I have met a former child soldier from Cambodia, who told me his life story. Being forced to bear arms at 12 he had shot over 3000 people in his life. He had seen violence beyong imagine. Murders, torture, rape. At the age of 12.
I have seen a beduin wife working hard for her family in the desert, wearing burkha in unbearable heat, without complain. I have met people who have survived war, who lost loved ones at war, who have been through experiences I can never fully understand.
I have seen the sunset in Sahara, swam in an oasis in the desert, climbed a mountain in the Rocky Mountains, come down a waterfall in the jungle of Sierra Madre.
Only to realize that I know nothing of life.
I grew up in a good family, with everything I ever needed. My family has always supported my choices in life. I could do anything with my life. I've never been poor (being a student in Helsinki doesn't count!), I've never suffered hunger, violence or sickness. I've had a good education, yet only after leaving Finland I've realized how little I know.
Real knowledge doesn't come from a book. Real knowledge you don't learn at school. You can have the highest education possible, but if you've never left your home country, you don't really know anything.
I am only at the beginning of my journey, I'm just starting to learn. But sometimes I find it difficult to identify myself with Finland anymore. Finnish people (no offense) know nothing of the reality of life.
Do we have problems in Finland? Yes. Do we have people who need help? Absolutely. Do we have people who suffer? No doubt about it. I don't want to dismiss any of that.
But. Finns can be very selfish sometimes, refusing to think beyond own borders.
I remember having a conversation with a friend few years ago. We were talking about immigration and she felt very strongly about it. She said her parents had worked really hard to make Finland a good country to live in, and she doesn't want to give it away for people who have done nothing for it.
I want to understand this point of view. I really do. But I just can't.
Because I have seen how it can be elsewhere. I have seen how people have no hope or future in life, and for what reason? Who is to blame? Or does blaming someone even help? What makes us so much better that we do not want to help one another? Did you choose the country you were born in? Did you choose the circumstances you grew up in?
Now I'm not one of those people who say Finland should take in all people in need no questions asked. No, I think we should have a smart immigration policy and we should see that immigrants and refugees actually intergrate to our society. But yes, I do believe in helping other people without waiting to be repaid.
I do believe welthier nations should not only help people in need, but that it is our responsibility. And yes, we should do it smart. We should make it count and work. Just throwing money at third world countries is not smart helping. If it doesn't make things better in the countries, and we are losing money, who benefits? Maybe few dictators.
But I have seen people in bad conditions, in poverty and sickness, to give away from what they don't have just to help a fellow man. So it really makes my heart ache to hear comments and thoughts from my own country that only represent selfishness, narrow-mindness and lack of compassion for one another.
"You must be the change you want to see in the world."
-Mahatma Gandhi
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