sobering moment

I watched Cutting Edge last night. the story was on the abandoned children of Bulgaria. it really is horrific to see the conditions that who knows how many children are living under. I was heartbroken to see one girl lying, bedridden, and asking to be taken outside in the pram. another little blind boy would stand in the middle of the room, waiting for someone to take him by the hand and lead him somewhere. another girl constantly wrote letters to her mother, and carefully folded them, keeping them in her bag, waiting for her mother to come and collect her.
I was convicted as I realised how "blind" I have become to the needs of others. when I worked with Amnesty International, my focus group was the Russian Federation, which has so many similar stories in many institiutions - whether schools, children's homes or prisions. we used to meet with the Russian Ambassador to discuss hem. we wrote letters to Russian members of parliament (and often received replies) we wrote to prisioners.
the point was, I cared and now I have forgotten.
during my Masters studies last year, I had to research child labour (I'm a glutton for punishment I think!) and looking at my own son I couldn't bear the thought of how children were being treated. but life can sometimes overtake itself and we forget. ok, so I hate that I have to go back to work - but then I remember that the reason I am working is so that my family have somewhere to live. I hate that just when I think I can spend a little extra, the bills arrive. but we pay the bills so we have lighting at night, so that we have water and heating in winter. life is good so who am I to complain?? I read somewhere once that instead of saying "I have to..." we should say "I get to..." that's a sure way to change our attitude to some things in our lives.
not that I think we can abandon it all and try to heal the world of everything, but it is good to be involved in something. I was interested a few weeks ago to read of the different causes friends support in one way or another. some of those I am interested in are: Alola Foundation, Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, and the Lindsay and Joseph Croft Memorial Memorial Scholarship (named for a fellow student when I was at the University of Canberra, who died in a car accident). not to mention our own ASCH sponsorship project. not all of these are in my budget, but if I put $1 per week for each cause into a moneybox, I will have $52 each year to give to each of them. not a lot, but still something. so that's my sermon to myself today!