The Ten Most Underreported Humanitarian Crises Of 2006

[RestoreGore]

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/publications/reports/2007/top10_2006.htm

And this is only the tip of the iceberg. What a world we have made.

From their press release:

"While the conflicts in the Darfur region of Sudan and in eastern Chad garnered significant media attention in 2006, the steady focus did not translate into improved conditions for people caught up in the conflict. "Even though there was more reporting about Darfur than about other crises, the situation continued to deteriorate to the point where MSF and other aid groups had to scale back their programs," said de Torrenté. "We know that media coverage does not generate improvements on its own. However, it is often a precondition for increased assistance and political attention. There is perhaps nothing worse than being completely neglected and forgotten."

[Sapphire Blue]

1. de Torrenté: "There is perhaps nothing worse than being completely neglected and forgotten."

Elie Wiesel: "The Perils of Indifference"

(excerpt)

In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony. One does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it.

Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor -- never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees -- not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity, we betray our own.

Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment.

(snip)

In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps -- and I'm glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance -- but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. All of us did.

Complete text & audio @ http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ewieselperilsofindifference.html

K&R for those who need us desperately. We must not neglect them. We must not forget them. We must not abandon them.

Thank you, RestoreGore, for posting this.

[RestoreGore]

3. Indifference Is Acceptance...

And it does not present itself to me as humane in this world. To refuse to see the world we have created is the biggest obstacle to changing it for our children. Thank you for the writings of Elie Wiesel.

"My experience working in the Grameen Bank has given me faith; an unshakable faith in the creativity of human beings. It leads me to believe that humans are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty. They suffer now as they did in the past because we turn our heads away from this issue."

Muhammad Yunus
Novel Peace Prize winner/ 2006

[Sapphire Blue]

2. de Torrenté: "There is perhaps nothing worse than being completely neglected and forgotten."

:kick:

[uppityperson]

4. k&r for the rest of the world while we focus on our politicians bs

[RestoreGore]

5. We Need To Look Into Their Eyes...

http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/gallery/index.cfm

Into the eyes of millions who may not be on this Earth next week because they died of poverty and disease that was totally preventable in this world of plenty. It is sometimes so overwhelming to me, that I can do nothing else but weep. However, I do donate to MSF (Medicins Sans Frontieres) because they are the one organization that gets the aid TO the people who need it most. I would ask anyone who wants to make even a small difference and feels helpless otherwise to consider donating to them. And never forget our own people in this country who are suffering the same indifference.

Thanks for the recommends.

[ellisonz]

6. K & R

:(

[u4ic]

7. Thank you for posting this

:(

[Wiley50]

8. #11 People Living On SSI Disability and Medicaid n/t

[etherealtruth]

9. This is so disturbing

I would have much preferred my tax dollars to go toward programs trying to alleviate human suffering rather than the fiasco in Iraq (+ Syria, Iran).