Youth for Rights 2.55

Today we are living in an era of astounding technological and scientific development. A world where advances in cellular communication and computer technology has given us the means to access information, connect with people all over the globe, and gain knowledge at the click of a button.

And yet in spite of these advancements:

• UNICEF states that, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

• About 72 million children of primary school age in the developing world were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. And these are regarded as optimistic numbers.

• Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

• Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons could have put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn’t happen.

We are part of the information revolution, the internet age, the Generation Y. A generation weaned on crass commercialistic values of industrial society and pop culture. A generation who grew up in a society where an individual’s success is measured by the newest electronic gadget he or she owns; and where an ideal job means working as a call center agent at night and partying after work - during the early hours of dawn.

As we continue to live our relatively comfortable and insulated lives; when we go to sleep at night comforted by the material objects we so dearly love, do we take time to stop and think about that little child laying on the gutter of some street corner and staring blankly because he hasn’t eaten a decent meal in months.

Was there even a time when we stopped to think and ask ourselves why? Why is our world becoming such a heartless place? Why don’t we care anymore? Why do we let this things happen?

The fact is change can happen if only we would care not only for ourselves but also for our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Hatred and animosity could be avoided if only we took the time to understand what makes people who they are and what they are.

Poverty, repression, and inequality could be erased if we took the steps toward creating a home, a community, a city, a nation, a world that respects the rights and welfare of an individual.

Charity, or love, is the greatest principle in existence. If we can lend a helping hand to the oppressed, if we can aid those who are despondent and in sorrow, if we can uplift and ameliorate the condition of mankind, it is our mission to do it, it is an essential part of our religion to do it. To care for others is to be an advocate of human rights.