It fascinates me that people go to their limits to do something good. They throw everything into the ring to help. They are selfless and believe in the good. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Because ego gets in the way of them achieving their purpose and goals.
I’m not talking about doing something good by making an annual donation to different facilities or institutions - of course, it’s still important. I’m also not talking about feeding our neighbors’ cats when they’re on vacation - of course we do that as a neighborly thing. I’m talking about the big things we can do to help others.
Just last night I had a very stimulating conversation with my brother-in-law. The question revolved around “what can we do? “. Now my brother-in-law has been to Africa in the desert several times with his Toyota. More in the style of desert tourism. Well off people have huge fun buying a mobile suitable for the desert and then driving it to Africa and having a great time in the desert enjoying nature. However, here the poverty and the needs of the people, can only be perceived as a side note. It is just a vacation.
During the conversation, we then came across the fact that it is not only the big things that help. It starts on a small scale. So we talked about why we don’t, for example, go to Africa for a month as a couple and offer our help in projects that exist as a matter of course. Because the deed helps more in the end than just the thought or a donation.
Memory of an earlier moment
It must have been around 1993. At that time I was training to be a landscape gardener. I was young and having a lot of fun. One evening I was sitting in my local pub, musing to myself. Unfortunately, I can’t remember why the thought popped into my head. But it was very concrete and I was determined to do it. I wanted to go to Africa and help with a development project. After all, I was “in good shape”, didn’t have two left hands and could lend a hand. Everything that had to do with building something, sawing, drilling was mine. The more strenuous, the better. There was no such thing as can’t.
At that time I spent a lot of time with my boss Werner. He taught me a lot. What always fascinated me - much to my father’s chagrin - was his attitude. As a young aspiring entrepreneur, you had to go to the village to get advice from the old established entrepreneurs. Of course, it was good advice. But all too often, Werner did just the opposite. He didn’t want to swim in the mainstream and did his own thing. Even if it didn’t always go down well - I was fascinated by the rebellion and being different, and it certainly shaped me to some extent. That in turn, my father has until today - despite all criticism - always very benevolently supported and enabled me so many things that would not have been possible otherwise.
My thoughts were, as I sat there alone at the bar, free. So I thought my way to Africa. I wanted to do something. I wanted to help. I don’t know if in the end I didn’t have the courage, or if it was just euphoria brought on by the delicious Eichbaum beer. But I didn’t do it. I did not go to Africa. Not until today.
The thought comes back
We are bombarded every day via the media with atrocities, poverty and suffering in the world and also in Germany. And we find it terrible. Unfortunately, we often fail to do anything about it.
Much more serious is the fact that we know nothing about other countries and people. Just reading, hearing or seeing the news may pique us briefly and make us ashamed for a short time. “There one must nevertheless do something!”. Right. But who is “one “?
It is not difficult to deal with the topics and the history of the other countries. I came across the Spanish Civil War through the interest to learn more about Spain and have read various books about it. The struggle of the Republic against the fascists and Franco was confused. Communists, socialists, tolkinists, anarchists and all other …ists put up a fight against the advancing fascists under chaotic circumstances. In the end, they lost the war. The superiority of Franco’s troops, supported by Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini with arms supplies, was simply too great.
Reading the literature, I especially loved George Orwell, Ernest Hemingway and Axel Frelau as contributors and thus direct eyewitnesses. To experience so closely and from their point of view what it was like to fight a desperate battle there. fascinated me. I wanted to fly back in a time machine to the years 1936 - 1939, grab a gun and fight the fascists.
Especially Axel Frelau{target:”_blank”}, a Czech doctor who wrote several books in the GDR, grew on me. The book “Kongo den Puls gefühlt” brought me to Africa. In it he tells about his time as a surgeon on a voluntary basis in various places in the Congo. The Belgians were withdrawing from the country at this time and the first Congolese government was formed. The first prime minister of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba, is assassinated. A war-like state continues with uprisings and many deaths.
Over the reading and discussions over it, then one of my interlocutors brings me on the film “Machine Gun Preacher “. Sounds very much like a B-movie with a lot of shooting. Although there is a good portion of Hollywood in it, the movie tells the story about Sam Childers{target:”_blank”}. A fanatical 1%er (that’s what freedom-loving motorcycle rockers are called), who is a drug addict and violent, finds his way to God through his wife. He says no to drugs and alcohol and becomes a successful contractor. On a trip to Africa in Sudan, he witnesses the inhumane atrocities of the LRA rampaging there.