Culture

Author: Miles Roston
Publisher: Esisle Publishing Ltd
( 4/5)


 
 
This book is a collection of stories that profile characters from diverse backgrounds and geographical contexts who are using their individual abilities to make positive change. The book attempts to motivate readers through sharing these stories. While it omits details on how the various schemes got off the ground, it does inspire one to ponder how similar ideas may be applicable in our own contexts and communities.
Wil and Flor encourage Amsterdam kids to treat people kindly through teaching them kindness to animals. Paul works in rural Australian Aboriginal communities, building better houses. Frika is in Indonesia working to prevent AIDS and AIDS stigma, having faced the stigma herself when diagnosed. Rachel is an Australian prostitute fighting for sex workers' rights. And then there’s work on providing hope and education for street kids, comfort for the sick and dying, and setting up the international Homeless World Cup. In all, seventeen stories briefly profile ordinary and extraordinary people and highlight similarities and common themes.
While not all the stories or characters attracted me, there is enough variety for every reader to find at least one or two stories which resonate with them. I really enjoyed the portrait photo accompanying each story, which literally put faces to the stories, making them more personal, more real, and more memorable. Key themes reoccur throughout the book, sometimes appearing clichéd (homelessness, poverty, AIDS), but perhaps reflecting a global reality. The book also avoids significant critique or debate on the pros and cons of aid and intervention work, painting each story in a solely positive light focused on the benefits it aims to achieve. The book's mantra states that it's the small things that matter and with a little creativity, or inspiration from a good example, individual people can make a difference. Drawing the book to a close are comments on the theory-practice gap between government/authority and on-the-ground experiences, the moral responsibility of helping others, and finally, the belief that by helping others you actually help yourself. Read this book to hear what inspiring people are doing, and you might just be inspired yourself, to do something for your world.