SAVE THE CHILDREN: I'M GONNA BE YOUR FRIEND

Kabir Dhanji—Reuters

After their last cow died, a Somalian father feared his children were next.  Determined to keep his family alive, they walked for 30 days and 30 nights to make it to Dadaab, a Kenyan refugee camp that is at quadruple capacity.  When they finally crossed the border, bandits robbed them of what little they had.  When they finally arrived, 5 year old Janaw weighed in at 20 pounds, and 3 month old Muhammad was as light as a feather.  

This is just one story out of thousands that are emerging from the East Africa crisis.   In a nutshell that does no justice, a mix of drought, famine and extremist conflict have caused innocent Somalians to experience displacement, severe malnutrition and in many cases, death. (@Cnn) More specifically; endless drought is preventing  families to continue cultivating their self-sustaining farms.  With a dismal national economy, due in part to exceptional political unrest, these families have nowhere else to turn for survival.

The political unrest is a truly dark cloud that has been hanging over the country since 1991, when their central government collapsed.  Currently, extremist group Al-Shabaab, have ruthlessly waged 'jihad' on those against them; which has included the kidnapping and killing of innocent Somalian families, as well as humanitarian aids.  The group has gained control over a large part of the country, including parts of the capital.  Their rise has created a level of danger that has lead the suspension of humanitarian aid and a great exodus, just like 5 year old Junaw's, from the country.

THE GOODNESS


While many people are reaching out with good-hearted kindness to help resolve this desperate conflict, there is one specific initiative that is feel-good and noteworthy.  Save the Children's "I'm Going To Be Your Friend" campaign,  named after a line in Bob Marley's High Tide or Low Tide, has leveraged several talents to bring awareness to the crisis.  The organization has collaborated with award-winning director Kevin Macdonald to craft a short film on the situation.  This film is set to the famous Marley song and is being promoted by modern-day musicians including Lady GaGa, Rihanna, and Kanye West.  


"With over 150 global stars already signed up and more joining by the hour, the combined ttal of their fans and followers on social networks is over 700M people." Since the very first step to justice is awareness, it's hard to ignore powerful numbers like these.  Although there are things that we can't change, like the overall conflict in Somalia, there are ways we can help those who are innocent victims of such things. 

HOW CAN I HELP?

• Learn about what's going on - try BBC's Q&A or simply Google Somalia and dig around.
• Educate yourself about this specific campaign here, or on CNN, or on Mashable.
• Download the song on i-tunes here.  Just $1.29 can help supply blankets to severely malnourished children.
• Spread the word to your friends! Use your voice, Facebook, Twitter, and other Social networks to let your network know how they can help.  Just "liking" a post that is about the campaign on Bob Marley's Facebook page, or re-tweeting an influential celebrities tweet about it, like Selena Gomez's, is an easy, yet effective way to help!

http://lightbox.time.com/2011/08/12/pictures-of-the-week-august-6-august-13/#6