Coming from a privileged lifestyle where food on the dinner table was a given, gifts for my birthday were expected, and my closet was filled with clothes, it is hard to imagine a life without any such luxuries. It’s hard to get a taste of a different lifestyle, one without any of that, as I grew up in a setting where I was unaware about the outside world. As a child, I used to think that everyone lived a similar lifestyle to mine, but sadly, I’ve come to the realization that not everyone is as fortunate as I am.
For the past few years I’ve been reading stories posted by Brandon Stanton, the man behind Humans of New York. By reading brief paragraphs that somehow carry a lot of weight, I’ve broadened my mind, and my eyes have been opened to what the world is really like. His stories typically focus on New Yorkers and their daily encounters or monumental events in their lives, but recently Brandon has traveled the world to hear non-New Yorkers discuss their lives. Currently, he's in Greece focusing on refugees and their tragic stories.
Out of all of the posts that Brandon has written, there was a recent one that really opened my eyes and moved me. I’ve grown up with a positive childhood filled with happy and joyous memories, and it’s hard to imagine a child without these aspects in their childhood. On September 28, HONY posted a photo of a man with his daughter located in Lesvos, Greece. The father discussed how he wished he could’ve provided his daughter with a better lifestyle. “She hasn’t known many happy moments. She never had a chance to taste childhood,” he stated. Although there are millions of children who share that same “childhood,” the words that came out of his daughter's mouth when they were getting onto a boat to escape their location was heartbreaking and made her situation worse in my eyes. Her mother was in the crowd, and since everyone was trying to save themselves to get onto the boat to travel across the ocean, the overpowering crowd was crushing her mother, who was trying to hop on.
After seeing her mother being lost in the crowd, this young girl, who is probably either 8 or 9-years-old, begged, “Please don’t kill my mother! Kill me instead!” It is beyond heartbreaking and tragic that at that young an age, those words came out of this girl's mouth. It is evident that the lives of these refugees are devastating and horrible, if a girl that’s under the age of 10 begged to be killed rather than her mother. I cannot grasp the fact that someone so young was obligated to make a wish like that, since these words should never have to be said, especially by a poor child.
This European Refugee series that Brandon has been writing about is quite hard-hitting. It’s a very sad reality that not many people know of, or if they do, they tend to ignore it. We’re all consumed in our lives and our own troubles, and we tend to forget about the outside world and people across the globe. This human crisis that will be written in history books in the near future should have a brighter light shine upon it, and luckily, Brandon is doing so.
These tragic stories are always worth the read—you will instantly feel blessed and thankful for the life that you have. You will also feel inspired by what others in poor conditions have achieved and lived through, and still made it out strong. You will open up your eyes and your mind to what is happening outside of your personal world. Even though most of these stories are distressing and upsetting, the realities that people face can change our worlds as well. Even if we feel like we’re being crushed with these stories, we should still try to read everything and feel empathetic towards our fellow human beings. This is the essence of humanity.
