Yesterday, I attended an inspiring luncheon hosted by Teen Empowerment, an organization that works to teach teens to be leaders and to then go out into the community and teach other young people how to lead. It has made extraordinary changes in the lives of many of our youths.

At the luncheon, I learned a new word from Jackie Campbell, Assistant Commissioner for the Department of Recreation and Youth Services for the City of Rochester. Ms. Campbell received Teen Empowerment’s Youth Leadership Award for her amazing and mentoring work among youth in the City of Rochester.  The word is Ubuntu (pronounced /uːˈbʊntuː/ oo-BUUN-too). She translated it as “I am because we are; We are because I am.” It was a perfect word for the gathering. The word refers to a human universal bond.

I have been upset since I first heard about the kidnapping of over 200 young school girls in Nigeria (and WHY don’t we even know the exact number?!) by the radical group Boko Haram. Recent news coverage indicates the government knew of the threatened attack four hours prior to its occurrence and failed to act. Then, two days ago, eleven more girls were abducted.  If you visit the Amnesty International website, you discover that these abductions are only the most recent in a long list of treacheries committed by Boko Haram that includes murders, church and school burnings, as well as these recent kidnappings.

I have been shocked by the lack of immediate response from the Nigerian government and appalled by Nigerian authorities’ response to those leading protests to get those girls back. I am thrilled that the world has finally become aware of these atrocities and that outrage has risen to a global scale where the world community is harnessing forces to take action.

If you are a parent, guardian, grandparent of, or you have any beloved child in your life, you can’t help but put yourself in the place of those parents  who see devastation, loss and despair where a child used to be.  You can imagine their sense of helplessness. As I look at my two beautiful daughters, I know that I would be beyond pain and would go to any lengths to get them back if my daughters were among these girls.

If you subscribe to the philosophy of Ubuntu, you realize that what happens in Nigeria, and how we as a global community handle it, has a ripple effect throughout the world.

I have been struggling with what I, as one individual, can do to help.  That is the reason I am writing this post…to discover and share ways to support the international efforts to #BringBackOurGirls.

Below are some of the things that you can do to support these efforts:

• Like, and follow the BringBackOurGirls Facebook page. This page offers many additional suggestions including:

1. Write and call your world leaders. Presidents, Senators, Congressmen, Prime Ministers etc. Demand that they offer their help to rescue the girls. Petitions are good but your individual letter and call is better.

2. Tell all of your friends about this atrocity and ask them to join in writing and calling. Invite them to join you here on FB and march on social media by changing their profile pic to raise awareness with their friends and families.

3. Plan a rally/march in your city for within the next 7 days. PRIVATE MESSAGE us with date, time and location and we will help you organize and promote. You can post on wall but to be sure that we schedule the event – PM us.

4. REPEAT

• Send your support through a message via Amnesty International, a human rights watchdog organization.
• Post a #BringBackOurGirls photo on Instagram
• Sign the petition on Change.org.
• Make a video that voices your message.

While you may wonder what good a signature, a petition, a photo or a video does, it is one of social media’s strongest and most powerful uses. It creates allies. It shouts “We, the world, do not condone this activity. It is an affront to human rights, and we want action taken.”

 UBUNTU.

 

 

P.S. If you have suggestions of other ways to help, or you know of a legitimate organization accepting donations to support these efforts, please share them in the comments section.