Rene: Well said! -------------- Original message -------------- From: [log in to unmask] > To sacrifice is a will. It is the will to have the strength and conviction, > and also the tendency to have a selfless desire to change the course of an > event; to change the course of history. And, to sacrifice is to change the > course of an event for the good, and for a cause whose motivation is > transcendental. > > It may be difficult to fathom why people do make sacrifices; to > sacrifice their time, energy and money to pursue a common goal or to promote an > ideal. What motivates a doctor, who instead of a lucrative practice in a > wealthy > industrialized country, opts to go back to his impoverished native country to > offer his services for a pittance? What motivates an intellectual, a well > educated person, who denies himself/herself the opportunity to secure a highly > placed and financially gainful job, only to devote his/her time and energy in > promoting a cause, an ideal, that doesn't add much to his/her material > benefit? > > The question of motivation, therefore, is a unique experience that guides > an individual's sense of purpose; that guides an individual to do something > good or react to that which is not good in something. Thus people make > sacrifices; they sacrifice for a cause, for an ideal and for a belief, and > challenge themselves to bring out the best in their humanity as they challenge > others > to bring out the humanity that is best in themselves. And there are many > convincing reasons why a person should promote this course of action; to keep > the faith in doing something good where the fate of something good being done is > perilous. > > At a time when ordinary circumstances demand a response that is not > ordinary, people of goodwill and sincere convictions should build an enterprise > that is both challenging and productive; an enterprise that does not build on > our fears, but on our hopes and aspirations. > > The sad stories of poverty has undignified so many lives; the > hopelessness and wretchedness that so many lives are undignified, and the > social and > economic alienation of the poor, and the marginalized, summons our will to > sacrifice. A sacrifice that can change the lives of people for the better; an > innate disposition to affect the lives of people for the better as it also > affects for the better the lives of those people. > > Against the above backdrop, the fervent desire and a will to sacrifice > among Gambian Diaspora's, can positively respond to a national issue which > alerts our consciousness to safeguard jealously our common heritage. We should > never surrender our voice. The violation of the basic tenets of our > constitution, the abuse and wanton disregard for the rule of law, the assault on > civil > liberties and freedom of expression, has and should arouse a patriotic fervor > among Gambian Diaspora's to create the vehicles for the legitimate > expressions of our dissent. The many online Gambian newspapers and discussion > forums, > the emerging Diaspora groups, and a debate on our different political > orientations, our culture and our politics, can augur well in creating an > environment > that will impact positively our socioeconomic and political reality. > > What the Gambian Diaspora needs, I believe, is to organize our > collective dissent; to frame the agenda and discussion around alternative > objectives, > and try to impress upon one another a Gambian mindset that is attuned to the > conceptual development of a value system that is people centered and action > oriented. > > There is a lot of talent among Gambian Diaspora's, some eloquently > expressed in their artistic beauty, and others in their technical and > innovative > ingenuity; there are many academicians and intellectuals, all of whom has to > be agents of a deliberate and conscious effort to harness the progressive > spirit for a search for better alternatives. Every one of us should endeavor to > be part of something, either to be among those who organize or to be willing > participants among those to be organized. Let us support and be part of the > organizations that are organized around some of the values that we celebrate. > What we must not accept is to forever remain as willing spectators in a > political drama that will never foster the growth of a mature democracy. > > > Rene > > > > > > **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. > (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ > 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) > > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい > To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web > interface > at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > > To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい