10th June 2012, by Hossein

Posted in Aceh, Indonesia

Hi everybody …

Another warm greeting from IHF center in Aceh. Last week was completely rainy week. In all days of it we had hard rain, so students couldn’t come to their classes and we didn’t have any classes last week. In this case I had more time to deal with other center work like chores and even times for reading as it is my favorite. One of the stories which I read last week is very impressive and personally I think it is very useful for NGOs activists, as they always are in question about their impact of their activities. Let me to share it with you.

Once upon a time an old man walked across the beach until he came across a young boy throwing something into the breaking waves. Upon closer inspection, the old man could see that the boy was tossing stranded starfish from the sandy beach, back into the ocean.

“What are you doing, young man?”  He asked.
“If the starfish are still on the beach when the sun rises, they will die,” the boy answered.
“That is ridiculous. There are thousands of miles of beach and millions of starfish. It doesn’t matter how many you throw in; you can’t make a difference.”

“It matters to this one,” the boy said as he threw another starfish into the waves. “And it matters to this one too …”

Although many organizations from international level down to grassroots and local level try to decrease the pain and suffering of people, still we witness suffering and pain any many places. So many people can tell us that your work doesn’t change anything in this chaos world and you cannot make a difference. But I will answer them imagine all above mentioned actors from UN to not only local organization but even individuals who just doing something as humanity thing, vanish from our world right now! Can you imagine what will be happened?

In the other hand even they tell me again about that, I will tell them it doesn’t matter to change the world I can make something change for a kid, and it matters to that one …

Last week although we didn’t have any class but I had more time to spend with Syifa, the only orphan who in our center right now. And I am happy to be in here and serve to this child.

Warm regard

 

Published by International Humanity Foundation

Half of IHF's mission is to educate the poor and the other half is to educate the world about the poor. Our vision is to strive for a world of leaders and citizens who have interacted with, and are truly knowledgeable about the world's poor. We believe in a "pass it on" philosophy where education is free and available for all who seek it. Those of us who have received a free education pass it on by helping others less fortunate by teaching, interacting and learning. With just a few hours a week, our volunteers, children and sponsors are changing the world we live in. IHF is a non-religious, non-political, non-profit organization that strongly believes in an equal opportunity for all and in preserving the cultures, traditions and beliefs of the marginalized communities it works in.

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