone told their relatives that they themselves would be cured if they had sex with a pure child - while we are singing Christmas songs with our own healthy, happy children?
Who thinks of the hot sun beating down on the hungry, thirsty and sick children - while we are sledding happily down a hill with our laughing family?
Who thinks of all that poverty in the midst of their own riches - and even more so, complains about what they don't have enough of? What in the world are you doing to change a little piece of the world?
Very few of us will ever be able to change the world. All of us could change a part of it though. We can change lives: person by person; child by child; day by day. There are so many ways. We just have to look around us. Leben und Lernen in Kenia e.V. (in English: Live and Learn in Kenya - found here at Taking IT Global) for instance, is constantly changing lives of children - desolate, poverty-stricken children, mainly orphans and half-orphans who live in the slums of Nakuru, Kenya. Live and Learn in Kenya not only finds people who act as sponsors for the education of children that had no hopes of ever going to school, but it is also building a shelter at the Virginia M. Buena Memorial Center for the Needy for these orphans where they will not only live - they will also learn to take their lives in their own hands and learn a trade.
What in the world are you doing? You're reading something that may very well change your life enough to help you change other lives.

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by Brique Zeiner
Published on: Dec 13, 2002
Topic:
Type: Opinions
https://www.tigweb.org/express/panorama/article.html?ContentID=851


In other parts of the world it's summer. Here in Germany, winter is just a few days away. We awaken to icy cold mornings. Some of us would rather turn over and go back to sleep than to have to get up and go out into the cold. After a nice, hot shower and a warm breakfast, it's a bit easier to go out into the cold in order to reach our school, workplace or friends' homes. We spend our days doing what we need to do, or doing what we like and enjoy doing. Evenings are usually spent warm and cozy in a pub, restaurant, at home in front of the television set, reading a book, or surfing through the internet. Yes, life is usually easy and comfortable here in Germany. Winter is a time of cozy pleasures with little thought of what is going on somewhere else. While skiing down a slope or sipping a hot cocoa with a good book on our laps, it's difficult to think of the young child in the slums of Kenya working to care for his/her brothers and sisters because their parents have died of HIV/AIDS. Who thinks of the little girls who are - at this moment as I write this article and as you read these words - being circumcised because during the hot December/January weeks the girls have 6 weeks time to heal before returning to school? That is, if they heal; if they live to remember the agony; if they live to experience the pain of sexual contact or childbirth. Who thinks of the parents who have no idea where to find food for their children - while we are strolling down the snowy streets and searching for the 'just right' Christmas present? Who thinks of the children dying of HIV/AIDS because someone told their relatives that they themselves would be cured if they had sex with a pure child - while we are singing Christmas songs with our own healthy, happy children? Who thinks of the hot sun beating down on the hungry, thirsty and sick children - while we are sledding happily down a hill with our laughing family? Who thinks of all that poverty in the midst of their own riches - and even more so, complains about what they don't have enough of? What in the world are you doing to change a little piece of the world? Very few of us will ever be able to change the world. All of us could change a part of it though. We can change lives: person by person; child by child; day by day. There are so many ways. We just have to look around us. Leben und Lernen in Kenia e.V. (in English: Live and Learn in Kenya - found here at Taking IT Global) for instance, is constantly changing lives of children - desolate, poverty-stricken children, mainly orphans and half-orphans who live in the slums of Nakuru, Kenya. Live and Learn in Kenya not only finds people who act as sponsors for the education of children that had no hopes of ever going to school, but it is also building a shelter at the Virginia M. Buena Memorial Center for the Needy for these orphans where they will not only live - they will also learn to take their lives in their own hands and learn a trade. What in the world are you doing? You're reading something that may very well change your life enough to help you change other lives. « return.