Stephen Lewis Fever

I am heartily ashamed of myself, Lizzie. But don't despair; it'll pass, and no doubt more quickly than it should.
Mr. Bennett to Elizabeth Bennett
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

I have Stephen Lewis Fever. I saw Stephen Lewis speak last night on the plight of women and children in Africa and the terrible toll of poverty and disease, and I'm having a little bit of trouble with anything today that doesn't involve getting on a plane and going to Africa to build a school or something. Seeing Stephen Lewis was certainly catalyst, but I've been feeling for some time that I should be doing something better with the hours I'm paid for than help bank shareholders make more money.

Quite frankly, I don't feel like donating is anywhere near enough, although I will do that too, targetting 0.7% of my gross income. I want to do something concrete. Something tangible. I want to see. I want to understand. I want to help. I want to stop being part of the problem.

I only hope that this feeling will last long enough for me to do something about it.

Update: Funny that so many countries (all but five) can't meet their 0.7% commitment to foreign aid, as it certainly wasn't enough to salve my aching conscience and so got doubled, and it still seems a paltry sum.