I am here.

I'm here for other children.
I'm here because I care.
I'm here because children everywhere are suffering and because 40,000 people die each day from hunger.
I'm here because those people are mostly children.
We have got to understand that the poor are all around us and we are ignoring them.
We have got to understand that these deaths are preventable.
We have got to understand that people in third world countries think and care and smile and cry just like us.
We have got to understand that they dream our dreams and we dream theirs.
We have got to understand that they are us. We are them.
My dream is to stop hunger by the year 2000.
My dream is to give the poor a chance.
My dream is to save the 40,000 people who die each day.
My dream can and will come true if we all look into the future and see the light that shines there.
If we ignore hunger, that light will go out.
If we all help and work together, it will grow and burn free with the potential of tomorrow.

-- Rachel Corrie (1990)


Tonight I saw a beautiful, heart-breaking play called My name is Rachel Corrie which tells the true story of Rachel, an American peace activist who died on March 16, 2003. She was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip as she tried to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes.

At the age of 10, she wrote and gave a speech containing the above text.

When she died, she was 23.

Next week will be 10 years since Rachel died, and we are still at war. People are still dying. There is still poverty and fear and displacement.

But ... we cannot give up. If we did, where would we be then?

Rachel should be an inspiration.

In her own words:

We should be inspired by people ... who show that human beings can be kind, brave, generous, beautiful, strong - even in the most difficult circumstances.

If you ever get the chance to see this play, don't hesitate. Go.