"I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay... small acts of kindness and love"
This is what I hope we'll achieve by going to Nepal with Homeless International - that our small acts will make a difference in the lives of the families we can help, and that the change will pass down and around to their communities and their children, and that we'll all change as a result of it.
I guess that sounds a little Miss World "I wanna make the world a better place", but it's true and why going to Nepal means so much to me. Why Tony and I are making the sacrifices and changes in plans for our future so I can go, and maybe one day I can show our children all the photo;s and tell them how I did my bit to make the world a better place.
When I was 18, I went on holiday with my Dad to Sri Lanka, a beautiful country, amazing people, fantastic chocolate cake! However, amongst these amazing memories, what I remember is sailing down the river and seeing piles of plastic rubbish on the banks, and the foamy water running from the houses down the ditches along the side of the road. The local people were building their homes one room at a time - saving to build bricks etc and then adding on to their homes, but because of the lack of legislation and planning there's little in the way of infrastructure. The though of all those families living so close to that dirty water, which was likely to be running into the local water courses used for every day water made we want to become Environmental Waste Minister for Sri Lanka!!
Clearly that hasn't happened yet, but I figure there's still time...
When I went to University, one of the most fantastic opportunities over the four years (other than all the friends I made) was our trip to Kenya - two weeks touring around the country as part of our Environmental Development Degree. Again, the country was beautiful, from the beach in Mombasa (where I got so drunk on rum that my friend Marie had to explain that there wasn't two moons, just a reflection in the sea!) to "Kuku", the Maasai Field Studies Centre where we learnt the value of lizards on the outdoor toilets (hint: pick the one with the most lizards). However, I also remember the piles of Coke bottles in one of the villages we visited - the modern "technology" exported over but with no real way processing that once they'd been used!
I suppose both experiences just made me really want to do something in the world, to play a part in the world bigger than my home town or country.
So often we can look at the problems in our own small world and think that we don't have the time, the energy, the scope to help outside of that sphere, but where would any of us be if we only had capacity to help ours and ourselves? Where would the big changes in the world come from if we weren't able to pull together to do something amazing - all those little changes, coalescing into a world that's better than the one we joined.
Whether it's helping a stranger in the street, spending your weekends in a muddy rainy field talking to emotional metal fans or trekking across the world to give a few days to improve a local community, I think each and every one of us should try to make our world a better place.
You can donate towards the 50k whg has committed to raising for
Homeless International by texting HOMELESS to 70099. You will be
charged £2, plus one message at your standard network rate. 100% of
your donation will be received by whg and passed on to Homeless
International (registered charity number 1017255
.
Alternatively, if you want to sponsor me, you can do so here: http://tinyurl.com/sponsorcharlfornepal
