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Published: November 16th 2010
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"Konichiwa! Japanese?"
"Haha, no"
"Oh, ok ok. Ni hao! Jackie Chan?"
"*Sigh* Yes. Yes, I am Jackie Chan..."
Haha, I was called Jackie Chan about 20 times yesterday. I don't think people mean it in an offensive way but it's pretty funny that so many people know how to say Konichiwa and Ni Hao! Pretty impressive for such a small country. But this country is truly special. It has a touch of Italian, Greek, French mixed into the Arab culture. It's hard to communicate with the locals since their second language is French but they are always smiling even though they have no idea what I'm saying! There are these huge colorful markets in every city called medinas and it's a lively atmosphere where they sell everything you can imagine. I've also been going to something called Hammam, which is a steam bath house that also provides massage for 10 dinars! Sweet. Loving Tunisia so far!
Love for Humanity At the very beginning of my journey, I had determined that there were three main things I wanted to discover within myself: my humanitarian side, my entrepreneurial side and my enlightened side. Every step I have
Tunis!
Church on the avenue of independance taken has geared me towards finding the truth about each of them. To fully understand these three passions of mine will eventually lead me to find my “self”. I had read tons of books and magazines about humanitarianism, entrepreneurship and spirituality but they couldn’t give me the answers I was looking for. They provided me with knowledge, but I was looking for wisdom. Through this journey of mine, I wanted to understand my love for humanity.
My first encounter with humanitarianism was when I was in junior year of high school. There was a homebuilding program where our school took a group of students to Cambodia to build homes. Truth be told, I signed up with the program because it would look good on my college application and not because I wanted to help. When we got there, we learned about the history of the Khmer Rouge Regime and the horror that it brought to the entire country.
A guest speaker was invited to speak to our small group of students to share her experience. She was only about 22 years old and she was quivering with fear as she retold her story to us. She was taken
Mosaic
This mosaic is from the roman empire when they colonized this part of Tunisia from her family and her whole family was murdered by the military. Then she was forced to work at the hospital where she had to look after newborn babies. The babies kept crying throughout the night and a soldier was furious because she couldn’t keep them quiet. Imagine being 10 years old and you had the impossible task of keeping 30 infants quiet. The soldier picks a baby up by the feet and says to her,”You want to know how to keep a baby quiet?” He slams the baby against the wall and throws the dead body in front of her. ”There”
I was haunted by the image. At that point, I lost all faith in humanity. This event happened within 10 years when she told her story and she said that every single family that we encounter will have lost somebody. I hated what humans were capable of.
The next day, we went out to a remote village to start building houses. What I witnessed was somewhat miraculous. I expected a somber atmosphere with gloomy faces, but it was nothing like that. All around me, I saw hopeful eyes and gleaming smiles. I saw kids cheerfully kicking
Ceasar!
This was a sculpture of Julius Ceasar. Did you know the month of July was named after Julius Ceasar? around a soccer ball that had no air inside it. I saw mothers joyfully struggle their hardest to pronounce English words so we would feel more welcome. Workers were singing songs for us to raise our morale while we were building. After all the terror that they had endured, they smiled and appreciated life so much more than I ever could. Initially, I thought I was there to bring hope back into their lives. But at the end, they were the ones who brought hope back into me. They might never know it but the greatest gift I ever received was their smile that helped restore my faith in humanity.
By the end of the trip, I kept thanking Mr. Condon (the project director) and telling him how much this program had changed my life. Then he said something that I will never forget, “There’s no need to thank me. If you really want to thank me, then pass it on.” What an incredibly selfless thing to say. This was truly the spirit of a humanitarian. To help and not want anything in return. To help a stranger and hope that the person may unconditionally help another stranger one
Most famous mosaic
Of the roman god Neptune day. At that point, I fell in love with the power of humanity and my journey as a humanitarian began.
From that day on, I learned the true meaning of what ‘humanity’ means to me. Humanity is the healing power of the people. Like a doctor who heals wounds and a meditator who heals the mind, a humanitarian heals the soul. It is what gives new hope to suffering souls. When India was brutally colonized by the British, millions of Hindus and Muslims (who are mortal enemies) put their differences aside to march down the street together to overcome oppression. Ghandi healed their souls so that they could rise together as one. On 9/11 a plane full of brave souls selflessly sacrificed their lives so that the terrorists wouldn't be able to crash the plane in Camp David. During the Nazi Holocaust, strangers found it in their hearts to put their own life at risk by hiding Anne Frank, the Jewish runaway, in their attic. During Mao’s Cultural Revolution, a starving man splits his bread to a hundred pieces until there was barely any left for him so that a hundred other people may indulge in this tiny happiness
All friends!
Kids and sheeps playing together at a park, haha! together. Humans are capable of horrendous deeds, but humans are also capable of incredible acts of pure love. In the face of destruction, every bit of humanity is needed to get through it.
This is why I have chosen the path of a humanitarian. We need every humanitarian in the world we can get. Bad things won’t stop coming, it’s the way of the world. When it does happen, we don’t succumb to it and surrender. We need to come together to heal. We need to come together and hope against all odds so that there is a chance for a better tomorrow. That is the power of humanity.
But a person does not become a humanitarian through studying books, instead, the person must be touched by the selfless act of humanity. One must experience it to understand the purity of it. One must personally understand that there was no selfish intention behind why the other person helped you. To know love, you must be loved. To know humanity, you must be touched by humanity. When that day comes, and I could only hope that it will, there is only one true thing to do: pass it on.
Medina
A large colorful market. These congested alleys lead you to an endless amount of small shops By some dumb luck, it was passed on to a selfish fool like me and all I could think to myself is, “Damn, humanity is beautiful and I wish more people knew about it.”
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. *Mohandas Gandhi
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mama
non-member comment
moved!
Oh, I was so moved by this artical! even if it were not written by my son, I will still be so touched. Dear son, you are on a very unique and deep path of human life. I am full of joy for you!