World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 - (Page 37)

OUR OGRES Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We may be made to repent, not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people.” When it comes to progress, we are all flawed. We all have the ogres within us. But we also have within us the ability to defeat these ogres. A struggling family in rural Ecuador may face unjust economic structures, a need for land reform, lack of clean water and a sense —Franklin Roosevelt of being isolated in their effort. They may confront ogres by joining with others in community development, by changing the way they plant crops, or by getting involved in political activism. Those of us living “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” in the wealthy parts of the world will take on the same ogres as we fight poverty, but in other ways. And as we do that, the resulting progress can mean ending poverty for hundreds of millions of people, vastly improving their lives through better livelihoods, nutrition, education and health. When Franklin Roosevelt gave his fi rst inauguration speech in 1933, the country was in the depths of its greatest economic crisis, with 13 million unemployed. Environmental disaster had turned a broad swath of the nation into an enormous dust bowl, and fascism was on the rise in Europe. He told his concerned listeners, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” This is, in fact, a good starting point, a little courage to overcome a little fear. Many of us have heard the saying, “When you’re having ham and eggs for breakfast, the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.” Can’t we at least become involved and then, as time goes on, see if we want to become more committed? If we do, we bring much more quickly that day when hundreds of millions have access to enough food, to clean water, to education and good health. Join a small expedition to the remote villages where Heifer works. Trek into jungles, up mountains and onto the plateaus to visit the homes and hear the stories of the families we help. Share a meal of Tanzanian bananas, Peruvian yogurt or Nepalese cheese with the farmers responsible for the harvest. Discover you have more in common with men and women struggling for self-reliance than you ever imagined. And, just maybe, find yourself. Heifer Study Tours – Travel to a Better World. Visit www.heifer.org/studytours or see the calendar for trip listings and dates. www.heifer.org September/October 2008 | WORLD ARK 37 http://www.heifer.org/studytours http://www.heifer.org/studytours http://www.heifer.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008

World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008 Contents Letters For the Record The Good Life Asked and Answered Digging Up the Past Not a Drop to Drink Facing the Ogres of Progress Mixed Media Heifer Bulletin Heifer Spirit World Ark Market Calendar First Person

World Ark Magazine - September/October 2008

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