First World Problems

It's easy to complain, isn't it?

That's why the First World Problems meme making its way across the intertubes is so brilliant.  It highlights the thousands and thousands of things people say & do that are "problems" for people who live in wealthy, developed countries.  Your cell phone battery died?  Your fast food order wasn't right?  The video below is fantastic, and if that's not enough for you there's the #firstworldproblems hashtag on Google+ or twitter that will supply you with millions more examples.  And obviously, if these are the worst things we have to worry about in life, then we really don't have much to worry about in life.  Compare these problems to, say, for example, I don't know, maybe, the people of the Nuba mountains in Sudan?  Time to stop complaining & do something good.  Like stop the killings in Syria & Sudan.

But it's too bad he forgot to mention Justin Bieber.

More on the man who stayed behind

A couple of weeks ago I posted on the man who stayed behind, a story from last October about Ryan Boyette, a guy from Florida who has been living in Sudan despite the constant fear of bombings from the Sudanese government.  The story was by NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and since then Kristof has visited Sudan and has written several articles on the situation.  A couple of days ago he posted a must-read update, which includes a short video showing the atrocities.  Kristof visited Boyette to get a first hand account of the threats, the damage, and the need.  Children are hiding in caves to avoid being killed or brutally injured by bomb shrapnel.  A horrible injustice is being carried out, and I hope and pray that the rest of the world will awake to this issue and build the societal will necessary to do something to stop the bombings and get food to these people before serious starvation occurs.

This is way more important than whoever wore & won whatever at the Oscars tonight.

The Man Who Stayed Behind

This news is a bit old, coming from last October, but it was new to me and so impressive I had to share.  The story is of a 30-year old guy, Ryan Boyette, who has been living in Sudan and trying desperately not to get killed in doing so.  NYTimes columnist Nicholas Kristoff wrote up a piece about him, The Man Who Stayed Behind, that is a must-read.  He started out working with the international aid agency Samaritan's Purse, but when they required that he leave, he resigned.  He had, by that point, been living there 8 years and had gotten married to a local woman named Jazira.  I found another article on him, including an interview at Pantheos that is also worth reading. His life is a story that all of us need to hear, and upon hearing, act.  But what to do?  I'll be honest - I don't know.  There certainly are aid organizations where money could be sent, such as those linked to above.  But also, share his story.