Thoughts and musings by Brigitte: writer, humanitarian and development professional, skier and chocolate enthusiast living in Switzerland and traveling the globe
So much can change in 26 years. In the summer of 1985, London inspired the World when Live Aid, one of the largest music events was organized by a small group of dedicated people, Midge Ure, Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith to help the African victims of famine in Ethiopia. Planning to raise a million pounds, they ended up with over 280 million dollars to benefit people with the kind of hunger that makes your ears ache from the deafening sounds of your stomach. Those were unforgettable scenes of solidarity of a throbbing mass of young people at Wembley Stadium, people sharing their concern about fellow humans suffering from circumstances beyond their control. That was a snapshot of the World as we would like to see it, a collective effort by people who care, who have empathy, who made it happen that day, with good organization, good leadership, they showed everyone what not giving up felt like.
Cut to, London in the summer of 2011. A famine is killing people wasting away in Somalia and surrounding countries. The World is even more connected, so much can be done this year, the possibilities are endless. We even have twitter and facebook, we have massive tools at our disposal. So people in London decide to burn and trash and loot..their own city. Almost no one cares about what is happening in underprivileged Africa, about those saddest of people burying their kids who are dying in their arms in a cold world bent on self-destruction.
What happened to us in the past two and a half decades? Is it only London or everywhere else? Where are you Bod Geldof? Any artists still out there? Do something!
Brigitte
Brigitte's Blog 
Then and now
Somali children, what future do they have?
So much can change in 26 years. In the summer of 1985, London inspired the World when Live Aid, one of the largest music events was organized by a small group of dedicated people, Midge Ure, Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith to help the African victims of famine in Ethiopia. Planning to raise a million pounds, they ended up with over 280 million dollars to benefit people with the kind of hunger that makes your ears ache from the deafening sounds of your stomach. Those were unforgettable scenes of solidarity of a throbbing mass of young people at Wembley Stadium, people sharing their concern about fellow humans suffering from circumstances beyond their control. That was a snapshot of the World as we would like to see it, a collective effort by people who care, who have empathy, who made it happen that day, with good organization, good leadership, they showed everyone what not giving up felt like.
Cut to, London in the summer of 2011. A famine is killing people wasting away in Somalia and surrounding countries. The World is even more connected, so much can be done this year, the possibilities are endless. We even have twitter and facebook, we have massive tools at our disposal. So people in London decide to burn and trash and loot..their own city. Almost no one cares about what is happening in underprivileged Africa, about those saddest of people burying their kids who are dying in their arms in a cold world bent on self-destruction.
What happened to us in the past two and a half decades? Is it only London or everywhere else? Where are you Bod Geldof? Any artists still out there? Do something!
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