Quest for Happiness [Day 15]

One of my goals for this month was to start volunteering somewhere or to come up with a plan to make a difference in a life other than my own. Unfortunately I didn't have time (or make time) to get something set up just yet and it's been hard to plan for the future when everything was so up in the air. 

A worthwhile read.

A lovely friend did suggest a volunteer opportunity today that once again got the wheels in my mind turning about volunteering somewhere. It's been too long since I did something without a selfish motive lying underneath. 

I've also been reading the book Me to We, by Craig & Mark Kielburger, founders of Free The Children. They started Free the Children when they were younger than I am and have accomplished so much good in a relatively short amount of time. 

The book really lays a good foundation for many of the issues facing young people worldwide and the work being undertaken to help improve their situations. As I mentioned in a previous blog about Kony 2012 & Child Soldiers only recently have my eyes opened to the suffering young people are facing in countries around the world. This book builds on lessons I learned from the Romeo Dallaire books I read in the past. 

Sadly once I finished the Romeo Dallaire books I lost my focus on trying to make a difference even in a small way. This book has re-ignited the passion to do something, to try and help. 

Something that made me smile last weekend during Westfest was seeing a young girl and her dad playing the violin to raise money for the Because I Am A Girl project. They had information about the program and a sign saying this was the second year they had done it. Where it would be so easy to keep the money it was really nice to see someone so young taking an active role in making a difference.

I am so inspired by the work of programs like Free the Children as well as programs like the one suggested to me by my friend that support children and young people in my community. I find it challenging to commit to one program because I want to be involved in everything. 

My hope is to find a program to give my time to on a regular basis, something with children or youth. I also want to get serious about buying local, organic and ethically sourced items whenever possible. We live near a farmers market so that will be easy, but I find training my brain to look for organic products at the grocery store more difficult. 

All this to say, what makes me happy today is people who use their lives to make a difference, big or small. This includes parents who love their children, people who volunteer or work with communities at risk, buying ethical products, taking care of the environment, the list goes on. 

This is by far my deepest post of my quest so far, but sometimes it makes me happy to get deep and thoughtful. I am serious about taking action, whether big or small. As I do that I will keep you posted! 

What action are you taking to make the world a better place? What causes are near & dear to your heart?

Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous weekend!

Keep Smiling :)

Child Soldiers and Kony 2012

It's been over a month since I shared a new blog post with the internet world. That would qualify as an utter failure on my post once a week goal from January. I got caught up trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak, wanting to change everything to make my blog more appealing and I think lost interest all together somewhere along the way. That coupled with the fact late February & early March does not spark a lot of excitement in my life so I was seriously lacking in stories worth sharing.

I do have something rather serious I want to weigh in on, which is related to my lack of posting as I've been obsessing about getting this perfect. In early March the internet exploded with the Kony2012 videos, first with great support and then with a tonne of criticism. I don't have the desire to debate the legitimacy of the project, I think in terms of awareness it has been successful but would agree with the critics that it is kind of a sugar-coated over-simplified version of events.

What I want to talk about isn't that video specifically, but the suffering of children being forced to act as soldiers in the developing world. In pure coincidence, just before the video was released I finished Romeo Dallaire's Shake Hands With the Devil about his experiences during the Rwandan Genocide (1993-1994) and was starting on his second book, They Fight Like Soldiers They Die Like Children.

It is amazing to me that these issues go unreported despite the pervasiveness of the media in our lives. News can be accessed any number of ways but stories that really matter, that deserve to be told only garner attention once they make it to Facebook. Genocide, famine, civil war, child soldiers, sexual slavery, these are all real issues facing people in countries around the world, and yet much of the time there is no mention to be found in mainstream media.

To say that those books opened my eyes would be an understatement. I consider myself educated and well read but I was blissfully unaware of the scope of human suffering and child soldiering worldwide. I watch the news and read the paper daily and may have been vaguely aware that children were being used as soldiers but I had no idea of the magnitude of the problem.

I don't want to preach or force information upon you, because I am still processing what I've learned over the past month. I am by no means an expert, but I do want to encourage you to look into Child Soldiering and similar issues and to think critically about what you are seeing.

Critical thinking is not my strongest point. I want to see the best in everything, I watched the Kony2012 video and fell hook, line and sinker. In the following days many questions were raised about the project and I began to feel discouraged by the growing negative public opinion. In the end I think the campaign was already successful in at least creating interest and bringing Joseph Kony and child soldiers to the forefront of peoples minds.

If you were intrigued by the Kony2012 project I encourage you to take a few minutes to check out the Child Soldier's Initiative which was founded by Romeo Dallaire. It provides a great deal of information about Child Soldiering and other ways you can get involved. You can visit the website here:  Child Soldiers Initiative.

I also highly recommend reading They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children when you have a chance. Although the subject matter is heavy, it's not a particularly difficult read and I real do feel like it's an issue that deserves at least a second look.

I do not intend to preach or force my ideas on you, but I couldn't help but share them. I would be greatly interested if anyone knows of any further resources on the subject that I should look into. Please don't be afraid to share your thoughts on this, or any other issues that you think deserve attention.

It seems trivial to follow this blog up with stories of my perfectly contented life, so for today I think I will sign off. I promise to make a stronger effort to blog regularly and do apologize for my lengthy absence from your screens.

Keep Smiling :)