An open post to people of Gaza

My Dear People of Gaza,

Words can't even describe what I want to say. Tears form into my eyes as I painfully put some thoughts together. My tears are of pain and humiliation of the way our fellow humans are acting to one another.

Peoples of the world are with you and pray for your safety and well being. We are so sorry that we can't do more than participate in protests and demonstrations. We are constantly thinking of you. We are using our voice to try to demand a humanitarian change, despite our religious and political beliefs.

This is not a great way to start a brand new year. Stay strong and continue to have faith. The spirit of the Palestinians never die. In fact, it strengthens. Know that although governments aren't running to your aid, that the people are angry.

History books will show this as an intolerant and tyrannical event, an embarrassment to humanity because these types of intolerance have been throughout history with different types of people. Often times, it is the oppressed being the oppressor.

We think of you oh people of Gaza. We shall do our best to put pressure on public policies and our governments to do something. We will continue to work until we see our brothers and sisters of Gaza happy.

When you bleed, we bleed. When you cry, we cry. When you are happy, we are happy. We are Gaza. We are Palestinians.

Sincerely,

A Lover of Humanity

Bloggers Launch TrainforHumanity.org Humanitarian Initiative

Over the past five years, 200,000 civilians have died due to violence, malnutrition, and disease in Darfur and an additional 2.2 million people have been displaced. We want to do something about it.

Fed up with watching humanitarian crises on the evening news and not doing anything to help, a group of bloggers (most notably, Leo Babauta of Zen Habits) have created and founded the non-profit Train for Humanity, which is an online humanitarian awareness and fundraising organization.

Over 150,000 new blogs are added to the internet everday. Train for Humanity’s mission is to utilize the web, social media, and blogging, in tandem with athletes in training, to support organizations that help prevent suffering and alleviate the pain of children, orphans, and refugees who have been displaced due to genocide or internal strife and war within their country.

Quite simply, they believe - getting fit + social media + blogging = social good

The three pilot project athlete-bloggers, Mark Hayward, Dan Clements, and Leo Babauta are hoping to raise awareness for the current crisis in Darfur and funds for the organization Darfur Peace and Development. All three are training for endurance events of varying distances ranging from a triathlon to a marathon.

They hope to show people that with a little creativity and innovation, anyone can assist and make a difference in the world. If you would like to learn more, have a look at the Train for Humanity website and please consider sponsoring one of them or spreading the word.