Less privileged around world deserve help, aid in struggling times
It’s that time of year again when holidays are sneaking up, leaving us wondering where on Earth the semester went, and the surging wave of exams and papers is even larger than the turkey we’ll be eating in a few days.
Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated here in Hong Kong, seeing as it’s an all-American holiday, but I could tell it was approaching back home when Facebook began to blow up with statuses about going home for break and eating massive amounts of food, as well as the various things they have to be thankful for — shelter, stable jobs, nice children, pretty dogs.
I, too, usually make a list around this time every year of things I’m thankful for, just as sort of an obligatory reminder to myself to be appreciative, to not take things for granted and all that jazz. My list is usually comprised of pretty basic things: great friends, a chance at a good education, enough food and a comfortable bed.
But this year, I feel different. I haven’t made a list this year, and it’s not because I’m running out of things to be thankful for but rather because I almost feel, for the lack of a better word, petty for doing so.
I’ve seen and learned a lot semester that I didn’t know about before. Well, to be fair, I knew about them, but they, as most global issues are to us in the States, never hit that close to home. I was always pretty far removed from them.
But over the past few months, I’ve seen things firsthand and learned about things in my classes here that I’ve been fortunate enough to have been fairly sheltered from growing up in my quiet hometown in Charleston, S.C.
I’ve seen poverty in its most harrowed form. I’ve seen slums and have had small beggar children run up to ask not for money but for the clean water from the bottle in my hand. I’ve visited the homes of refugees living in the “ghettos” of Hong Kong; I’ve written papers for class about socioeconomic states of India. And one important thing I’ve learned from it all is that though being thankful is important, it’s not enough.
It’s not enough for us to just sit back, utter a few words of thanks for the things we have and move on with our lives. We live privileged lives, and perhaps we, myself definitely included, may not ever realize or fully appreciate exactly what we have. But along with that privilege, we also have responsibilities we should act upon.
Instead of making a list this year, I think I’ll give the old, fruit-stand lady on the street corner a couple of extra bucks. Perhaps I’ll buy some water for the next homeless child I see or donate toys to the next fundraiser. There’s not too much I can do right now, but I’d like to think small things matter.
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