It's Comic Relief today, a day for thinking of others and giving what we can to make somebody's life a little more comfortable. When I see the causes that will be helped by our donations, I can't help but be moved. It worries me that even though millions and millions of pounds have already been spent in aid of these people, there are still so many in the world who need our help. People who live in poverty, children who are begging and forced into modern day slavery. I find it hard to think of a world where one half lives in relative opulence compared to the other half. It seems madness that there are children in the world who still have to drink polluted water when western society is fixated on having the latest tablet computer or designer handbags.
Don't get me wrong, I love my designer handbags and I often scold myself when I find myself vying for another pair of shoes that are far too expensive. I try to rationalise with myself, reminding myself of that prophecy drummed into us as children - 'there are people starving in the world'. I think we are all guilty of being a little selfish and un-thinking sometimes.
Truth is, most of us will sit and watch Comic Relief tonight. We will laugh at the silly antics of the celebrities who have given up some of their time to do something funny for money, we will cry at the videos of those people suffering, we will gasp at the children dying in the hospitals in such horrible and preventable circumstances. Yet tomorrow, we will get up and carry on as normal, we will get our children from their beds/cots, we will eat our breakfast, we will turn on the tap to find clean, drinkable water. We will open the fridge to find food and treats. We will spend money on the frivolous things we allow ourselves. Why? Because we can and because we are so very lucky.
It is madness that in 2013 that the world is still so drastically split by the rich and the poor.
I am thankful for all those people who campaign tirelessly for the charities they support. I am proud of them. I am proud that we have things like Comic Relief in this country, which every year reminds us that there are people out there, who share this world, that need our help desperately. I am thankful to all those people who have dressed up in pyjamas today, or have done something funny to raise money.
I am so thankful for my life, I am thankful that I have a bed to sleep in at night, that I have a child who is vaccinated free of charge and who has access to some of the greatest medical care in the world. I am thankful that I was lucky enough to be born into a country that can provide these things for me, because thats all we are, lucky.
I am determined to do more to help from now on. Every little helps.
I will be watching and donating tonight, I hope you all do too.
Give this song a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWf-eARnf6U
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