It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do little... do what you can.
~Sydney Smith
#generousitycannotbemeasured #itsallgood #domoresharing #yourtreasures #yourtime #yourcaring #yourheart #whateveryouhave #smallgesturesmatters #exerciseyourthoughtfulness #tuneintoothers #judgementfree #NuYuRevolution
MORE ON SHARING, EVEN WHAT LITTLE YOU MAY HAVE:
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.” I have always believed our humanity is tested by how we treat the most vulnerable members of our society. Therefore, I am disgusted at the tone of conversations around how the struggle kids, children on the streets who find themselves in the cold with the rainy season starting.
People are on the streets for many reasons, some have made some horrible life choices, and others have found themselves stuck at being victims at the best, while some have just been dealt bad cards by life. Regardless of why anyone is on the street, the question about our own humanity comes in to play when we actively make efforts to keep them on the streets.
Turning a blind eye, and treating this like a non-problem is one way of doing just that. City police Chief Abraham Kanime reportedly said that those on the streets should go back to their homes. For some reason, Kaniime and other like-minded people believe that everyone just has homes to go to. The sad truth is that this isn’t the case. In a country with poverty, gender-based violence and violence against children, as alarming as others sometimes; the streets are safer than many homes. Of course offering a permanent solution to homelessness in this country will take forever, but we can discuss how to best offer a temporary solution during the rainy season.
Individual efforts or companies and celebrities can be so impactful, if it is less about public relations and more about recognizing that we have a problem, and anyone in a position to help, has a responsibility to do so. There are many such storylines. The media has covered a range of sad and tragic issues, from pensioners raising more than 10 grandchildren, to people’s shacks having burned down, with good samaritans from all over Namibia contributing the little that they have to make an impactful, and lasting solution.
It’s been proven that we can help, and we can make a difference if there is a genuine interest to do so. We have become so numb to the human lives behind stories of suffering, that’s why there is so much commentary aimed at justifying why we seem to have stopped caring. To me, the thing about having the ability to feel, to sympathize and to identify with the plight of others is rooted in this idea that when someone asks for a glass of water, you don’t start a conversation about why that person doesn’t have water of their own, you simply share what you have.
