Last week we stumbled upon a 60 minutes (CBS) episode featuring rapper Wyclef Jean and his organization's projects in Haiti. Wyclef, a successful rapper who himself was a Haitian refugee has high hopes of transforming the impoverished, war torn country. During the interview Correspondent Scott Pelley asked Wyclef two questions regarding his work in Haiti that we ourselves frequently hear and we really resonated with Wyclef's answers.
Q1. "But you know what people say about this. This is the poorest neighborhood in the entire Western Hemisphere, maybe one of the poorest in the world. It's too dangerous. You can't do things here," Pelley said.
A1. "My response to the critics is that, you know, past the danger is opportunity," Wyclef replied.
We couldn't have put it better or more clearly. Are the areas we're working in and have future hope for dangerous? Yes, albeit more tame than this particular Haitian neighborhood. All the same, those willing to move past the danger have tremendous opportunity to reach the people who live in these communities.
Q2. "You know, as much as is being done, the needs are so much greater. And I wonder whether you worry that you're really not gonna be able to make much of a difference. A dent, maybe. But perhaps not a difference," Pelley remarked.
A2. "What I plan to do is I'm gonna make a serious dent," Wyclef vowed. "And I'm hoping that after I make this dent, those kids behind me could help break those walls."
The bottom line is a dent is a difference. We can't approach the world, our work and our problems with an overwhelmed, defeatist mentality and give up before we start, feeling that making a "real" difference is hopeless or impossible. We can't change the world all at once. But we can help to change hearts and lives, one dent at a time.
*find the whole Wyclef story at: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/08/60minutes/main4707723.shtml
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