UPFRONT October 8, 2007 Issue

'Do unto others ...'

STEVE GRAHAM, SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR

This morning I opened up the freebie commuter newspaper I read every day on the way to work. It included a blog describing one Anthony Mulongo, a brilliant student from Kenya, whose honor it was to be accepted into a government-funded five-year journalism program—his ticket to a phenomenal and likely famous career. Three years into the program, he abandoned journalism and spent all he had to build a home for the desperate street kids he once reported on. Today he lives in relative poverty, sacrificing to help improve young lives (http://ny.metro.us/metro/blog/my_view/entry/My_View_Give_a_little_bit/9974.html).

I also opened up The Christian Science Monitor of September 10 and read about a movement dedicated to memorializing 9/11 "by doing something good for others." In response to waning humanitarian commitments that surged initially among Americans in the wake of that disaster, people are trying to rekindle "the inherent joy of giving and to hopefully spur volunteering and charitable acts throughout the year."

What is it that makes a person willingly sacrifice everything to help orphaned children? What is it that has the power to keep the spirit of kindness and goodwill alive in human hearts—before, during, and after acts of tragedy, as well as in less turbulent times?

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