Be The Change

Last weekend I had gone to the American Museum of Natural History, which is stunning in its breadth and scope, and certainly grounds one's thinking as a member of the Vertebrae family: Specifically, how the human species uniquely creates the largest impact (and therefore has the largest responsibility) for the millions of other species on this mid-sized planet with limited resources that we all share.

One of the species we're responsible for of course is our own.

Living in New York, most of us are confronted with poverty and social issues on a very regular basis, passing by people living on the streets, begging for money or food, and shivering in December temperatures. Though we are very fortunate to live in rich city, in a rich and generous nation, and its actually pretty hard to imagine how life must be in other parts of the world...

...Where babies regularly die from malnutrition and low birth weight. Where children die from water born disease. Where HIV positive mothers create a cycle of pediatric Aids because they cannot get to a health clinic for necessary medicine to prevent passing on the disease to their unborn children. Where one billion people on our planet don't have access to clean water.
Where this message, outside of the Hall of Biodiversity at the American Museum of Natural History gives perspective about our future, which includes all the children of the world.


Last night, 20/20 , with support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated an entire show to some of the world's worst health problems. charity: water, an organization that began when a regular New York guy decided to stop living just for himself, and make a positive change to help others, was featured as well as several other stories featuring remarkable solutions that are literally saving millions of lives.

I had mentioned the upcoming airing to Karen, a good friend from work, and she commented, "The world is a mess, we need more people like that guy."

ABC News (with my hero Diane Sawyer), is using its reach and resources, to open our eyes to what is really happening in the world with an impressive year long initiative called "Be the Change: Save a Life", which will bring awareness and attention to the most pressing global health challenges, and inspire us to act.

Because we can all actually be 'that guy.'