Just before bbidding farewell to father's day, I caught a few minutes of Dateline or 48 Hours or one of those news shows. This episode featured a neghborhood of Vietnamese citizens of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Their neighborhood was destroyed along with many other parts of the Crescent City...but it was one of the first neighborhoods to get back on it's feet.
The reporter asked one of the recovery coordinators why the Vietnamese area of N'Orleans was well on the road to recovery when most everywhere else that Katrina touched were still floundering. His answer is a jewel! "In my country, if you wait for the government to do it for you, you'll never see the job complete."
Talk about empowerment and neighbors helping neighbors! These folks weren't the ones on the evening news talking about how awful the government is for only giving $2K on a debit card to hurricane victims-these are the people we should all emulate! Determined, humble and hardworking.
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About Me
- Marcus Engel
- The facts: I’m 32, a professional speaker, author, and Orlando, FL resident. This blog is going to be a little bit of an extension of my web site, marcusengel.com, but with its own personality. Professionally: Here you’ll see a story you can’t get anywhere else. At 18 I was blinded and nearly killed when hit by a drunk driver. Through years of rehab and hours of reconstructive surgery, my goal was to return to college and recapture my life. And I did it. Now, I’m a professional speaker focusing on teaching audiences to overcome adversity, make intelligent choices and see obstacles as opportunities. Through all life experiences I choose to grow, evolve and learn. Now – the important stuff: I love to read, write, play music, explore new restaurants, meet new people, just live every day as if it may be the last. Because it might. Been there, done that, got the t shirt. You can’t sum up About me! in 500 words. No one can. Or, if they can, they’re boring. I’m not. So, read on if you dare. Then drop me e-mail. It’s always way cool to find out who’s out there!
2 comments:
I thought the show was silly. The Vietnamese community is doing better because it has been allowed to move back. Most other victims are barred from moving back to their homes. It was a propaganda piece, that sought to exonerate a government that cares more about making stupid wars than about helping people. The trouble is, that if the government is so shitty, there is absolutely no reason to serve in the military for it.
I agree, Marcus. It is your personal drive, and your ability to stick together as a community and, dare I say it...HARD WORK that makes things happen. Many of us are inured to letting others do things for us, expecting the government to come in and bail us out, etc. etc. Pardon me, but what did we do before government gave us money to fix natural disasters?
Ever wonder why immigrants are often much more successful than our poor? HARD WORK and knowing that if they want a better life, they have to build it for themselves.
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