Be the Change

Be the Change: We All Have Power, We All Have Choices

Have you seen this story from Bangladesh yet? 

A man who works as a rickshaw (pedicab) driver, saved half of his $6/day earnings over the course of 30 years and, with his savings, built a clinic in his home village, which was far from any medical treatment. 

This man is inspiring: he turned his anger at his community's exclusion—& the death of his father due to inadequate access to healthcare—into motivation to do something good. He was determined, and he was frugal. And he saved half that $6/day he made, and built that clinic.

While this story could serve to reinforce our notion of the persisting poverty and inequities that exist around the world, I look at it and see another lesson as well.

We all have power, and we all have choices. 

There is no doubt that economic and other constraints facing this man and many other people around the world like him are very real. 

But he shows us even in the face of such challenges, we have power, and we have choices.

He also shows us that when we act, we may inspire others. 

After news of his clinic spread, it received anonymous donations from all over, and now women and poor people in an area of the country that did not have medical care, do. 

He is a testament to patience, persistence, positive-thinking, taking responsibility to change things we don't like, frugality, charity, and commitment to justice and equity. 

Vision in action. Values in action.

My first thought was "What an amazing example of Muslim values," because I saw in him so much of what I was raised to believe Islam is about (see the list above), and because it was so refreshing to get away from the Islamophobes and what they would define Islamic values as (or the radical Islamists, for that matter, who truly to me seem to be the flip side of the Islamophobes—each with their terrorizing and restrictive understanding of Islam.). 

But I know these values are universal—we can find them in other faiths and among non-theist people too.

Connect to your vision. Connect to your values. Now put them into action. 

Be the change.

Love, Light, & Peace,

Kamal

This blog is dedicated to my mother and father, who taught me the values I hold dear, and to, "Be the Change."

Related links: 

"Be the Change: Save a Life"

Be the Change, Inc.

Service Nation

Opportunity Nation

United We Serve

UNICEF

My Feet Only Walk Forward: Guest Blogger, Kamal Fizazi: A Letter to Friend About Hope and Survival

I recently wrote my first guest blog on Brandon Lacy Campos' site: My Feet Only Walk Forward: Guest Blogger, Kamal Fizazi: A Letter to Friend About Hope and Survival.

It emerged from a letter I wrote to a real-live friend, an Arab, like me (well, from a different country), thus the nickname, "Habibi", who has struggled with suicidal thoughts over the years.

Just last week, I found out another friend of mine, someone who combated HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, and depression, lost his fight. He committed suicide, jumping out of his 12-story window.

I and my friends who knew him are devastated and sad.

Why did I not know he was in such pain? What could I have done differently? How could I have been a more effective part of a solution for him?

I have personal insight into pain and loss, what it is to feel an all-encompassing despair.

So, I wrote this letter to my friend, "Habibi", sharing some of the resources I have used get through tough times. Among the things I mention is a spiritual resource, a Qur'anic prayer, Surat al-Asr. As a Qur'anic prayer, Muslims may recognize it and it may have special resonance for them, but its suggestions are spiritually universal, and I believe many people will be able to find something from their own faith tradition in it and in what I wrote in the guest blog.

I hope you will read my offering of love and compassion, and if you are so moved, comment on it and repost (use the My Feet Only Walk Forward link: My Feet Only Walk Forward: Guest Blogger, Kamal Fizazi: A Letter to Friend About Hope and Survival).

Love, Light, & Peace,
Kamal

LGBT Elders: Equality and Equity Concerns

Minister for the Aging of Quebec, Marguerite Blais, has announced a Charter for the protection of elderly homosexuals. Now that the population of LGBT folk who have come out is aging and entering care centers and hospitals, there is a risk of elder abuse and homophobia against them in these settings.

This charter is something that all care institutions can sign, setting up best practices, and committing themselves to the equal treatment and recognition of the inherent dignity of all people, including LGBT's, as they age and become more vulnerable and dependent on the care of others. This is progress.

Elder abuse is an issue regardless of orientation. It is hard to believe that the elderly may become the targets of abuse, but it does occur. The abuse ranges from physical and emotional abuse to neglect, or exploitation like theft or embezzlement of funds under a trustee's care. When sexual orientation is added to the mix, societal homophobia can increase the elderly's vulnerability.

USA National trends in abuse of vulnerable adults sixty and older (from Adult Protective Services):

•     Estimates of the frequency of elder abuse range from 2 to 10% (Lachs & Pillemer, 2004). 

•     One in 14 incidents, excluding self-neglect, come to the attention of authorities (Pillemer & Finkelhor, 1998). 

•     The overall reporting of financial exploitation is only 1 in 25 cases, suggesting at least five million financial abuse victims each year (Wasik, 2000). 

•     One large survey of staff working in nursing homes found that 36% had observed physical abuse and 81% witnessed psychological abuse (Pillemer & Moore, 1989).  

 http://www.umaine.edu/mainecenteronaging/documents/issuebriefelderabuse.pdf

And of course, even aside from abuse, elders in the LGBT community face particular challenges, which vary from country to country. In the USA, these challenges include inequality in a range of public and social programs (like social security, etc.).

For more information:

•     A link to a US community-based organization that serves the needs of LGBT elders, Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE);

•     a report by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force on public policy issues facing LGBT elders;

•     a link to the US Administration on Aging regarding Elder Abuse; and

•     National Center on Elder Abuse "Statistics At Glance."