Our culture is obsessed with entertainment.
We tweet and post about celebrities. Sharing memes is second nature to us. We easily spread the latest entertainment media with ease, but for some reason, no one is talking about South Sudan.
The older care for the younger
Recently, I tried to do a fundraiser for the thousands of people who have been displaced due to the recent violence, as well as spread awareness. Only three people donated. Only two people shared the info in total over the course of multiple days and multiple posts. No likes. No comments.
Fast forward two days. I share a random quiz. Fifteen likes, two shares, and six comments.
Sudan has a long history of violence. A few years ago, the fighting began calm down and South Sudan became the worlds youngest country.
Recently, new violence has been drawing some international media coverage. Out of Lebanon, The Daily Star reports the horrific accounts of war crimes. They paint a very grim and graphic picture.
Living Water Community Transformation
Reuters does not get as graphic as The Daily Star, but they do draw attention to the growing problem and note the thousands of deaths and over 800,000 refugees.
Aljazeera mentions the cease fire, a trial, and the continued violence.
Clearly, international media is paying attention. However, it is not making front page news. There are no viral blog posts about South Sudan’s crisis. Why not?
800,000 people and growing. Thousands have been killed and there are reports of war crimes. Even in peacetime, 90% of the population lives on less than $1 a day, and 1 in 6 pregnant women will die.
Why is there not more media attention? I think it is because the majority of people do not care enough to take action. Most of us do not know anyone from Sudan. If people do care, they do not know what they can do to help, which leads to inaction.
It is much easier to have a discussion about the Kardashians. We don’t have to sacrifice to share a meme. While we sit on social media, people are dying. When we start caring more, perhaps the media will cover South Sudan more. Until we start talking about it and doing something to help, nothing is going to get better.
How many more people have to die before people finally start to care enough to do something?
A Connected World 