Forgiveness by example

Great things happen in life. In the time I was absent from writing this blog, I got married to the most wonderful man, spent an incredible summer with people I love, and moved to a new city to begin another great adventure. Life is good.
And yet, there are times when life seems unbearable, or at least, difficult. Times when the greatness and beauty of this life are overshadowed by some moment of extreme injustice or rage-inducing hypocrisy. It's times like these that we need to be even more vigilant about finding examples of goodness, honesty, and justice.
I am sure we have all had days like that recently- the political climate makes it difficult to think about much else. And my day today was especially difficult. After storming out of an appointment and driving angrily home, I decided that today would be the perfect day to begin this blog again.

So, here goes.

This is a story about forgiveness, which, while it might be an easy subject to bring up, is much harder to actually achieve. A man who was shot in the fear-encompassed post-9-11 world tells a story in which he was not only able to genuinely forgive his attacker, but where he also chose to fight for him in court. Truth be told, it made my "unfair day" look small in the grand scheme of things, and, thankfully, put me back on more solid ground.

Listen to his story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00hzsq2

Or, read about it here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/18/rais-bhuiyan-pleads-to-spare-mark-stroman_n_902137.html

"I was raised very well by my parents and teachers. They raised me with good morals and strong faith. They taught me to put yourself in others’ shoes. Even if they hurt you, don’t take revenge. Forgive them. Move on. It will bring something good to you and them. My Islamic faith teaches me this too. He said he did this as an act of war and a lot of Americans wanted to do it but he had the courage to do it — to shoot Muslims. After it happened I was just simply struggling to survive in this country. I decided that forgiveness was not enough. That what he did was out of ignorance. I decided I had to do something to save this person’s life. That killing someone in Dallas is not an answer for what happened on Sept. 11." 
-- Rais Bhuiyan

"I am Afghan woman and I must wail..."

I am extremely impatient with the state of the United States today. I teach high school to "underprivileged" students, and yes, some of them genuinely are in need of real advocacy for the unfairness their lives have dealt them. Most, however, take for granted the free education that is provided to them, the rights they have to go to school in a safe environment, to wear the clothes they want, to listen to the music they want, to have access to anything in the world via the Internet.... and the opportunity to pursue whatever career they choose. Many of them fail to realize that they have many, many advantages over most of the world's population, and even those who struggle in school are still able to have a life that affords them many luxuries.

I've been told to "shut up" from three different students today for asking students to do what they're supposed to to anyway. I was told earlier that I should be more concise with my directions after my French students translated their game into Spanish. "You didn't tell us what language to translate it to..." they said. Really??!!?? The news today abounds with worthless crap that we're supposed to care about. Charlie Sheen, Tiger Woods, Justin whatever-his-name-is... I am so tired of the things this country has placed at the top of its priority list.

I need a good story about good people who are doing good for the world. I head a story on BBC Outlook today about a female prosecutor in Afghanistan, and even though the story itself is heart-wrenching and sad, the light that shines through circumstances such as these is even brighter because of them. If I could only be as brave and courageous as this woman in my little comfortable life, I might be able to overlook all the little things that get to me, and truly make a difference. Maria Bashir is the true embodiment of Ubuntu.

Definitely read about her here:

http://www.unodc.org/afghanistan/en/frontpage/2010/January/interview-maria-bashir.html

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/01/self-immolation-afghanistan-maria-bashir-herat

And listen to the Outlook interview here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00fvlf1

Acts of goodwill propagate through the city....

After a little hiatus, I started listening/searching again for more Ubuntu. Strangely enough, right as I was thinking, "Hey, I should start looking for some more stories..." I heard this story on NPR. The part that got my attention was the beginning anecdote about the man named "Oscar" who lost his wallet in Philadelphia's Reading Market and had it returned to him, intact, several weeks later by an anonymous person. Neal Conan makes a point that the act of goodwill is not so much the act in itself, but the fact that Oscar repeats the story over and over again. The interview is actually with an author about centers where ethnic and socioeconomic barriers are broken down and people see each other as people. It's a good interview, with a lot of good Ubuntu stories that would otherwise probably go unheard. I hope you listen.

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/04/135116342/bridging-racial-divides-in-cosmopolitan-canopies

Turning lemons into lemonade...into relief

As a teacher, I have been dismayed by the enormous budget cuts to the education system, and have spent much of the last week wallowing in self pity and anger towards those who think that teachers and those who work in the public sector are so expendable. Also, I had an extremely hard time finding Ubuntu in any news story this week, as so many terrible things have happened around the world. However, if there's one thing that I'm learning through this, it's that people inevitably come out to help those in need during times of tremendous tragedy. I happened to hear this story on NPR about those in Hawaii raising money to help those affected by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. My favorite part was hearing about the children who set up a lemonade stand, and sent their resulting $145 to Japan relief efforts. True Ubuntu in the works.

Listen to the story here:

Hawaii Looks To Help Japan With Donations

Countering Thoughtlessness

I should know by now not to read comments people make on controversial news stories. I was reading a story earlier about Rep Gabrielle Giffords' recovery and some of the comments made were unnecessary, and unnecessarily hateful. I guess I'm having a hard time balancing free speech with the things that people choose to say. I suppose one has to be strong enough in his convictions to be able to look past the sometimes horrifying rhetoric people spew onto public forums. I decided that since I'm not quite that strong, I'm going to counter it with an old story from BBC Outlook I heard in January. I think about this woman and her Ubuntu spirit nearly every day, and I think that her selflessness and compassion are great enough to wipe out the rest of what I head today.
Enjoy!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2011/01/110104_dorah_mokoena.shtml 

To read more about Dorah's story, go here:
http://www.childrenoffire.org/index2.asp?include=thetimes.htm&catID=3

And to learn more about children like Dorah, or to make a contribution, go here:
http://www.firechildren.org/index.asp

Patriotic Ubuntu

The decision of the Supreme Court last week that upheld the right to free speech for members of the Westboro Baptist "Church" was upsetting, and unfortunately, I think, the right decision. This is one of the things about free speech that is so upsetting- people can spew their hate and bigotry wherever... even our fallen soldiers' funerals. However, I found this story (thanks Carol and Snowden) posted on Facebook today, and it made me feel a little more...uplifted... about this decision. Yes, these people have the right to say what they want, but no one has to hear it. This is a great example of Archbishop Tutu's description of Ubuntu- people who feel diminished when others are diminished, and therefore must do something about it.

Thank God for those who have the Ubuntu to protect grieving families by drowning out those who, while they have the right to, should not be talking.

http://www.godvine.com/Christian-Veterans-Protect-the-Funeral-of-a-Fallen-Soldier-278.html

Going out of your way to help....literally

After reading in Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point that people are more likely to help a person in dire need if they are the only one around to hear their calls for help, I was struck with the sinking sensation that people may not be as philanthropic as I had thought. But I heard this story about a captain who went off his course to help stranded Afghani refugees, and I feel a little more uplifted about those willing to help another in his or her time of need.

Listen to the story here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2011/03/110304_outlook--rescue-captain_remeeus.shtml