As a Jew, on the most real level I understand, genocide is hard to comprehend. Walt who was at the meeting last night had done some research and informed us that as far as genocides go, in sheer numbers, Rwanda’s is below China, Russia, and Germany. But who’s counting? Actually maybe that is the problem – Who is counting?
Anthony Zolezzi opened up our annual fund raising event, Celebration of Angels, last year asking the audience to imagine sitting down to breakfast tomorrow, opening the paper and having the headline read ‘100 747’s Crash, All Children On Board, No Survivors’. And the day after tomorrow you sit down for breakfast and open the paper and you see the same headline; ‘100 747’s Crash, All Children On Board, No Survivors’. Anthony’s question that night was ‘How long do you think it would take every government in the world to say ENOUGH! This has to stop? How long do you think it would take every government in the world to say; We are going to do everything we can to bring an immediate halt to this today.’?
Yet this is the world we are living in today. Every day about 27,000 children die mostly from preventable causes. This adds up to 9.7 million children per year. And this figure is every year. In fact it is less than half of what it was 48 years ago when records were first kept. But how is 9.7 million children a year okay?
Are you involved in any organizations that reach out to children at high risk? Have you ever been personally involved in outreach or relief to a population group in need? Have you ever had that overwhelming feeling that you ‘had’ to do something to make a difference?
| July 16th, 2008 at 10:57 am
First I should let readers know that Dr. Greene and I are personal friends with Howard. We met him because of our involvement with Vitamin Angels. Howard is as dynamic in person as he is in writing and the work he’s doing worthy of “Angel” status.
We first got involved with Vitamin Angels a few years ago when Dr. Greene and I attended a Celebration of Angels event like the one Howard describes in his post above. We were blown away by how much difference, so little money, can make in kids lives. As a result, we gave and we joined Howard on a Vitamin Drop to the Dominican Republic.
Our involvement with Vitamin Angels has been an amazing experience — hard to describe, but amazing. And the big surprise added benefit is that I get more from giving than I give.
Thanks Howard for all you do at Vitamin Angels, including us in your work, and this great series of Blog posts!
| July 16th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
You know you and Alan are two of my favorite travelers. I DO know how to describe what happened in Dominican Republic - Your hearts got opened up to these beautiful children! What is amazing is that we got to connect with these children, their parents and the villages, and bring the resources (essential vitamins) that are making a huge difference in their lives. We will try to get your video up on our site soon so everyone will be able to share your experience.