ignorance
early this morning i saw a package i had received a few
days ago. it was a book i had ordered from half.com written
by angelina jolie called, *notes from my travels*. the book
is actually a journal she kept as a goodwill ambassador to the united nations high commissioner for refugees (ie UNHCR). the first part of the book was her personal accounts during her visit to sierra leone and tanzania in africa.
all i have to say is i was mesmerized, horrified and touched
deep inside of me. i couldn't stop reading about her sojourn to the
one of the most war torn areas in the world. all the beauty, the
tragedy, the suffering, the compassion, the horror, the hope and
will of the people to survive. to live. through her eyes i saw what
many people in the united states never see or hear about. i saw
one very compassionate human being reaching outside her comfortable realm to touch another human's life and to try to help out those people with nothing. people who have lost everything. whose lives were destroyed. whose families were murdered. children who's innocence were stolen. a person who tries to help restore human dignity and i was very moved.
we live extremely sheltered and privileged lives. living in a protective cocoon. totally ignorant and unaware of what is going on in the world. we hear about the newest ipods, the latest american idol contestants but we never hear news on what is *really* happening in other parts of the world and the way other people live. all the news we hear about or see from around the world are just small snippets, edited video clips and forgotten articles. for an instance we are shocked at all the crisis around the world but as soon as the news is interupted by a commercial for a new mobile phone or brand new suv the tradegies become just an after thought and soon forgotten.
why are we sooo blind? when will we open up our lives and take off our blinders and see what really happens in the world? we are like fish living in a very large fish tank called the united states of america, sometimes we can see what goes on outside the fish tank but few rarely venture to experience life outside the fish tank. that's the biggest tragedy. our ignorance.
days ago. it was a book i had ordered from half.com written
by angelina jolie called, *notes from my travels*. the book
is actually a journal she kept as a goodwill ambassador to the united nations high commissioner for refugees (ie UNHCR). the first part of the book was her personal accounts during her visit to sierra leone and tanzania in africa.
all i have to say is i was mesmerized, horrified and touched
deep inside of me. i couldn't stop reading about her sojourn to the
one of the most war torn areas in the world. all the beauty, the
tragedy, the suffering, the compassion, the horror, the hope and
will of the people to survive. to live. through her eyes i saw what
many people in the united states never see or hear about. i saw
one very compassionate human being reaching outside her comfortable realm to touch another human's life and to try to help out those people with nothing. people who have lost everything. whose lives were destroyed. whose families were murdered. children who's innocence were stolen. a person who tries to help restore human dignity and i was very moved.
we live extremely sheltered and privileged lives. living in a protective cocoon. totally ignorant and unaware of what is going on in the world. we hear about the newest ipods, the latest american idol contestants but we never hear news on what is *really* happening in other parts of the world and the way other people live. all the news we hear about or see from around the world are just small snippets, edited video clips and forgotten articles. for an instance we are shocked at all the crisis around the world but as soon as the news is interupted by a commercial for a new mobile phone or brand new suv the tradegies become just an after thought and soon forgotten.
why are we sooo blind? when will we open up our lives and take off our blinders and see what really happens in the world? we are like fish living in a very large fish tank called the united states of america, sometimes we can see what goes on outside the fish tank but few rarely venture to experience life outside the fish tank. that's the biggest tragedy. our ignorance.
posted by ishkabubba at 10:28 AM
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