Thank you everyone.
A reporter once asked Mother Teresa,
“You don’t feel like you’re doing for the poor. Just a glass of water?”
– I can’t imagine someone would ask her this question.
Mother Teresa answered without hesitation.
“No, although what I did was a glass of water,
But if I do not do it, I will lose a glass of water. ”
I can’t imagine someone would comment Mother Teresa like that.
Over the years, we have heard many of her stories.
And I also have my own story.
I had the privilege to meet her and walk with her several times.
The first time I saw her was in Calcutta.
I went with her to the city center
Where there is a lot of people,
Local residents live in crowded conditions.
There is a person lying on the ground in the street in front of me. There is probably a distance from me.
In front of the audience, so far
He looks dying.
She went to call some people to help him and brought back our relief agency.
Like all people, she bathed him.
Hold him in his arms and whisper in his ear. She really awakened that person.
That afternoon, she found me.
Pull my hand and say,
“Mr. Members, not everyone can come in person like you.
I want to invite you back to my hometown
Tell everyone, please act and start with little things around you. ”
What she meant was:
If everyone is doing the little things around,
Care for their neighbors,
There may be half of the things that the government does not care about.
People can solve these problems by themselves.
So what are the problems we face?
What is before us is the problem of famine that sweeps the entire world.
Even my country is among them.
There are an average of 21,000 people in the world today.
Will starve to death alive.
Or died of various diseases caused by hunger.
In other words, every four seconds, one person in the world will starve to death.
In this era, there will still be people starving to death.
It is unbelievable!
There are at least 1 billion people in the world today
Endure hunger.
Even in the United States, 48 million people are starving.
Of course, compared to Sudan, Ethiopia or North Korea
In these countries, the famine in the United States is not so serious.
People do not starve to death.
But it is also hungry and malnourished.
The 48 million hungry people are mostly old and weak women and children.
There are always two or three days each month to go to bed with an empty stomach.
These people simply cannot make ends meet.
They also earned 10 blocks in an hour.
Pay the rent, pay the custodian fee, and plan the utility bill
There is no money to buy food.
They had to go to the public disaster relief
Or the street porridge, try to fill his stomach.
This is the state of survival of these 48 million people.
This is a big problem.
About 35 years ago, I was also involved in solving the problem of famine.
I was working in the Congress at that time,
After a few years,
I became Chairman of the Disaster Relief Special Committee.
My job is to visit all countries in the world.
To investigate the problems of famine in poor countries and developing countries,
And report to the Congress on their own knowledge.
I hope that the Congress can take action.
We also hope that we can change this situation.
We did it in the end, and the results were gratifying.
The first country I went to was Ethiopia.
At that time, there was a great famine.
It was 1984.
Due to famine, a civil war broke out.
I was visiting a region inland.
About two hours passed from the capital to take a light plane.
I visited a clinic, was Mother Teresa
The “Sisterhood Society for Charity” was created to take care of it.
The clinic is located in a remote area and built on a plateau.
The area is so big on the stage,
There are only two nuns in it and that’s it.
Because of famine and civil war, people are fleeing.
They think there may be food in the clinic,
Drugs, there are blankets; the original high altitude,
Although it was located at the equator, it was still cold in the middle of the night.
When I arrived there,
The clinic has already lined up more than a thousand people.
I haven’t even come to the door, I’ll see
The refugees lie on the ground.
A woman is holding her child in her hands
– And that child has died.
(sigh)
I think she used me as a god doctor.
Just touch it, you can let the child come back to life.
I walk in this group of people,
In just a quarter of an hour, 25 children swallowed in front of me.
I put on sunglasses
Tears rushed out and blurred my eyes.
I can’t bear to watch it again and I don’t want them to see it.
My brain was blank and I was shocked.
That scene was always echoing in my head and lingering.
After that visit, I thought on the return flight.
There are many things we do in Congress
In fact, it does not matter.
Wasting a lot of time.
I resolved to participate in the fight against famine.
I will visit all countries in the world and implement relevant legislation.
From my jurisdiction, new plans were introduced and new laws were promulgated.
We say it.
The New York Times praised our committee as “the conscience of Congress.”
We have introduced a series of policies and regulations, including food safety regulation.
Food transportation,
For women’s micro-credit projects,
School love meal plan,
Various child-friendly policies such as child immunization are also available.
I am thinking ambitiously
“This is really the best organization in the world,
We are really doing great things now.”
Congress suddenly withdrew my relief committee. Can you believe it?
The guys from Congress said
Our deficit is too high and our funds are tight.
Must cut off several projects,
Then go talk to the people
We are “for the sake of the people, the money is spent for the people.”
In this way, we also look better in the eyes of the people.
Of course the guys lied, and the money went into their own pockets.
My disaster relief committee was so stopped.
I do not have any solution.
That night, I drove home and slammed the steering wheel.
I am filled with indignation.
Can not think of what to do.
After returning home, my wife and I talked, “Jane, I don’t want to do it in Congress.
What I care about, the members of the Congress are not at all.
In the parliament, the poor have no say in politics.
They can’t even get money from campaigns.
How can you fight the big gold owners?
This group of lawmakers does not see the poor at all.
Not to mention that people care about their suffering.
Even my only one
The Poverty Alleviation and Disaster Relief Committee also asked the guys to get rid of them.
What do you say I can do? ”
She said: “Will you think about a hunger strike?”
I was paralyzed at that time. What kind of thing did my wife have to do?
(laughter)
Really hunger!
My wife said that she just read that there was a chapter in the Old Testament about hunger strikes.
It is “Isaiah” chapter 58 and it is well spoken.
You can see the contents of this chapter on the big screen.
We read this chapter together, prayed, and talked for a while.
In the next few days, I went on a hunger strike to protest.
Most people in the National Assembly think that I am blind to my head and are completely reckless.
Dignified a member of the National Assembly, why did you trouble this one?
There was no such thing in Congress.
But of course the people do not think so.
There are 10,000 high schools and 200 universities support me.
A hunger strike began.
I hungered for 22 days.
During the period, even if there is no drink like juice, just drink water.
I officially declared to the Congress that I must fight with hunger strikes.
Do not see you make changes, I will not eat.
I’ve had enough of you guys
Regardless of the poor and the hungry people, I have to fight to the end.
I do not know how long it will take: Ten days, fifteen days?
I’m also not sure how long I want to go on a hunger strike – I’ve been stuck for 22 days.
But I must insist on a hunger strike until a turnaround occurs.
Things really started to improve:
The media began publishing articles to praise my feats.
From The New York Times to The Washington Post,
From the Wall Street Journal to the Los Angeles Times,
The major media have published editorials, and they are not overwhelming.
At this time, the gang of people in the National Assembly is not a little guilty.
When they abandoned me, they thought I was simply unreasonable.
But other people in the country are on my side.
And my weight is falling. You can’t believe it.
(laughter)
Good things happen continuously.
In the end I decided to end the hunger strike.
Because the world’s largest development bank, the World Bank
Proactively contacted me.
This billion-dollar bank
Send someone to call me and say
“Tony, we have been following your report.
We read about your feat of hunger strike in major newspapers.
It’s really exciting and exciting.
We would like to invite you to come and give a speech.
We are also issuing invitations to some heads of state.
President Jimmy Carter will come and there is the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
We invited many great people.
If you can come, do a good speech
We may be able to allocate some resources for you.
We hope you can promote your hunger strike. “”
So I went to make a speech
I don’t know how effective the speech is,
However, the World Bank allocated a total of 100 million U.S. dollars in disaster relief funds.
(applause)
I don’t seem like a fool anymore.
Thankfully!
I won a full victory in this fight.
And I also ended the hunger strike.
I did what I was supposed to do and eventually succeeded.
I was even surprised by myself.
A hunger strike is done!
Today, in Dayton, Ohio,
In my hometown, in my community,
The problem is happening.
Over the past few years, the local manufacturing industry has cut 40,000 jobs.
With this recession, we suffered a heavy blow.
We began to face the problem of famine.
One year ago, I read in the Daily News.
Of the cities with the most serious problems of famine in the United States, our city ranks fourth.
My hometown is actually the fourth largest famine city in the United States.
However, with the help of so many enthusiastic people, we can certainly change the status quo.
We will unite as one.
Work together to solve the immediate problem.
We want to restore this city to its previous prosperity.
We must let everyone eat and eat well. Because we know what to do,
Where should we start?
Look at your right person,
Look at the person on your left.
If everybody we have here today contributes some strength?
We have about 1200 seats on site.
If we help one family each night,
Everyone cares about their neighbors.
If we each help a family for a week or even six months,
If all of you present here give a little strength, what will happen?
1,200 seats, 1200 drops of water, form a trickle,
The trickle of tricks will eventually turn into rivers!
When rivers appear,
Can the sea be far behind?
In the near future, we will not only change our community,
It will change the entire world.
Let you and me start from around.
thank you all!
(applause)
”
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