Giving Back

I watched a horrific episode of Oprah today, which left me feeling uneasy and sad. It was about the over-population in China, and the still exisiting 'One child per family" regulation. The preference of the sex is male, and often female babies are placed in boxes and left at the supermarket or on the street and sometimes abandonned at shelters. One particular story that left me feeling the most uneasy was that of "Dying rooms" , where a child is left there for no other reason than dying. A 3 year old girl was abandonned by her parents at this shelter in China, where the operators of the shelter left her in the dying room for ten days without food, water or any physical contact or stimulation. The staff never checked on her, but would send one person in occasionally to see if she was dead. The girl was so unbelievably skinny, her eyes were nearly closed due to puss and the nearing of death and she was trying to cry, but there simply were no tears and such sad moaning escaped her mouth. I felt so uncomfortable looking at this image, and felt sick just thinking that this was happening when it could be avoided. Her parents were not of poor descent, they had just had a son and decided they no longer wanted their little girl. They had not even named her, and denied ever having another child after their son was born. How cruel can people be?

I've been thinking alot lately about the more unfortunate people in the world, and how when Christmas nears they will not have anything to call their own. Many people will not have food or even a roof over their head, children will cry and parents will feel broken inside because they cannot afford to feed them or give them a gift at Christmas. I know of a few organizations in my town that are asking for donations to help local poor families, and I know a lot of people who are in need during this upcoming holiday. I know I've been a bitch to a lot of people in the past, and I've hurt a lot of feelings, and even though most people have forgiven me I want to go further and do something to help out those that need it. I want to do it for them, so that they can all have a good Christmas. So, I'm gathering clothes, food and stuffed animals and I'm going to donate, donate, donate!! Maybe I'll even contact my Priest and ask him if I can help Adopt a Family this Christmas and help them out personally---people deserve to be happy, and I want to help them attain that happiness.