John Stupart.com

A girl carrying her sibling on her back cries as she looks for her parents in the village of Kiwanja. Civilians have been on the march in eastern Congo, uprooted by fighting between the country’s army and rebels. November 6, 2008 (Associated Press / Jerome Delay)

I normally reserve my more earnest posting for commentary, but this picture today resonated on a whole other level, which affected both intellectually and emotionally. Put in one simple sentence: This kind of sorry shit must end. And it must end with the utmost priority.

There are precious few people in this world with whom I share my life’s goals and objectives, primarily because I’m not quite ready for them to bear public scrutiny. Put simply however, I aim to eventually be in a position where I can directly influence the prevention of this kind of misery.

It’s important, because I used to see these pictures and think “aw shucks”, but I’m now firmly in recognition of the simple fact that children like the one above will never have even close to the privilege which I enjoyed, and that their lives will almost certainly be stricken with misery and hardship. I used to think that this was the problem of the UN, or of people who are considered our leaders, but then I developed a healthy conservatism, which above all else taught me that it is precisely these people and organisations who are incapable of effecting any real and lasting change.

I aim to change their lives.

I have a strong desire to help these people whom I’ll never know but shall exist in abject poverty, conflict and violence if I don’t try and help them. I will endeavour to do this because I cannot in good conscience settle for a life of utility simply because I had the advantage of being raised in a loving, peacful society where I was afforded great education and amazing encouragement from friends and family at every turn. I cannot then simply trade that all in for simple wealth or happiness.

I will try until my dying breath to make that people like this girl and her sibling become the exception in Africa rather than the norm.

Also, I hope to develop cold fusion. But I like to stay realistic 😉