Second Look: Global Citizens Are Online, On the Phone, On the Street Corner

“My job reminds me constantly of how mean the world is, but also how much kindness it contains, stubborn and resilient, kindness that reaches across oceans and borders to ask, How can I help? What can I do?” – Ryan Lenora Brown, South Africa Bureau Chief, The Christian Science Monitor

It’s been a rough few weeks in the world, and tempting to think that the “meanness” is all there is. Then again, in the dark a single candle looks especially bright and, never forget, it always diminishes the dark. Which – the dark or the light – is more powerful? So let’s look at some bright lights from the past few weeks.

South African Student Must Pay High School Debt to Go to University

From a recent Monitor story, Olga Thimbela, a housekeeper in South Africa with no formal education, took in six orphaned children at the peak of the AIDS epidemic. She made sure they all stayed in school. The oldest passed her high school exit exams which qualified her to attend university. However, since she owed $208 in high school fees, her transcripts would not be released, and she couldn’t apply to college. When the Monitor shared the status, emails came back with generous hands offering to help. Quickly, enough money came in to pay the high school fees, buy a laptop, apply to college and pay registration at the University of the Free State.

Homework Help From a Surprising Source

An Indiana boy called 911 to report a bad day at school – and a ton of homework. “I’m sorry for calling you, but I really needed help.” The dispatcher, Antonia Bundy, said “He didn’t sound like he was in good spirits. That, in itself, that’s what we’re trained to do. We’re trained to help people in their worst time.”

[Editor’s note: Wouldn’t it be a wonderful world if we all were trained to listen and be sensitive to another’s worst time?]

Asking a few more questions about the trouble, Antonia determined that he was having problems with fractions. Specifically, ¾ + ¼ = ? Antonia had him take out a piece of paper and they worked through to the answer (one!).

Patton Oswalt turns the Other (Twitter Troll) Into a Brother

A gifted comic, Oswalt seems to enjoy causing heated twitter-tantrums and then putting down opposing views with a witty comeback. But something about the insults from one guy, Michael Beatty, made Oswalt look deeper into Beatty’s timeline to see what was going on in his life that made him so, well, caustic. Beatty, a Vietnam Vet, had a variety of serious health issues and medical bills. Oswalt decided that Beatty needed compassion, not comebacks.

“When I looked at his timeline, I see he’s in a lot of trouble health-wise. He’s been dealt bad cards – let’s deal him some good ones.” Oswalt donated $2,000 to his GoFundMe page, which sparked an outpouring of kindness from others who gave a total of $21,000.

Beatty’s heartfelt reply: “Patton. You have humbled me to the point where I can barely compose my words. You have caused me to take pause and reflect on how harmful words from my mouth could result in such an outpouring. Thank you for this and I will pass this on to my cousin who needs help. A cascade.”

Heart x Heart x Heart x Heart = a Cascade of Hearts that can change our world.

It’s Minus-24 in Chicago: How to Keep the Homeless Safe?

More than clothes or blankets, people need to be warm in a safe place, not in tents under the Dan Ryan Expressway! City and welfare organizations have been working creatively to open warming shelters and even warm buses to offer places to stay. The most vulnerable are especially challenged when they lack a home. Nonprofits, agencies and private individuals are stepping up and giving aid. On Wednesday, a Good Samaritan gave money to put up 70 homeless people in a hotel on the South Side.

Friends, the “polar vortex” in the Midwest is a humanitarian crisis – like a hurricane, fire or earthquake, impacting thousands. Here’s how you can help:

Donate to a shelter