- HANNAH

The world is filled with heart-rending stories. Stories that are intense. Stories that are gut wrenching. Stories that bleed the heart. Aisha, a 13-year old Somali girl, is gang-raped and incredulously accused of adultery. She is then stoned to death. Women, children and elderly persons are burnt alive in a church in Kenya. They were seeking sanctuary from politically instigated ethnic violence. In the USA, 17-year old Trayvon is shot dead as he walks home from a convenience store. He was ‘armed’ with a bag of skittles and a can of juice. His killer, only charged after a public outcry, is later acquitted. Over 1500 people are wiped out by a double devastating horror of an earthquake and a tsunami in Indonesia. The country is still reeling from the aftermath of the tragedy.

 

In recent memory, Stephen Fry, an English entertainer and author, unleashed a scathing tirade towards God. Fry avowed this is what he would say to God if confronted at the gates of heaven. ‘…Bone cancer in children? What’s that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world to which there is such misery that is not our fault? It’s not right! It’s utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world that is so full of injustice and pain?’ This was during a televised interview − Meaning of Life. His views whipped up a frenzy of emotions in a religion-habituated world.

 

Humanity is conditioned to empathize with those who are suffering. It is the default setting. But as Dr. Wayne Dyer, an American author and motivational speaker says, ‘You can’t feel bad enough to make anybody else’s life better.’ No amount of feeling bad will bring back the tsunami-dead, or Aisha, or Trayvon. Empathy alone, though necessary, will not take away the cancer in children. A tectonic shift, so to speak, only occurs when one resolves to go beyond compassion…to do something about the situation…to choose to act. Hannah chose to act.

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Excerpt from Hannah’s Story: ‘PILLARS OF AFRICA: They Dared To Dream. Compiled & Written by Sheida

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