“Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

Every fifteen seconds a child dies from lack of access to clean water. This is just one of many statistics that are out there concerning global poverty. Dictionary.com defines Passion as “any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate and bundle less enthusiasm.” An easy definition of passion is enthusiasm for something or someone. When the United States spends $360,000 every minute in Iraq and there are men, women and children dying of hunger all over the world there is a problem. Our world has lost its passion for life and love. You can see it because of our lack of concern for the extreme poverty in Africa and other countries in the world. There are even places here in the United States that are as ill-educated and impoverished as places in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It starts with one person’s passion to make a difference. It takes one person who is willing to fight to change the world.

Passion is a movement. It starts with one person, one thought, one idea, and one action. There are hundreds of organizations that have started because of one person’s passion for a cause. ONE, named for its belief that every movement starts with one, is an organization whose mission is to “make poverty history.” Their organization targets young people who are attending high school or college. Students can organize their own ONE Campaign to help raise awareness on their school campuses. ONE supplies all of the needed material to help educate students on what their mission is and helps students in understanding how organize their own campaign. There are over two million people who have signed the ONE declaration and decided to stand as one to help in the fight against poverty. With every signature on the ONE declaration people’s passion is expanded from a passion for themselves to a passion for something that is so much bigger than anything ever imagined.

As an American it is easy to understand where the lack of passion originates from. It is our environment that tells us to look out for number one at all times. We are taught from birth to be a certain way and to strive for the ultimate goal of power and success and it does not matter who we have to step on and hurt while on our way there. When Americans see a photograph of a child overcome by malnutrition we usually change the channel of our television or turn the page of whatever magazine we are reading. Americans do not like to feel guilty. When they see a photograph of a malnourished child on a “Save the Children” infomercial they feel obligated to donate money. Then when they do not they feel guilty for changing the channel. Adam Schiff is a United States Representative and has said, “Americans are blessed with great plenty; we are a generous people and we have a moral obligation to assist those who are suffering from poverty, disease, war and famine.”

It has been said that it would cost $20 billion dollars to get basic health care and food to all of the people in the world who need it. Americans spend that amount of money every year on ice cream (Bell). There is a growing trend in America. It is a trend that Americans should not be proud of because it a direct reflection of our character. Americans would rather spend their money on lavish vacations, cars that are more than houses or 50,000 square foot mansions. When our parents were growing up they looked to their parents as their role models but now we are looking to celebrities for our inspiration. A perfect example is when my four-year-old sister wants to be just like Hanna Montana instead of looking at her Mom and wanting to be like her. When we look to those people for inspiration why should we be expected to think of someone else before ourselves?

When the Iroquois Indians were kicked off their land and forced onto reservations they had a brilliant way of making important decisions. When it came to making important decisions all of the elders of the tribe would get together and discuss the repercussions of their decision. Specifically, how would it affect their children seven generations from then? If the affects were negative then they would not do it but if they were positive for their later generations then they would implement the changes (Bade and Parkins). Americans are selfish by nature. It is expected that people do whatever is required of them to get ahead in life. If the statistic brought up earlier about ice cream was brought up in conversation the people hearing it would be affected for about a minute and then move on to the latest celebrity gossip. Americans are not wiling to give up any of their luxuries and why would they? Their environment tells them not to.

Being born in the United States automatically gives Americans more opportunity than being born anywhere else in the world. This is proven when a child raised in an inner city neighborhood, by a single mother working 2 jobs to make ends meet, is able to go to college. Americans are born to privilege and with that comes certain obligations. America claims to be the most powerful nation in the world, so why are we not the care takes of the world? When you look at history Mother Teresa, Gandhi and even Jesus Christ it is clear great leaders that go down in history are the people that take care of the sick, the dying and the impoverished.

A lot of people would argue that before we go oversees we need to look at the problems in our own country. Excellent point, but Americans do not even have the passion to take care of the problems in their country. There are places in Kentucky in the Appalachian Mountains where the poverty level is so high that out of two hundred students, five of them can afford the $1.50 a day meal plan. If you look at the victims of Hurricane Katrina you will see thousands of families still living in Fema trailers. There is a single mom with six children living in a one bedroom Fema trailer. She lost everything in the hurricane that destroyed cities along the east coast nearly two years ago. What is the point of being the “most powerful” country in the world if we can not help cure the world of famine and disease? An example a little closer to home is the homeless people in Downtown Denver. The Denver City Council just rejected an offer to build a homeless shelter downtown. How are we supposed to help people get off of the streets and back on their feet if we refuse them the resources to do so? If we continue to brush off the problems of not only our country but the rest of the world, ten years from now areas of the world will be desolate wastelands of what could have been thriving nations. In a small African village in 1920 a boy dreamt of equality for his country. After years of activism he was charged with treason and sentenced to life in prison. After twenty-seven years in prison Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was released. After being released from prison Mandela led Africa to its first ever presidential election. Nelson Mandela won ending the racist apartheid regime that had divided Africa for more than sixty years. Nelson Mandela single handedly fought to make his country a better place to live. When he was young he made the choice to see his country through to change, not knowing that he would go down in history as one of the most influential people of our time.

Fire starts with a single flame. When given the right fuel it can grow bigger and bigger and sometimes it can take over hundreds of acres of forest. When a fire is raging it is hard to extinguish and takes a lot of time and energy for firefighters to put out. Passion is like a fire. It starts with one person and grows into something beautiful. When passion is behind a cause it is more likely that it will succeed because it is important to the people involved. The main reason that people tend to not get as involved with different organizations is because they think that they can not and will not make a difference as a single person.
On April 28th an event was held in major cities around the US called Displace Me. The event was held by the organization Invisible Children whose mission is to end the genocide in Uganda and other African countries. 69,000 people attended including Danielle, a good friend of mine, along with her sister. In a conversation with her mom she proved that people think that they will not make a difference as one.. Her mom asked her if she was aware that he going to this event was not going to make much of a difference. When her mom told her “You know that you are probably not going to make a difference by going, right?” My friend replied by saying “if people continue to think that way then nothing will ever be changed.” Margaret Mead made an excellent point when she said “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” It starts with one. Whoever heard of a cause starting with millions of people backing it from the start?

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