My job is to feed my hungry neighbor

By Burunciuc Mihai
(Age 14, Moldova)

The Planet is everything that surrounds us, but one cannot care about all of the millions of issues and problems that occur around the world. It is humanly impossible to suffer for every starving child, every hunted animal or every suffering living being in the world. This is why my philosophy is not to concentrate on helping the entire world, but to focus on lending a hand to my friends, neighbors and community. I improve the Planet my improving a tiny part of it.

Several years ago I was convinced that to solve problems is the job of my parents, governments or some authorities, but only not mine. I believed that being a simple 13 years old guy I have no power to make any difference. But is happened that a friend of mine invited me to participate in Youth Millennium Action which was an international project aimed to motivate children all over the world to solve global problems at the local level. I will always remember our first team meeting where our group coordinator told us "Maybe some of you came here hoping that you will change the world in one day. Dreamers, forget about this. We don't have enough money, power and influence to help entire Planet. But we do have resources to help our community. Then let's start here, help here, make a difference here and right now." This is how we started to make differences.

Our first project was to clean up the banks of our local river, to build there some benches and to plant trees. We worked for two months and honestly speaking we didn't transform this abandoned place in some sort of fancy beach, but obviously it turned out to be nicer place than it was before we came there. The second project initiated by our team was aimed to help our local school for blind children. When we met our mates from that school we found out that most of them didn't read any book in their lives, because of lack of money the school couldn't buy any books or newspapers printed in Braille alphabet. Our team decided to help those children in the simplest way we could. All we had to do is to buy some audio tape, borrow from library dozens of books, read them aloud an record everything. Those blind children couldn't read, but they could listen to fascinating stories articulated by us. When the big day came and we handed those tapes to our mates I couldn't decide who is happier: our tem or our new friends. They were thankful for such a gift and care, while we were glad to realize how valuable our work is.

We started our project as a game joke, some sort of entertainment, but step by step it became for us a real work. Finally I started to realize that I am able to change something and that solving problems is my job too. Also I learned that the world is composed from individuals, and if every person will ameliorate somehow his or her community it will result in a global improvement, it will make my and your life better.

At the end of the project our coordinator gave us small cards where she wrote "Dear dreamer, if in the future you will try to feed the hungry world first of all don't forget to feed your hungry neighbor. You must think globally, but act locally." This experience changed me in the way I cannot explain, I didn't become some sort of Mother Teresa, but still it transformed me in a nice guy who doesn't forget to feed his neighbor and by this to change the world.