"I complained that I had no shoes, till I saw someone who had no feet."
Strange Friday night this was. It started with a bit'o drama, as I stumbled upon Superheroe friend's ubber-secret (from me at least) new blog. He had a post regarding that night in Torino and I finally got to see what he really thought of the night and me in general. As I read that, I felt embarrassed, humiliated and disappointed, a whole new world of drama was starting to ensue.
Coincidentally or not, I decided to watch a special edition of American Idol called Idol Gives Back which is a star-studed event, with the purpose of raising money to help children and young people in extreme poverty in Africa and the U.S..
There were many nice performances, and celebrities and fun moments, but what really touched were these segments they showed of real (and tragic) stories in Africa. And suddenly it hit me: here I am, in my comfortable flat, eating a nice pizza feeling sorry for myself for a stupid thing and some opinion of this guy over me on his meaningless blog. Yet, at this precise moment there are people who really are struggling and fighting for survival, people who lost everything in life.
One of these segments showed a lady (or an angel as Bono rightfully described her) who dedicated her life helping other people, orphans in particular, with AIDS. She had already lost her 3 (yes, 3..) children in the battle against AIDS. Watch this:
This next one with Annie Lennox (who also gave a very emotional performance that night) tells of the amazing story of these 4 brothers who lost everyone in their family to the HIV virus. The oldest of these brothers bears more responsibility and faces more pressure than I'll ever know:
So, waking up (safely) in a hospital or worrying about how I embarrassed myself doesn't seem so important anymore, right? And I could keep going, telling about how a child dies every 30 seconds in Africa against malaria and how a 10 dollar mosquito net could save one life, or how 2 dollars could provide medicine to one person for one year.
Yes, our problems are ours and we suffer with them. But still, in our times of "adversity" it's good to remind ourselves how fortunate and blessed we are.
May I suggest you visit the following websites and donate? Doesn't have to be much, even one dollar/euro/pound will make a difference. Reach your pocket. Feel that coin there? You could probably spare that couldn't you? Then donate it and help saves lives.
Spread this to all your friends, and there are so many ways we can help.
Mariah closed the show with a beautiful and powerful performance of Fly Like A Bird. And I think it has a really good message, something to remember in my (your) next difficult time or situation:
2 comments:
That second video is so sad... it does make you think. And pay no attention to that blog post and be happy :)
thanks! and yeah, those videos do put things in perspective...
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