I AM HERE BECAUSE I CARE

“I am here for other children, I am here because I care, and I am here because children everywhere are suffering and because 40,000 people die each day from hunger. I am here because those people are mostly children, we’ve got to understand that the poor are all around us and we are ignoring them, we’ve got to understand that these deaths are preventable, we’ve got to understand that people in third world countries think, care, smile, and cry just like us, we’ve got to understand that they are us, and we are them. My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000, my dream is to give the poor a chance, my dream is to save the 40,000 people who die each day, my dream can and will come true if we are looking into the future and see the light that shines there.” Rachel Corrie

These words were said by a beautiful 5th grade American girl, who later became the great Rachel Corrie. Rachel Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), which traveled to the Gaza Strip during the Second Intifada to show their support for the people of Palestine.
In the Gaza Strip, she attended trainings in non-violent resistance and serving as human shield, she also took part in a mock trial of George W. Bush; as part of the anti-war protest against the war in Iraq.
In an interview with the Middle East Broadcasting network, she said: “I feel like I’m witnessing the systematic destruction of a people’s ability to survive … Sometimes I sit down to dinner with people and I realize there is a massive military machine surrounding us, trying to kill the people I’m having dinner with.” In an email to her mom she related about a Palestinian family which hosted her in their home:
“The two front rooms of their house are unusable because gunshots have been fired through the walls, so the whole family – three kids and two parents – sleep in the parent’s bedroom. I sleep on the floor next to the youngest daughter, Iman, and we all shared blankets. I helped the son with his English homework, and we all watched a horrifying movie. I think they all thought it was pretty funny how much trouble I had watching it.”
You can always hear the tanks and bulldozers passing by, but all of these people are genuinely cheerful with each other, and with me. When I am with Palestinian friends I tend to be somewhat less horrified than when I am trying to act in a role of human rights observer, documenter, or direct-action resister. They are a good example of how to be in it for the long haul. I know that the situation gets to them – and may ultimately get them – on all kinds of levels, but I am nevertheless amazed at their strength in being able to defend such a large degree of their humanity – laughter, generosity, and family-time – against the incredible horror occurring in their lives and against the constant presence of death. I felt much better after this morning.
I spent a lot of time writing about the disappointment of discovering, somewhat first-hand, the degree of evil of which we are still capable. I should at least mention that I am also discovering a degree of strength and of basic ability for humans to remain human in the direst of circumstances – which I also haven’t seen before. I think the word is dignity. I wish you could meet these people. Maybe, hopefully, someday you will.”