What does it take to make a difference?
Yahoo! News - Bono, Gates say rich leaders carry hopes of generation for Africa
I'll be honest: I don't know that much about all that is going on in Africa related
to the projects that Bono and Bill Gates are involved in. I know that Bono has been a staunch advocate and spokesman for ending AIDS in Africa, calling on world leaders to commit to attacking the problem head-on. I applaud that. It's one of the reasons, besides great music, that I am a fan of Bono. He has created for himself a platform of respect from which he can say things the way he sees them without the need for political correctness. For instance, regarding the extreme poverty in Africa (which I didn't know until this article was so bad that one billion Africans are living off of less than one dollar a year), Bono very plainly calls this kind and level of poverty "stupid poverty." In other words, it shouldn't happen and can "easily" be stopped.
It is also nice to see someone like bazillionaire, Bill Gates, leading the charge spending billions on poverty and fighting diseases in some of these countries that are absolutely destitute. Hopefully, others with the kinds of resources he has at his disposal will take their cue from him and join the work.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Along with the physical needs, there are plenty of other needs that these people have. There are many people who have and are giving their lives as career missionaries in order to help meet many of these needs. In my own denomination, many are working within the country now to not only provide medical aid to the millions who are ravaged with killer diseases like AIDS but also to take the message of hope that there is a God who loves them and it is for that reason that they have left their homes to spend their lives in Africa.
How easy it is for many of us to go about our own lives of relative ease, thinking little about the suffering of people in other places around the world. For that matter, we sometimes completely overlook those who are suffering within our own neighborhoods. Perhaps it's time for all of us to listen up to people like Bono, Gates, and others who have taken up the responsibility to make a difference and begin looking for ways ourselves, even in seemingly small ways, to get involved.
Perhaps we don't do more to help to alleviate the suffering of people around us because we simply don't know how to go about it or we feel we don't have enough time. Maybe you have some ideas. Maybe there are ways that you have been involved with some good organizations or know of ways that the average concerned person can get involved. If so, I ask you to share your knowledge and wisdom and post a comment or two with your thoughts or ideas. Rather than me simply listing out ways I know of, perhaps an ongoing dialogue or discussion would be more beneficial. Granted, there's not a whole lot of traffic that comes through this little blog, but who knows, maybe one of you will post something that my other reader will find very helpful. At least I will benefit from your input and will appreciate it. What could be done if all of us had the same drive and desire to change the world that Bono has demonstrated? I think we've gotten a taste of what is possible following the tsunami. Now, perhaps the test is whether that will carry over to our own neighborhoods and towns as well as to the rest of the world. Maybe it will. Hopefully, it will.
I'll be honest: I don't know that much about all that is going on in Africa related
to the projects that Bono and Bill Gates are involved in. I know that Bono has been a staunch advocate and spokesman for ending AIDS in Africa, calling on world leaders to commit to attacking the problem head-on. I applaud that. It's one of the reasons, besides great music, that I am a fan of Bono. He has created for himself a platform of respect from which he can say things the way he sees them without the need for political correctness. For instance, regarding the extreme poverty in Africa (which I didn't know until this article was so bad that one billion Africans are living off of less than one dollar a year), Bono very plainly calls this kind and level of poverty "stupid poverty." In other words, it shouldn't happen and can "easily" be stopped.
It is also nice to see someone like bazillionaire, Bill Gates, leading the charge spending billions on poverty and fighting diseases in some of these countries that are absolutely destitute. Hopefully, others with the kinds of resources he has at his disposal will take their cue from him and join the work.
Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg. Along with the physical needs, there are plenty of other needs that these people have. There are many people who have and are giving their lives as career missionaries in order to help meet many of these needs. In my own denomination, many are working within the country now to not only provide medical aid to the millions who are ravaged with killer diseases like AIDS but also to take the message of hope that there is a God who loves them and it is for that reason that they have left their homes to spend their lives in Africa.
How easy it is for many of us to go about our own lives of relative ease, thinking little about the suffering of people in other places around the world. For that matter, we sometimes completely overlook those who are suffering within our own neighborhoods. Perhaps it's time for all of us to listen up to people like Bono, Gates, and others who have taken up the responsibility to make a difference and begin looking for ways ourselves, even in seemingly small ways, to get involved.
Perhaps we don't do more to help to alleviate the suffering of people around us because we simply don't know how to go about it or we feel we don't have enough time. Maybe you have some ideas. Maybe there are ways that you have been involved with some good organizations or know of ways that the average concerned person can get involved. If so, I ask you to share your knowledge and wisdom and post a comment or two with your thoughts or ideas. Rather than me simply listing out ways I know of, perhaps an ongoing dialogue or discussion would be more beneficial. Granted, there's not a whole lot of traffic that comes through this little blog, but who knows, maybe one of you will post something that my other reader will find very helpful. At least I will benefit from your input and will appreciate it. What could be done if all of us had the same drive and desire to change the world that Bono has demonstrated? I think we've gotten a taste of what is possible following the tsunami. Now, perhaps the test is whether that will carry over to our own neighborhoods and towns as well as to the rest of the world. Maybe it will. Hopefully, it will.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 1/28/2005 10:40:00 AM
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