Activism

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The hopelessness I carried was not unique to me. We all have our own versions of it. And we must face the sluggish, sticky ugliness of the hopelessness we carry around if we are to make any headway. So start with Step 1: Get in touch with your commitment to serve, your commitment to leave the campsite cleaner than you found it. You might do this by remembering a time when you were moved by some simple act of kindness, from one person to another or from one person to many others. You might think about a time when you were moved by one person's courage, perhaps a person of limited means or limited power having the courage to take a stand.

Then go to Step 2: Face a problem that concerns you, preferably something about which you could feel passionate-something that lights you up. If nothing comes up at first, that's probably an indication of deep resignation about addressing local, national, or global problems. Don't worry, you are exactly where you should be. Give it some time and thought.

That will immediately lead you to Step 3: Face the hopelessness you feel about the problem. Maybe you were very active in the past but have given up in some way. Your inaction or limited action on the problem is probably a symptom of your hopelessness.

Step 4: Look for solutions. This step requires a little research. What is the best thinking on the problem? What ideas or interventions could make a real difference if people got behind them?

Try this one on. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, states that each day, 32,000 children die from largely preventable malnutrition and disease. Yes, that's 32,000 children dying every day and, yes, from largely preventable malnutrition and disease (such as malnutrition coupled with measles or malnutrition coupled with pneumonia). Thirty-two thousand children die each day. I know, it's very hard to let something like this in. Recently, I had a glimpse of what it might mean.

A few weeks before beginning this essay, Washington, D.C., the city where I live, was hit by a snowstorm that was followed days later by an ice storm. While carrying my 22-month-old son, Micah, I stepped off the curb and slipped, and both of us fell to the icy pavement. He was unhurt, but he could have suffered a severe, even fatal, injury. In the days following that fall, every time that I let myself consider the worst-case scenario, waves of grief swept over me. I know that the 32,000 sets of parents who will lose their children today feel a far deeper grief than I felt at just the thought of losing my beautiful son.

What would it cost to save most of these lives? Maybe a few cents' worth of measles vaccine, maybe a dollar's worth of antibiotics. These figures make the following statement by retired Oregon senator Mark Hatfield even more prophetic. Speaking in 1984, at the height of the nuclear freeze movement, Senator Hatfield said, 'We stand by as children starve by the millions because we lack the will to eliminate hunger. Yet we have found the will to develop missiles capable of flying over the polar cap and landing within a few hundred feet of their target. This is not innovation. It is a profound distortion of humanity's purpose on earth.'

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