353: Please donate to MSF

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 TO DONATE... NOW

It's a dark weekend in the news and in the lives of many innocent people the world over. There is the national tragedy of the massacres in Norway (committed by a egotistical fucktard whose face and name will never appear on this page); the personal tragedy of the passing of Amy Winehouse, the beautiful, talented and tragic singer; the terrible train crash in China; and the unfathomable horror of widespread famine across war-torn, backward, superstitious, lawless Somalia. This is just too much for this little blog to properly contain ; how can events in Norway and Somalia properly be addressed with the right amount of care, sensitivity and seriousness. I have no desire to make tasteless jokes ; no insight ; no answers. Only intangible questions unable to form into anything worthwhile. But this is not about me. This is about the mass death of innocent people for poor reasons of misguided political idealism and natural disaster.

All I can contribute to this mess is to hopefully send as many people as possible over to the Doctors Without Borders (Medecins sans Frontieres) and scream DONATE NOW PLEASE. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) are an international aid organisation entirely free from political or religious affiliation ; their sole aim begins and ends with offering medical aid where it is most needed and least available. Doctors and nurses, engineers and administrators, doing the most important and difficult work in the world's most inhospitable and dangerous environments ; work a million times more worthy than anything you or I could achieve in a hundred lifetimes.

MSF does not take sides in wars or prioritise one political, social or religious group over another ; they simply offer unbiased aid to victims of war, famine and natural disaster. This is the charity ideal and deserves to be a million times more well known and better funded than the Red Cross/Crescent, Muslim Hands or Christian Aid. As excellent as these charitable organisations are, I can't help but feel they are tainted by their inherent sectarian nature. For me the existence of MSF is a positive step closer to a united planetary human race and a truely egalitarian society.

So please donate what little or large you can ; come on, it's the least you can do. You probably live in a developed country, like me, and despite the economic downturn – even if you are unemployed and on benefits – you are still living in relative luxury compared to most people in the world. Yes, Sir Alan Lord Sugar and your dentist are richer than you ; but you are richer than five to six billion other people. So click here to donate to MSF's Somalia appeal, and remember to tick yes to Gift Aid.

There is a selfish reason to give to charity – it might make you feel a tiny bit better about the money you (and I) waste on clothes, food and drink over and above those needed to keep you warm, dry and alive. It might ease your liberal guilt of living in a prosperous and safe country. But mostly it will actually help treat malaria, malnutrition, diarrhea, AIDS, and many other terrible diseases tearin apart the lives of your fellow human beings. By all means say a prayer if you want ; if that makes you feel better then do it. But don't think for a single second that it helps anyone else. The money helps ; words muttered to yourself but not acted upon do nothing.