On Human Kindness

Once again the news is filled with harrowing pictures from around the world and it seems like there’s no end in sight to the horrors the human race throws at itself. The picture of little Alan Kurdi washed up on the shores of Turkey crashed home the severity of the refugee crisis and the cost of standing by and watching the atrocity unfolds. But if there’s one good thing to come of it, it’s the reaction of people around the world who refuse to sit back and see others suffer. Take for example this Turkish couple who chose to share their wedding day with 4000 refugees at the Turkish – Syrian border, feeding each of them. The grooms’ father came up with the idea and the couple then used the money they received as wedding gifts to set up food trucks to feed all those present. Then there’s the little boy and his dad who were tripped up by a Hungarian camerawoman, today have been given a flat by a Spanish football club with the offer of a coaching job to the father (he was previously a football coach in Syria.) There’s also the countless people who have given up their summer holidays to travel to Calais and the numerous refugee camps that have shot up to help those who have found themselves there and also share their stories. This has undoubtedly led to the huge u-turn the press have made in supporting those displaced from their countries, forcing politicians the globe over to at least do the minimal amount in helping those who are truly in need.

On a lighter note (but equally as worrying) we saw the story of Ahmed Mohamed, a Muslim teen who took a clock that he had made to school and ended up getting arrested because his teacher suspected it was a bomb. Terrifying though it is that a child can’t take a clock into school, the reaction has been excellent, once again showing that people are no longer willing to sit back and accept discrimination against others. Obama has tweeted, inviting Ahmed to the white house and twitter has also contacted him offering him an internship at their offices. Positives to come out of this hugely negative episode.

And sometimes it’s in the darkest of times we see the best in others, people who are unable or unwilling to sit back and watch others in truly dreadful situations. People who are able to put aside the medias leaning towards xenophobia and look at the humans behind the headline. Those able to just take a second to realise that it could just as easily be us in their shoes, and we sure as hell would be putting our children in boats and asking the rest of the world for help if our country started beheading people in the street. And whilst some of us still have a glimmer of empathy, a slither of human kindness, we still have hope.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/03/refugee-crisis-what-can-you-do-to-help