I have seen the same picture in the television, social media and newspaper of the poor drowned child. I did not want to stare at the picture too long nor read the articles as my heart and mind cannot process the horror of this tragedy!
I can only Imagine what these families must have suffered through that propelled them to leave their homes. Nobody will willingly uproot their families from their homes and venture into the uncertainly unless the certainty left for them at home is death and suffering. This has been an ongoing crisis that the world in general, including me, has been ignoring.
Until the drowned child… People suddenly took notice! In life, people looked away from him but in death, he will not be ignored! Heart strings were pulled and people were made to look hard and feel. This is no longer a crisis affecting others in a far away land – it is a tragedy that is affecting humanity.
As I look at the picture, I can only imagine the anguish of his parents that all the dreams and potentials of their son are gone but most importantly, they will never hear his laughter, his voice nor feel his warm embrace again!
It is so easy to blame the UN, the different government and the evil that drove these peoples from their lands. It is easy to look at the ineptitude of the government agencies, yet are we not also culpable in our inaction? ‘ The only necessary thing for the triumph of evil is for good man to do nothing’
This young boy in his innocence has made us look into ourselves and remember what it means to be human again. So the question now is … What will you…I… We do?
“You have to understand that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land.’- Warsan Shire
missingleton 