A young man is walking along the ocean and sees a beach on
which thousands and thousands of starfish have washed ashore. Further along he
sees an old man, walking slowly and stooping often, picking up one starfish
after another and tossing each one gently into the ocean. “Why are you throwing
starfish into the ocean?,” he asks “Because the sun is up and the tide is going
out and if I don’t throw the further in they will die.” “But, old man, don’t
you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it! You
can’t possibly save them all, you can’t even save one-tenth of them. In fact,
even if you work all day, your efforts won’t make any difference at all.” The
old man listened calmly and then bent down to pick up another starfish and
threw it into the sea. “It made a difference to that one.” - Loren Eiseley
I think of this quote often and how much it has applied to
my life. I didn’t think I would be writing a blog post any time soon, but, I constantly
find myself involved in my previous work abroad. With all the perspective I have
gained abroad, it is impossible for me to let it go. I am constantly thinking about the people I have
met, the issues I have faced and the lives I had the opportunity to be a part
of.
Leaving for Kenya I had ambitious goals. Frankly, I never
thought I would change the world but I wanted to impact as many people as I possibly could. However, after time you realize the issues many countries face are deep
rooted in history, ingrained in their culture, a perpetuated by complacency, lack of
education,or poverty.
I didn’t know what my mission was there. In fact, many times
I felt defeated, but, if you followed my story you probably knew before I did…
Tyson was my mission. He is my little starfish.
As all you know I am back in the states, but, Tyson
continues to be a huge part of my life. He still attends school at Maisha and
is now involved in their choir. He is thriving there and I can confidently say
if he stays at Maisha he is going to become such a brilliant and beautiful person.
God bless Maisha and everything they have done for him.
Since I have been back Tysons story has gained much attention
from CMMB as well as others across the United States. I think people tend to be
attracted to his story because it’s sparks the humanity within us. It gives us perspective
on health care, abandoned children and poverty within the developing world. I
can talk all day about topics such as this but I can hardly do it justice.
Recently, I found myself, like I always do, talking to a
good friend about Tysons story. She was very moved by his life. I think
people often wonder, how could so much fight, spunk and determination be wrapped
up in a little six year old? We got to discussing his life more in-depth and the
thing we realized is that Tysons story is not unique, inadequate health care
and child abandonment plague developing countries. As a film writer and movie producer she felt
moved and inspired to shed light on these issues.
Tysons story is a story that needs to be told, not because it’s
unique but because it’s not. Children all around the world are abandoned for
reasons such as war, poverty, or instability. Rebecca (my friend) has decided
to write and direct a film named TYSON to bring awareness and give us perspective
on health care, abandoned children and poverty within the developing world.
Please check out this short clip of the upcoming film above. In order for shooting
of this film to occur she is trying to raise $5,000 so please help. Please help
raise awareness on inadequate health care, child abandonment and poverty. Please consider joining the TYSON campaign. Tyson is just one starfish in a sea of children. Lets come together and help as many starfish as we can.
Photos promoting the TYSON campaign. Follow the film on instagram at #tysonthefilm
