Does it matter?

A few days ago, I attended an infomation day of the organisation 'Damiaanactie' (DA, www.damiaanactie.info/damiaanactie/). When I was 18, I worked in a project of them, rebuilding a 'health care post' in the heart of Africa and one of the many Belgian shames, the former colony of Congo. The organisation has a clear object, curing tuberculosis and leprosy. Also a clear vision, they want to work in the track of father Damien. A Belgian priest who stood up for the lepers on the island Molokai; though without religous backgrounds. Respect, engagement, inspiration are among the many values they cherish. Non of those things I couldn't NOT support.

I truly believed in that project. It was a great experience and the people really appreciated what we did. 'White people, coming here, helping us? For free?', 'That couldn't be possible'. Though, you come back home, restarting your normal life and bit by bit, you loose a little bit of the magic you experienced there.

There are many people dying of disseases. Dying of hunger. Dying while fighting for democracy, for peace, for their country. And then you think.. Did this one little thing really matter or was this just a drop in the ocean? And you truly wanna or more need to believe in it because otherwise it all ment nothing and all your ideas and dreams ment nothing. But on the other hand, you have to face reality.

BUT THEN.. There was an interview in the newspaper with a person who also worked with DA in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the most overcrowded countries in the world and moreover, there is more than one flood a year destroying a lot of the infrastructures. The guy told us that if DA was not working there, there was no infrastructure. No health care. A hotbed for tuberculosis and leprosy.
 That's where I knew why again.. For some people, a little drop really can make a difference.