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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