Christmas, New Year, it’s done and won’t be back – no matter how much you pray – until a whole year more. What did you guys get? PS3, Wii, DSi? Me, I got a new karaoke game for the Wii, the sixth (and newest) Harry Potter DVD, fragrances, giftcards to bookstores, and best of all, love.

Sometimes all we’ve got to hang on to is love. Recently I found a website called GMH, which stands for GivesMeHope. Users submit stories about themselves that gave them that little tiny inkling called hope. Some people start stories with “Today…” and then there’s detail about what happened, then they end the post with “GMH”. Here are some of the best from the site, some stories that gave lots of people hope:

I woke up one morning to hear the birds outside my window and my mother cooking breakfast downstairs. I’ve never cried so much in my entire life. I had been deaf since the age of 8.

A little girl was dying of cancer and her younger brother had a match for the bone marrow she needed. The doctors told him it was a matter of life and death. After he had the surgery, he asked the doctors how long he had to live. He thought if he gave his bone marrow to let his sister live he would die but he did it anyway. GMH

Today, I woke up and my wife was more beautiful than I’d ever seen her. We’ve been married 15 years. GMH

My brother has Down Syndrome and doesn’t speak very well. This week while we were down the beach he tried to learn how to skim board.He would try and ask the other boys how they did it and they would laugh at him and walk away. The last day 4 teenage boys spent hours with him teaching him. They were so patient. He wouldn’t stop smiling :)They GMH.

The hardest part for me about my daughter being autistic is that she didn’t recognize me as her mother. This week we were pointing at things in a book- “where’s the cat?” “where’s the ball?” and I asked her “where’s the mommy?” and she turned around and pointed at me. GMH

Every year, the graduating 8th grade class votes for superlatives. The teachers add up the votes. When ‘Jordan A’ was announced for Most Inspirational, teachers were in tears to see our entire class who never get along, give a standing ovation. He died in a fire in fourth grade and we still consider him part of our class.

This website, as stated by numerous viewers, is not about showing somebody up or telling them that their life is better than yours. It is the definition of telling somebody with the same problems that there is hope in the world. Don’t give up, because chances are, your answer is just around the corner. I did some research, looked through Google and chain mails, and found some of the most horrific and striking images from across the globe.

I started this post by asking you what you got for a present. I stated my own. The following images make me wish that everyone was as lucky as me.

These pictures are only a part of what the world goes through everyday. These pictures are only one continent on which this crisis is taking place. Here are some from other countries that we never really hear of:

Uplifting, isn’t it? Makes you want to go up and make a difference. Something I noticed on these pictures, was, that most of them were of people smiling. They wear shoes made of inflated bottles, and take care of the numerous siblings because their parents died, but they do all of this with a smile on their faces. They truly give me hope.

The next and final picture of my post is a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography winning photo, taken in southern Sudan. The photographer’s name was Kevin Carter, who, three months after taking this, commited suicide from depression. In his suicide note, he wrote: “I am depressed … without phone … money for rent … money for child support … money for debts … money!!! … I am haunted by the vivid memories of killings and corpses and anger and pain … of starving or wounded children, of trigger-happy madmen, often police, of killer executioners…I have gone to join Ken if I am that lucky.”  *Ken Oosterbroek was a fellow friend and photographer of Kevin’s, who was killed in a firing round in South Africa.

Before you see this picture, here is a little history on when the picture was taken. If the description is too hard and sad for you to read, I would recommend skipping over the next picture. According to Wikipedia, in March 1993 when Carter made a visit to Sudan, he heard the whimpers of a little girl. A vulture had landed next to the almost-dead child, ready to eat it. Although Kevin Carter later stated that he had chased away the vulture, what became of the whereabouts of the little girl are still unknown to this day.

Without further ado, the picture which captures a lifestyle sadly happening everyday in the world:

Word of the Week

hope (noun)

1. the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best

Challenge

Check out these websites to find out how you can help:

http://www.charitynavigator.org/

Charity Navigator has over 5,400 of the best charities, where you can choose whom to donate to.

http://www.charity-charities.org/Nepal-charities/Nepal.html

This page in Charity-Charities has Volunteer Locations, Charities & Non Profit Organizations, and Charities all in Nepal.