Simply searching for a picture using the key word 'child' brought up several conflicting images. From images of child soldiers in Burma and starving children to happy smiling faces, the one constant remains their little innocent faces. Flipping through pages of images, I found these two, side by side, to be sadly ironic. A young boy, clearly starving with a distended belly, and a young girl refusing the offered food.
Being aware of other children growing up in other communities can be a difficult goal to manage. Often, there is so much going on at home and all around you that you don't even stop to think about how less fortunate individuals may be living. Of course everyone sees those commercials on television showing various children living in less than ideal conditions asking for money to help provide a better life for them. We're all aware of individuals like this, especially in the back of our minds. However, in cases like the one above, it's doubtful to believe that the girl is even considering the possibility of others going without yet another meal. While it is important to be considerate of those immediately around you, it is also wise to keep in mind what conditions others are forced to live in and how fortunate we are to have what we have, even if it seems small compared to our neighbors."Fortunate are those who have learned the best way to get is first to give through useful service." http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/fortunate/
The pictures you chose are very effective because I know for myself, I have turned down food and refused to eat those last bites when in reality, people really are starving in foreign countries. We need to think of oters and not be so concerned with ourselves and the small path we find so important.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have struck a chord on something that many in and out of our society find so perplexing: how can those with so much be content to allow the suffering of those with so little? It is a tricky balance act on the part of those with so much. Some will have the heart and compassion, but lack the sacrifice to go the long, honest stretch; others will "feel" for the suffering but do little or nothing about it; others still will suffice with ignoring the lives of others and sum it up to somehow being the fault of those less fortunate. The real question is what will we as individuals choose to become and how will we become it? Excellent and thought provoking blog, Nicole!
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