Sunday, July 25, 2010

She Holds an AK47

I've been at a music festive here in the NW, and it was five days of amazing.  I have something to say.  But, here.  First of all have some music.


Now.  I'm wearing dog tags.  They say simply

Name: Yex Seung
Gender: Female
Age: 8 Years
Status: Active
*Burma*

It's a representation of an active soldier in the country with a larger concentration of child soldiers then any other country in the world (over 75,000).  I'm sorry to admit I wasn't aware to the extent of the tragedy.  I'm wearing her tags.  She is raped, fired at, and taught to hold an AK47.  At eight years old.

I don't want to scare you away and I don't want to freak you out.  I know there's a tendency to avoid anything depressing, sad or hard.  I don't want that, but I believe in awareness and honesty.  Truth is, this is a pretty broken world sometimes.  We do have reasons to celebrate, but a responsibility to bear.  I'm a part of the human race, and I need to ask myself what that means.

I'm not trying to guilt you, either.  What I do want is for you to visit projectak47.com.  Or I want you to search a change you believe in.  Maybe you'll reach into your heritage, or your past.  Maybe you have to deal with yourself first.  Just don't hide.  I've researched this one enough to believe in it.

You can get dog tags of your own.  But I don't want you to start there.  Read about a project.  Get Involved any way you can.  Learn.

Yes, I believe this is a positive cause.  However, what I'm also asking for is that you find a way to support somebody somewhere somehow.  Find something you believe in.  You're creative, smart and hopefully caring.  Believe it.  And tell me what you find.  I want to learn about that too.

4 comments:

Leah said...

First of all, I love thousand foot krutch. They were the first concert I ever went to, and I have seen them about 4 times since then.
Of course, since 'growing up' my music tastes have changed; but I still love them, I still listen.

As for projectak47 I will definitely be checking them out. I am currently a supporter of www.invisiblechildren.com who are an organization giving a face and voice to the child soldiers of northern Uganda.

It breaks my heart to hear about such difficult lives these kids are born to face and I want to do my part in helping them, however I can.

Kris said...

Oh... Joy. Thank-you SOOO much for commenting. :) I appreciate your involvement.

And, ps, I secretly feel like I'm a little old for TFK (although I listen to them rather shamelessly). They belong to my little brother's generation :). However, this song is really really good!

Kris said...

PS again, I wanted to bring a little awareness, and maybe get someone involved in something they believed in. The fact that you already support a cause is wonderful :)

Anonymous said...

I would like to exchange links with your site becauseorwhynot.blogspot.com
Is this possible?