Hope has a place

The world is saddened by 2 natural disasters that struck Asia in the span of 1 week.

In Myanmar, more than 38,500 found themselves resting in watery graves. Many more remain thirsty, hungry and homeless as foreign aid - controlled by the iron fists of the military junta - fail to reach the most desolate corners of Yangon.

Thousands of miles north of these flooded plains, Sichuan struggles to extricate her people, and more than 50,000 are feared to have been entombed under slabs of cold, merciless concrete.

Every day the newspapers declare new death tolls and publish photos of bloodied casualties with their grieving relatives. What wrenches the heart most are stories of children lost to the relentless rains, and students crushed to instant death.

On the MRT Jerome saw headlines of heroic tales emblazoned across the pages of our local tabloid. There were teachers who shielded students from tumbling bricks, and a grandfather who continue to smile and cheer on his sole surviving grandson, while at the same time holding back tears from the loss of his dear ones.

Jerome closed his eyes, and allowed thoughts to race through his mind.

Jerome has been living in the sheltered quarters of his island, and the closest he has ever come to a natural disaster was the tremors in his flat during one of Indonesia’s worst earthquake 2 years ago. He counts his blessings, and empathizes with the plight of the survivors. At the same time, Jerome applauds the strength of the human spirit. Heroic tales aside, Jerome is encouraged when survivors overcome their grief and continue with their lives with a smile on their faces.

He remembers vividly a picture he saw on the papers several years back. It was months after the tsunami disaster, and Indonesia has begun to pick herself up and move on from the unprecedented calamity. There it was, right at the top of the page, the most adorable child with a fish in his hands.

(Yes. Jerome cut the picture out and kept the clipping.)

His eyes were gleaming with an innocent glee. He may not fully realize the devastation around him, but he has hope in his eyes. And it is this hope that will carry him forward and overcome unproductive feelings of depression and élan.

"If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Jerome wants to give hope to all in Myanmar and Sichuan. Yet, it takes 2 to clap.

Are you ready to hold hands with Jerome?