Let's start a cause

This blog post is a part of the I follow my heart project

Helping is something special. It’s great when you can help someone, when you support him in some way. It’s always a good feeling. But many people think that they can’t do anything on their own, because they are just one single person, and one single person can’t do anything.  But together, when there are many single persons, they can reach a lot. Like on causes.com, on which everyone can put a pledge or cause, share this via Facebook and spread the word over the internet.

No matter if you are against child abuse, wanna do something against the greenhouse effect, if you wanna save a kid who was badly treated, you wanna give children a home who don’t have one, protect the environment, are against factory farming, and so on. Over 170 million people have taken action on the site so far, so you can reach many people when you put your cause on that site. So if you wanna help someone or do something good, there is a good place to find many people who will support you.

screenshot of the website

I already took part in the Turn Facebook Pink To Support Breast Cancer which was last year in October, because everyone should be aware of and support this. There are many women who have to fight against breast cancer. No one wants to think about it, but cancer can come to all of us. And almost everyone knows at least one person who has or had cancer. So I wanted to support this.

There are many causes on this site, and this is why I love it so much. Everyone can be a part of it, and help someone, support people and do something good. It’s not always about giving money, it’s about writing about them, that these people will be heard, that other people think about them. The internet makes this possible. One person is not only one single person anymore. We are all connected, and together we can do even more.

For more on causes click here.

Deutsche Welthungerhilfe

This blog post is a part of the I follow my heart project 

For 50 years the German ‘Welthungerhilfe’ helps people worldwide who have nothing or not much to live. They support people like on Haiti or Kuba. After hurricane Sandy had destroyed lots of the few things they had, 33.000 people were hit hard by that hurricane, 45 people were reported dead on Haiti. It’s no question that Sandy destroyed a lot, many people still have to suffer these days. The ‘Welthungerhilfe’ supports them and other people who have less, and/or were hit hard by such a natural disaster. They want to help these people to improve their lives.

Hurricanes in Nicaragua, north of Costa Rica, are very often. In September 2007 hurricane Felix destroyed many wells, buildings and medical care stations. The people don’t have much to drink, because the wells are often leaky and dirty. Drinkable water is getting less because of that, so when people drink out of the well, the chance is high that they get sick. Another problem is that they don’t have much to eat, and so they are more prone to become sick.
The ‘Welthungerhilfe’ helps the residents to build new houses, sanitary installations and repair the damaged wells. They also help the people planting fruits and vegetables and give them advices how to take care of it, and how to sell the not needed goods most effectively.

The ‘Welthungerhilfe’ does a lot to help people who need the help the most. I think it’s a very good cause, and when you click on their website you see how much they’ve already done and what they still do. You can also donate some money, they will use it to help human beings who really needs it. Inform yourself about it, talk about it, share the website. Many people should know about this and get the chance to help. We could be like them, and wouldn’t we be happy if someone out there would help us? We might complain a lot about our lives, but in my mind, it could have been much more worse.

picture taken by John Martinez Pavliga

For more on Deutsche Hungerhilfe go to http://www.welthungerhilfe.de/home.html (website is in German)

OperationSAFE

This blog post is a part of the I follow my heart project 

 “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit?” 

Proverb

Kids should be kids. They should play with their friends, have fun and living a good life with their family. A family that protects them, takes care of them and gives them love. But unfortunately not every kid is blessed with that. So many children lost their parents way too early and so they need others to help them. Like OperationSAFE, that is run by volunteers and short-term teams.

picture taken from the OperationSAFE-website

So many bad things happen every single day. You receive a bad message from your doctor, someone of your family suffers or someone you loved had died. It is hard for us to go through this, to understand why such a bad thing had happened to us. But imagine you would still be a child. Wouldn’t it be so much worse? Children understand such a disaster even less than an adult. Why did this happen to them? Why had their parents left them? Left them all alone? They keep asking themselves such questions and they will never forget what happened to them.

Maybe they also think they have done something wrong, and that’s the punishment. But of course that is not true. When an earthquake or another natural disaster caused the death of their parents and they have to live in an orphanage, they might not feel loved. These kids are loved but not by the ones they love: their own parents. They miss them, miss the safety they gave them. So when a kid gets affected by such a horrible disaster, they suffer much more than a grown-up, and so they need special help. OperationSAFE takes care of these children. They teach them the five important principles to emotional recovery and survival.

After such a disaster had happened and the kids know that they won’t see their parents again, they feel left alone. So the first thing for them is to realize that they are not. There are still people who love them and take care of them, because everyone is important. Life is a gift, and everyone is worth living his or her life. So they should make new friends and talk to them, it’s not about to give up but to look forward. Believe in yourself and follow your heart. Stay courageous and strong. You’ll realize that you are loved.

Stories, crafts, songs and games help these kids to regain hope. They make friends, communicate with each other, and try to forget. They won’t forget, but together they can get through it all a bit better and easier. OperationSAFE does a great job in my mind, that’s why I wanted to write about their work. I think it’s really impressive and a great thing. Children should be allowed to have a good childhood, they should not suffer, they should not have to go through such pain and think life is only about that. They should firstly see the beautiful sides of life. So when something so horrible happened to them, they need help of others to realize that they are not alone, that they are loved and life goes on. Everyone working for OperationSAFE shows us, that life really has very good, kind and generous sides, too.

For more on OperationSAFE go to http://opsafeintl.com/

The tutu project

This blog post is a part of the I follow my heart project

Yesterday I saw something on TV which really caught my eye and touched my heart. And after watching it, I thought: this could be the first contribution to my charity project I Follow my Heart, about what people do to help others. That it's not only about the money. There are many ways people come into our lives and change it in a good way. And writing about these people who spend time and do something really impressive, is just a great thing and worth to share it.

I don't know if you have already heard of the Tutu Project. I haven't since yesterday. It's about the New York photographer Bob Carey who takes pictures of himself wearing nothing but a tutu. And the reason is his wife who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003. So he takes pictures to cheer her up, to give her hope to beat it.

A commercial assignment for Ballet Arizona inspired him to do this. He started to think about beginning a series of pictures with him in the tutu. When Carey and his wife moved to New York, she was diagnosed and he dedicated the series to her. He wants to give her hope, a reason to laugh and still have some joy when everything seems so dark. I guess it cheers him up, too. I mean what can be better than seeing your beloved smiling?

This is such a good idea, so touching. Photos are not just pictures, some do even tell a story. A good picture doesn't need words to be understood all over the world. Because it can say more than any word could. That's why I can't find any word that could perfectly describe what I feel about this. There's gonna be a self-published photobook called Ballerina which is dedicated to all women who fight against breast cancer, and their relatives. All the net proceeds from the book will go to breast cancer organizations like CancerCare.org.

If you want to know more about this wonderful project and also see more pictures, please go to The Tutu Project.

Picture and information for this blog post taken from Wired

If you have an idea or want to write a guest post on my blog about someone who inspires you or someone who does something great and inspiring to help others, please contact me.