We hear stories of countries that need help all around us. A third-world country never seemed real to me until I recently visited Mali, Africa.
Before this trip, I had not fully realized before what a wonderful life I live in the United States. Here in Utah, we have running water, toilets, showers, HUGE grocery stores and cleanliness. We have good jobs, equal rights and many opportunities for education. These are only a few of the great things we enjoy here.
Compared with some other places, we live like royalty! Even though our country is in a recession, we enjoy so many things other countries do not have and have so many opportunities. I did not realize I had so many opportunities until I saw how few others had.
I traveled to Mali with a foundation called Mali Rising. The motto of this foundation is "empowering through education." The foundation's job is to educate and hence break the cycle. It is doing this by building schools. While I was in Mali, a school was completed and I attended the dedication. It is amazing to see how much the prospective students loved their school! All of the people in the village took a holiday just to attend this dedication. It was a milestone to them.
If you wish to help, you can go to the foundation's Web site, www.malirisingfoundation.org, to donate toward a school, or perhaps to donate supplies to the people of Mali. Or it might be easier for us teens to join their page on Facebook.
However, not all of us can go to Africa nor do we have millions to donate. But there are people in our own country, in our state, in our communities and our schools that need help as well. Not all hungry, lonely and hurting people live in Africa. There are many around us every day who need help. Whether it is emotionally or physically, many people need our assistance. We don't need to look further than a few miles to help someone who is struggling.
There are opportunities to help out everywhere. Many church organizations have very effective humanitarian programs; check with your church leader. One time I went with a group of teens from my church to a women's shelter where we played with the children there for a few hours. We had so much fun, and we touched those children's lives. School counselors also would know what you can do in your school. Some clubs and groups do great service projects. In most cases you don't need oodles of money to help, just your time.
The director of Mali Rising told our group while we were in Mali not to come home from Africa feeling guilty for what we had, but rather to come home with an appreciation for what we had and to use our blessings to help others around us.
Let's try and help people year-round, and not just on special occasions. If we could do this, many lives could be changed.
Morgan Ferrell is a junior at Morgan High School. E-mail her at mo_ferrell@hotmail.com.
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