I'm fortunate enough to get satellite radio in the mommy van, and between treks to work, doctors, music lessons and school volunteer activities, I flip channels a lot. I like to listen to the news, but I often have to flip it off due to the grim nature of some of the "news" stories -- really not safe for little ears. Oh and my favorite is when they report on a car chase on the radio -- from somewhere in LA (I live in Texas) - since it's hard to appreciate the "excitement" when you can't see the car being chased.
But as I flicked on the news over the weekend, I was glued to the CNN Heroes segment about Marie da Silva, a nanny from Malawi who donates a third of her paycheck each month to fund a school for AIDS orphans in her home country. I was struck by the simplicity of her calling -- she did it because she saw such a great need, and describes that she has been doing it for her own heart. Such simple generosity of time, money and spirit and idea has forever impacted the lives of children who will no doubt grow up to lead incredible, productive lives because of the chance they've been given by this one woman.
Each of the stories deserves as much notice as possible, because it is these stories of a single individual, drawn to solve a problem, with no infrastructure, no existing organization, just a drive and desire to really help show just how much one simple person can accomplish.
I find it especially refreshing, because most often the stories of individual achievement we hear are simply those about a celebrity who has lent his name to a cause, or perhaps truly invested themselves in working for something important -- but these aren't regular people making $36,000 a year, they are wealthy people who have every advantage in making these things happen. That's why the stories of everyday heroes, anonymous people of truly remarkable accomplishments are among the most inspiring I have heard in some time.
Last year, along with my daughter, I had the remarkable good fortune to meet Mohammad Yunus, who won the 2006 Nobel Peace prize for his pioneering work developing microcredit in Bangladesh. As founder of the Grameen Bank, his efforts have helped lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and has inspired others throughout the world to make small loans to the poor.
After waiting for 2 hours, we finally had our brief moment to meet and have our book signed. When he saw me approach with my then 7 year old, he set down his pen, and spoke directly to her: "I am so glad you are here, because young people are the future, and you can do anything you want in this world. The only secret is to decide to do one small thing, and then achieve it. The you can do the next larger thing, and so on." He then signed her book, and we thanked him and left. Some months later, she announced that she was planning to do one small thing, enter a writing contest. She said she got the idea from Mr Yunas, because what she really wanted to do was write a book, but he said take small achievable steps, one at a time, and that seemed like a good step toward what she really wants to do.
This kind of personal inspiration from people who may start as everyday heroes, but grow into a Nobel peace prize winner, is critical to helping our children and let's face it, even us grownups, develop an excitement and renewed enthusiasm for what we can accomplish in our lives. And maybe by this time next year, we'll all be celebrating our own small heroic accomplishment.
What a great idea! The thought of scheduling kitchen chores over Christmas with my family is very appealing.
Posted by: Julia | November 27, 2008 at 12:35 PM