I’ve never been to Africa and I know very little about it. Although I realize there are many wild places left on the planet, I always think of Africa as the wildest, with its sweeping vistas, open grasslands, tribal customs, and familiar wildlife. I have some African friends that have shared with me about government corruption, poverty, and widespread disease throughout many parts of the continent, especially in the rural areas. I’ve been doing a lot of reading trying to absorb the culture and the challenges facing people living there. And I’ve been listening to music from Africa – lots of music! The more I read and hear, the more drawn into the struggles of the underprivileged I become. There are so many problems: poverty, diseases such as HIV/AIDS, drought, violence, homeless families, orphans, unsanitary water and open sewage, lack of education for the kids – it is all so very overwhelming and sad.
Several months ago, I was asked to become involved with a non-profit organization that constructed and now supports a children’s home in a small village in Kenya. The Footprints of Faith Foundation (http://thefootprintsoffaith.org) recently opened their home in Rangala to 10 children who lost their parents for various reasons but now have a chance to live in a nice home with other children. They will go to school and help with a small farm on the grounds. The story about the founder of the foundation is amazing and from the first time I heard it, I became hooked. I began working on a song they could use however they wanted but primarily to raise awareness and funds for the upkeep of the home. This is why I started doing the research to learn more about Africa and quickly began to see and read about things I never knew and still honestly can’t believe. After several months of absorbing information and allowing the shock of these apparently hopeless situations to pass, I began to focus on the people and organizations that are trying to bring positive changes and assistance to those in need.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is one of the larger organizations in the mix. MSF is an international medical humanitarian organization working in more than 60 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Naturally, they are doing a lot of work in Africa and the video below illustrates just one of the ways they broadcast their message calling for action. Check out “A Vulnerable Existence: Migrants in South Africa.” I’ve watched this video a few times and each time, learn something more. Visit the MSF website at http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org and spend a few minutes looking around. Get involved. Read. Follow MSF on Facebook and Twitter and forward the information to your friends and followers. I believe most of us have no real grasp of the size and complexity of these problems. Maybe we don’t want to know. But I do believe we are capable of stepping up in a big way when we choose to. I may never go to Africa but I can still contribute..and so can each of us.
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