God Grew Tired of Us

I finally got the chance to watch the National Geographic documentary God Grew Tired of Us.  I strongly urge everyone to watch this beautiful, authentic and touching story about the lost boys of Sudan. The documentary revolves around the lives of four Dinka men who grew up in war-torn Sudan, but managed to escape life in a refugee camp and move to the United States.  They had never experienced running water, electricity or even mattresses.  I don’t want to spoil the story for those of you who have not yet watched it, but I did want to stress the incredible inspirational impact that this movie had on me.  It was humbling to watch these men learn how to use a refrigerator, experience a grocery store, and deal with everyday struggles of adapting to a completely new culture, all the while focusing on their families back in Sudan.  Some of these men worked three jobs at a time and sent every penny they earned back home, while running on less than three hours of sleep.  They struggled to fit into the strange American way of life, but they didn’t complain once, keeping the image of their friends and families battling famine and disease, close at heart.  This movie was a beautifully executed example of how one can publicize a struggle that seems so distant and alien, and make it real to those of us living comfortable and safe lives.  The story of the lost boys exemplified true cultural exchange.  They were experiencing their new lives in America, while telling the story of their countries struggle to those they came in contact with.  Well executed documentaries, that really convey the plight of others, without fulfilling some form of self-interest are often hard to come by.  It is sad to hear how many people, including my peers are not aware of the humanitarian catastrophe and genocide that is the struggle of Darfur.  I urge you all to watch this documentary and tell your friends about it.  Sometimes it’s easier and more valuable to learn from a documentary or from someone’s personal story, than it is to read the news.  Take the time to think about that for a moment…

“The way I see it there are so many ways to help people…It seems like there is no answer, but the answer for it is there. If you had good leaders in Africa, they would help the people.  But they don’t know how to treat people. They think of their own and they neglect others. It is a shame to have people that don’t take care of their own people”.  –Daniel Pach, Lost Boy

 

Twestival

For the last few weeks I’ve been trying to find some truly innovative and grassroots social media uses, that promote or benefit a charity in some way.  I’ve been looking for something that is actually benefiting others on a non-organizational scale, which regular online users have come up with themselves.  Of course there are numerous Facebook groups and causes that people join, which pledge to donate thousands of dollars to an arbitrary, faceless and often unidentifiable charity. However I can’t help but wonder if donations are actually ever made, or if the money ever lands in the correct hands.  Often times many of these Facebook groups that are formed in the name of aid, come off as a ploy to simply get as many people as possible to join a group; almost as a form of bragging rights. I was beginning to think that there really weren’t a lot of well thought out fund-raising ideas that utilized social networks well, until a friend ‘tweeted’ an interesting link to me.  I suppose I haven’t really been looking in the right places for great ideas, but this one is by far the most interesting and contemporary example of a social medium creating social change. Twestival, which was created solely by volunteers on Twitter, has brought together thousands of people from the online community, inviting them to support a clean water projects in Africa.  Over a short period of time, using only twitter, hundreds of strangers organized events in over 200 cities to get people to come together for an evening of fun and fundraising.  The idea was a success and has so far raised over $250,000 dollars.  I can’t comment on the logistics of each of the events, but the fact that this was a world wide function organized in a matter of days is remarkable. The website backs up its efforts with information about the water crisis in Africa and what the money will be used for.  Personally, I think it is amazing that a social medium where most of the people connecting do not even know each other in the ‘real world’, was utilized for something very real.  I hope that we will see more of this in the future both on Twitter and Facebook.  As always, I appreciate any feedback or comments, and would love to hear about any other innovative ideas and success stories!