READ VERY CAREFULLY AND TO THE END BEFORE YOU LIKE OR COMMENT - I was in a car with other Rotarians, on my way to visit a project. The traffic was heavy, and our car could not move. Suddenly, looking out the window, I noticed a little girl, about five years old, walking between the cars. She stopped at the car in front of ours. I saw her reach up her hand to knock on the window. It did not open. She knocked again, and the driver opened the window a few centimeters. She dropped a coin into the girl’s hand and then closed the window. The traffic still did not move. I thought the girl would go to the next car, but she did not. Instead, she stood on her toes, looking into the car. She was so small that her nose only reached the bottom of the window. I could not hear what she said, but I saw her point her finger, to something inside the car. This time, the window opened quickly, and the girl raised her cupped hands. Out of the window came a bottle of water, which the driver poured into the little girl’s hands. She drank. And then, she raised her hands to be filled again. But instead of drinking, she moved her hands down — to let an even smaller child, whom I had not seen, have a drink as well. The next day, passing through the same spot, I saw the same girl holding the same very young child on her lap. They sat on the edge of the roundabout. As we drove by again, I saw her face. It was covered with dirt. But her expression was busy and animated. She was drawing a picture with her finger, in the dust, for her baby sister. In the middle of that terrible situation of hunger and danger and want, she was doing something so natural, and so ordinary. She was trying to make her baby sister smile. As I looked at that little girl’s face, in that moment, it seemed to change. I did not see the face of an Indian street child. I saw the face of my own granddaughter, Rio. I saw Rio sitting there, with her younger sister, Rui. I saw her sitting by the side of the road, dirty, hungry, and abandoned. I saw her holding Rui in her lap, drawing a picture for her, to make her smile. I saw her, watching the cars go past, and waiting — waiting for the person who would stop and open a window, to drop a coin or pour a few sips of water. Those two little girls were only two of so many millions. But they are no different from the two little girls who are so precious to me. They need me just as much. They need us even more. When I saw those little girls, I knew, as I never had before, how important Rotary is. Sakuji Tanaka, Rotary International President 2012-13
Posted on: Mon, 08 Jul 2013 04:11:04 +0000
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