Like millions of others around the world, I sympathize with my fellow human beings when they are going through horrible events such as the ongoing civil dispute in Syria, the persecution of Palestinians in Israel, daily victims of terrorist attacks, etc. Despite the sympathy I felt before, I was never quite moved enough to take action. This is due to a disconnect between the safe environment I am in, and the fact that I did’t know any of the people that are going through such horrid events. For the first time in my life, instead of just reading about some random individuals going through horrible things, I had to face the fact that a close family member of mine could potentially be one of those people I read about.

I have an aunt, Emi, who works for the UN. She is stationed in the uppermost northern province in Cameroon, Maroua, to work with refugees. I remember coming back from work and having my other aunt tell me that a teenage girl had just detonated a bomb, killing at least 20 people. My first concern was if my aunt Emi was alright. The attack is believed to have been orchestrated by the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram. I was absolutely terrified because Cameroon borders Nigeria and Maroua borders northern Nigeria as well. I contacted my aunt to make sure she was okay and was glad to learn that she had been nowhere near the bombing site when the event occurred.

I was obviously very happy that my aunt was safe and sound, but the bombing made me think of the 20 families that had lost loved ones, and the many others who now had to pay hospital fees and face other challenges due to their loved ones being injured. I also saw the disconnect that I myself experience when I watch the news on some horrid event but yet forget about it as soon as the next big thing comes out. Worse yet, most people didn’t even know that a bombing had occurred. I don’t find it fair that others around the world have to live in perpetual terror while others go about their lives with their biggest worries being what they are going to wear. In no way am I blaming anyone for I have done the same things before. I believe that one of the biggest reasons why we have so many bad things happening is because we have desensitized and separated ourselves from those who are suffering.

The best ways we can go about resolving this is educating ourselves and standing up for those who are unable, or do not have, the means to defend themselves. We as a society can accomplish such a task by simply reading the news and writing about it on the various social media outlets we have, so that others know what is going on. We can further go beyond the discussions to actually taking action by volunteering or helping to raise funds for the survivors. Taking action is the least we can do when we are so privileged to walk about and exercise the rights we have without fear of persecution.