In the face of tragedy and natural disasters, everyone can play their part
Today, for January Blog a Day, Lindsey Talerico shared her recollection of the Haiti earthquake that happened today, three years ago and how it changed her. The world reeled as news of a rising death toll from Haiti’s most populated area hit our news feeds. In the horror of it, people and governments from around offered their support.
It wasn’t too long before Australia felt its share of pain with major floods in Queensland. Once again, we were called on again to support those in need from this natural disaster.
And just months later, Japan.
Fast forward to 2013 and Tasmania’s beginning their recovery from a spate of bushfires.
It seems that there’s always a country, a city or a community that’s fighting against nature. It’s a constant struggle and sometimes, we don’t always come out on top.
But just as nature has overwhelming power of destruction, human beings have the amazing capacity for good.
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them. – Malcom Forbes
The Australian Taxation Office recently announced that donations up to $10 to support those affected by the Tasmanian fires won’t require a receipt to claim the deduction. It means it makes it easier to give more to ‘bucket appeals’ and still benefit from the tax deduction.
I’ll admit that giving’s nice when you get something back and the recent boom in crowdfunding platforms has shown that – the more you give to a cause or project, the better ‘perk’ you get.
However, there may never be an added benefit from giving to a cause outside of the ‘feel good’ factor. Sometimes, we give simply because it’s needed, and that’s when we really see people at their best.
But what if we don’t have the money to spare?
Sew like the wind!
One of my favourite movies of all times is the Three Amigos. If you haven’t seen it, you’ve probably seen something similar (Bug’s Life, Galaxy Quest). Three out-of-work movie stars are mistaken for heroes by the townspeople of Acapulco and have to face-off against real guns when all they’re used to is special effects…
There’s a scene near the end where the Three Amigos need to rally themselves together in order to defeat the army heading their way. The problem is, they’re not fighters. They’re not warriors, they’re just a village of peaceful people.
But there’s one thing they can do, and that’s sew.
The village finally takes a stand against their firearm-wielding oppressors using their sewing skills and defeats them.
These days, the opportunities to help – to take a stand in support of those in need – are unlimited.
Some are more obvious than others – like volunteering and donating. But there’s also a wave of socially minded entrepreneurs who are seeing a problem in the world and creating businesses, products and projects to address these issues directly.
Or maybe your skill is actually sewing. There are people in Adelaide and other cities around the globe sewing toys to give to children in third-world countries for projects like Operation Christmas Child.
Everyone has the capacity to help their fellow person.
What are you good at? Can you see yourself using that skill as a way to help others?
This post is “Day 12: “Recovery” of January Blog a Day!(Because January can be kinda boring.)
Put together by Lindsey and Katrina to help make January a little more exciting. There are 31 topics for 31 days. There are no rules except that your posts reflect the topic of that day
Tomorrow’s theme is “Top ten”
Yesterday’s theme was “Confession(s)“
Find out more about January Blog a Day
