
I Still See Her Face: The Face of Injustice
I still see her face, a little girl of maybe nine chasing our taxi in the Republic of Madagascar, an island situated in the Indian Ocean, off the Southeast coast of Africa. She is one of the thousands of children, poor and hungry, who runs after cars in Antananarivo the capital of Madagascar pleading for help.

I see her anguished tear-dampened face through the backseat window; I hear her voice and wonder where her parents are? I see a smaller little girl struggling to keep up with her, in her tattered clothing, running with a baby tied to her back, pleading in the same way. Are they orphaned or are they being exploited, I contemplated?
I felt powerless to know what to do, what to say, or even how to look at these innocent poverty-stricken children in the eyes. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world with nearly half of the population under 15 years of age, and I felt lost not knowing how to help them. Instead, I fought back the tears wishing I had bread and water to offer them as we drove away.
I awoke at 3:45 am the morning after my encounter with these little girls thinking about the injustice in the world. I felt sad and overwhelmed especially considering the orphaned and vulnerable children I have come to love throughout Nigeria. Then I remembered that God gave me the capacity to love and to use that love to make a difference in the world.

Sometimes, we only have a moment to make a difference in someone’s life, let that difference be life-giving radiating love. All-too-often, we give up before we try not realizing that we each have potential — at varying levels — to change the world around us. We have the capacity to be kinder and to help alleviate human suffering by extending love.
I still “SEE” her face the face of injustice though I have learned that by extending love, the face of injustice can change.
