What can we do?

Hi Maggie,

So I watched a short video today.  An adolescent boy in a Syrian refugee camp was crying and saying they have no food, they are trapped, he hasn't seen his father for a year, and they, the people in the camp, are not even part of the problem. They didn't do anything.  He ended up in tears. I ended up in tears.

What do we do?

Talk about rape.  He has been completely disempowered by war.  Those in power have taken control of his life and are damaging him - routinely and repeatedly.  And what can we do? I looked up the camp and found it is in Damascus. It is an unofficial camp, and things were going well there until the Arab Spring uprising, Then the area was destroyed. There is still fighting around them, no one can get supplies in. The UN has been trying, but they are blocked. There are people starving...

What can we do?

I thought about the things I have done.  I have done anti-militarism activism. I am trying to stop war.  I have done some tax awareness activism - to try to stop our national funding of violence.

But I want to feed this boy and his camp.

What can we do?

I   thought about people like Warren Buffet and the Walton family...people who have more wealth than they can use in a lifetime.  I wanted to get in their faces and point out that no one can be that wealthy without exploiting others. And anyone of them could feed this camp without threatening their stockpiles of wealth. What is wrong with them?  But I know that having that much wealth indicates pathological greed.  They are too sick to see others, to have compassion for this young man who is starving, who is watching those around him starve.

And I  thought more about me. How am I complicit?  Am I living a life that feeds a war-system that allows children to feel such devastation and hopelessness?  I worry about money all the time.  I lose sleep and feel an immense amount of stress.  But, tonight the baby wanted an orange, and I gave her one.  We had a simple dinner of barley with mushrooms and chicken, and parsnip puree.  But, I am very full.

What can I do to change my life to make more for this young man. Or what can I do to help those who are fighting and blocking deliveries for this refugee camp to have compassion and let the supplies come in?

I hope I can think of something. The emotions flying out of the screen from this young man in so much pain got into my heart. I care...

Ideas?

I hope all is well with you,

Love,

Clare