JONIZZLE

Ok ok. So Live8. I was in Taiwan and flying back from Taiwan when I'm sure all the media was abuzz about it in the US. And I wasn't really able to watch it when I got back. I was able to catch rebroadcasts of it on tv though, and I saw this particularly story which may or may have not been big news? I don't really know. But yea.

On the Live8 stage in London they showed a video, that ended on the face of this girl:



Pretty much, it was a painful video to watch of starving children, and at first, like everyone else, I thought this girl was about to die. You really got the sense that this girl who could barely open her eyes or close her mouth was about to give up. What I didn't know was that this was footage from twenty years ago shown at Live Aid. Bob Geldorf then said something to the effect of, "twenty years ago, this girl had 10 minutes to live, but thanks to Live Aid, she is here with us now today." And much to my surprise, she really was there, as in, about to come onstage. Yes, I am a sucker for these stunts, but it is much needed.



Birhan Woldu her name is, and she really is strikingly pretty. But more importantly, she's healthy and graduating from college in Ethiopia now. To the supporters of Band Aid, Live Aid, Live8, and all other poverty fighters and etc, she is the manifestation of charitable work. From the brink of death to the brink of embarking on her own life with a college education. Not too bad at all.

I read some articles online, and one of them said Ms. Woldu wasn't actually saved by Live Aid and questioned what Geldorf claimed. And probably, Live Aid didn't directly feed her and save her life. BUT, it's still raising awareness and bringing us as humans one step closer. One step closer to seeing, to thinking, to caring, to actually doing. Each one is a different stop on a path that people in the industrialized world are on. And I think we need that. Most of us aren't going to see this video and then go right to helping out. But every little but helps, and the more and more we see, the closer and closer we are to actually doing something.

My post college plans are unsure. I'd like to pull a Jenny Chung and go teach in France for a year. But I also have feelings to go to Africa and help out, but I'm not determined enough to do it just yet. I'm watching The Killers on aolmusic.com and their performance at Live8. "I've got soul but I'm not a soldier..." I've got the desire to help, but I've got to do more to help.

One step closer, eh?