Advertisement
Published: February 12th 2008
Right now I am in Tamale, in the north of Ghana. I will be leaving for Buduburam refugee camp this Friday. I am helping build a church and getting some things ready for the camp. We want to feed 400 homeless children a day for the two weeks that we are there. We will also be putting together hygienic kits filled with soap, detergent, tooth brushes, feminine supplies, a first aid kit ect. We will also give 5 kilos of rice to each family. I have been talking to the hospital administrator and the camp manager and we have come up with a list of 300 to 800 families that would really benefit from one of the packages. I am sending a news letter home more information about the project. As I said before, I am going on Friday to the camp, but the rest of the team will not be coming until the 22nd. The reason that I am going early is because I need more time with the people in order to write their stories. I have visited the camp twice already, but now I will be living there for a month. Its funny, UN volunteers pay 500 USD to live in the camp for a month or maybe it’s a week. Either way 500 USD can go a long way in this place and it seems like a waste of money to me. I am living with a family I met in the camp; I want to be with the people so that I have a better perspective on their lives. I have a hard job ahead of me. The people here hate cameras. All they know is that people come and snap photos of them without permission then they go and sell the photo on the internet for money. I think the last thing in this world needs is another picture of a poor African child. I have not taken a single picture since I have been in the camp because I want to gain the peoples trust.
I hate how some people exploit others pain. I hate it because I know the faces of the people who have been exploited. When they talk to you they give you their voice and at that moment you know that you are responsible to be their voice. The project that I am working on is a project that will save 10 peoples lives. Just visiting the camp I am met many people who are in critical need of surgery but have no money to pay for it. The hospital administrator is helping me meet these people. I want to use my photography to actually make a difference in someone’s life. I want to take a portrait of z person, then sale it for the price of the surgery. I do not want to make a dime off of these people but give 100% of it back. After I sell there portrait, then I will be able to pay the hospital for their surgery. This is a chance to actually save someone’s life. The girl I met in the camp was in need of a 600 USD surgery for her liver and I think that 600 dollars cost a lot less than a life. I know that may parents would gladly pay that for me. I know the responsibility I have. I must connect those in need with those who are able to help the needy… and this goes for every country that I step foot in.
People always ask me why I am in Africa and not helping people in my own country. The truth is that I have helped a lot of people in America. I worked in Atlanta with the homeless and in Colorado with special needs children. The truth is they really do not want to know that I help in America and they probably do not even care about needs in America… they are just looking for an excuse not to help. I do not care about imaginary boundaries called countries. Nations rise and nations fall but people still remain. I want to help those who are in the most need and those who are unable to help their selves. I do not care if they are African, American, Indian, German… we are all from the same human family and another mans life is just as valuable as mine. Jesus did not die for Christians or American but he died for the humans that he created… he died for us because he loves us. Yes he died for good people but he also loves and died for rapist and murders and child molesters. So when I ask for money to pay for a person’s surgery that will save their life. Do not favor one person over another because of the country they live in or the color of their skin. This is a huge problem in the world. Prejudice is Ignorance, I have been around the world and I am here to tell you that we are all the same. Please look at their need and listen to me when I tell you that these people are refugees and have had their lives stolen. They live in such extreme poverty that they cannot afford a simple life saving surgery and they do not have a family to borrow the money from because they were killed in the war. Look not at the color of their skin but at their situation and their need. Look at them with the same compassion that Christ feels when he looks at you.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.088s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 10; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0571s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Scott Moore
non-member comment
Powerful story Tyler. Nations rise and nations fall but people still remain. Keep up the good work!