How well you speak for me Rene. In this century, the passive complainant is
as much a part of the wretchedness and hopelessness you so eloquently regret.
Governments and companies have PR firms to magnify their voices and the
affect of their activities. There is not much hope for the ordinary citizen save
for the pure grit, integrity, and goodwill toward her fellow. We must be
active partners in the ware of our lives. To be shy and timid is for the listless
soul.
Thank you Rene for sharing. Inspiring.
Haruna Darbo.
In a message dated 2/24/2008 1:27:58 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
To sacrifice is a will. It is the will to have the strength and conviction,
and also the tendency to have a selfless desire to change the course of an
event; to change the course of history. And, to sacrifice is to change the
course of an event for the good, and for a cause whose motivation is
transcendental.
It may be difficult to fathom why people do make sacrifices; to
sacrifice their time, energy and money to pursue a common goal or to
promote an
ideal. What motivates a doctor, who instead of a lucrative practice in a
wealthy
industrialized country, opts to go back to his impoverished native country
to
offer his services for a pittance? What motivates an intellectual, a well
educated person, who denies himself/herself the opportunity to secure a
highly
placed and financially gainful job, only to devote his/her time and energy
in
promoting a cause, an ideal, that doesn't add much to his/her material
benefit?
The question of motivation, therefore, is a unique experience that guides
an individual's sense of purpose; that guides an individual to do something
good or react to that which is not good in something. Thus people make
sacrifices; they sacrifice for a cause, for an ideal and for a belief, and
challenge themselves to bring out the best in their humanity as they
challenge others
to bring out the humanity that is best in themselves. And there are many
convincing reasons why a person should promote this course of action; to
keep
the faith in doing something good where the fate of something good being
done is
perilous.
At a time when ordinary circumstances demand a response that is not
ordinary, people of goodwill and sincere convictions should build an
enterprise
that is both challenging and productive; an enterprise that does not build
on
our fears, but on our hopes and aspirations.
The sad stories of poverty has undignified so many lives; the
hopelessness and wretchedness that so many lives are undignified, and the
social and
economic alienation of the poor, and the marginalized, summons our will to
sacrifice. A sacrifice that can change the lives of people for the better;
an
innate disposition to affect the lives of people for the better as it also
affects for the better the lives of those people.
Against the above backdrop, the fervent desire and a will to sacrifice
among Gambian Diaspora's, can positively respond to a national issue which
alerts our consciousness to safeguard jealously our common heritage. We
should
never surrender our voice. The violation of the basic tenets of our
constitution, the abuse and wanton disregard for the rule of law, the
assault on civil
liberties and freedom of expression, has and should arouse a patriotic
fervor
among Gambian Diaspora's to create the vehicles for the legitimate
expressions of our dissent. The many online Gambian newspapers and
discussion forums,
the emerging Diaspora groups, and a debate on our different political
orientations, our culture and our politics, can augur well in creating an
environment
that will impact positively our socioeconomic and political reality.
What the Gambian Diaspora needs, I believe, is to organize our
collective dissent; to frame the agenda and discussion around alternative
objectives,
and try to impress upon one another a Gambian mindset that is attuned to
the
conceptual development of a value system that is people centered and action
oriented.
There is a lot of talent among Gambian Diaspora's, some eloquently
expressed in their artistic beauty, and others in their technical and
innovative
ingenuity; there are many academicians and intellectuals, all of whom has
to
be agents of a deliberate and conscious effort to harness the progressive
spirit for a search for better alternatives. Every one of us should endeavor
to
be part of something, either to be among those who organize or to be willing
participants among those to be organized. Let us support and be part of the
organizations that are organized around some of the values that we
celebrate.
What we must not accept is to forever remain as willing spectators in a
political drama that will never foster the growth of a mature democracy.
Rene
**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duff
y/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
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**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)
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