Comics do there bit for relief (Comic Relief (Red Nose Day) in general)

Member Name: blissman70

Product:	Comic Relief (Red Nose Day) in general
Date:	14/03/09 (130 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Using humour for a great worthy cause,

Disadvantages: The plight of those suffering

I don't know if this should be put into this particular review section or maybe should be put into a shrinks portfolio... but as this does somehow nudge on the Comic relief Red Nose theme I thought I'd write this here anyway.

* WHAT IS COMIC RELIEF..?

Comic relief is a fundraising idea from the brains of Lenny Henry and his fellow comedians during 1985.
It originally started, in a small camp in Sudan, with the intentions of opening up the plight of people living in poverty in the UK and Africa.
It has now become an annual fund raising event, hosted by the comics and celebrities who are most popular at the time, and is aimed at getting as much money as possible for the underprivileged.
Up to date the charity has managed to raise around £400 million (including 2009)

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* MY PERSONAL VIEW...

I'm one for helping charities as long as they are for good causes, and this is a good cause indeed. But I don't need some Geordie bird who can't sing to tell me that thousands of kids are dying in Africa from a disease that is easily avoidable if people give a fiver so a mosquito net can be bought to protect them, (try giving some of your Geordie cash and you would save millions of kids from the hell they are living in... and I don't mean by adopting one of them either).

I have not just visited places like these 'celebrities' pop into with the plan of self publicity, I have served in them, for queen and country, trying to bring some form of peace to the hundreds of suffering people. Whilst there coming across many sights that would even make Freddie Krueger vomit... but the worst place for such horrors has to be in Africa. During my time around a certain little place on the west coast, as an aid to the UN peace keepers, this was home of so many horrific sights that my nightmares were a pleasant place to get away from the many visions of hell.
Witnessing hundreds of civilians being treated worst than dogs, even worst than rats., many women viciously raped by their so called fellow man, their savaged bodies barely surviving the brutal attack from war loving monsters given the green light to do as they wish, possibly by their own government. The sights that can be seen in these unprotected areas are so horrific that you could not believe it in your wildest dreams, (and believe me, you wouldn't want to).

But the worst thing of all, even worse than seeing a women cowering in a corner, petrified that you are going to do what her previous male encounter did, is seeing the sight of a young defenceless child acting in exactly the same way, there tiny bodies battered and bruised beneath there torn rags, your mind instantly knowing that that poor little child has been abused beyond belief, knowing that you can do nothing about it, apart from maybe offering them a drink or some food from your pack, knowing your trivial gift will fall far short in trying to help their mental scars.
Even if you are not a parent, to see such a sight will rip out your heart and smack you straight in the face with it... to see such atrocities, knowing that you are helpless to protect them is not right at all...
These poor vulnerable people need help, with most still living in hope that their own government will be there for them, protect them form such horrors in the future, little knowing, or little believing that the government are possibly turning a blind eye to such atrocities.

This is the Africa that I know, that I remember from nearly ten years ago, the war torn country which runs through my mind, still to this day sometimes awakening me in the dead of the night, beads of sweat dripping down my forehead, (although not as often as it used to). The animal like 'rebels' fighting against those who are there to help, killing and abusing those that choose to defy them... this is the Africa that the Red Nose day shenanigans fail to bring to your attention.

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Don't get me wrong, what the BBC are doing to raise awareness about the plight of the hundreds of suffering people is a good thing, any publicity to show these atrocious events which are still happening in this day and age is a worthy cause indeed. There are just so many defenceless individuals to help that a once a year program is simply not enough.

Unfortunately, when some people watch the Comic relief programming they simply want to see their favourite celebrities so they can catch up on what they're doing, and to be frankly honest, most of these 'celebrities' just simply want to get their faces on the small screen, but if the full truth came out, if the British government allowed the broadcasting of the hidden horrific horrors that are possibly still happening, then maybe the people who reside in one of the richest countries in the world would want to do more than give money once a year. Maybe they would want to stand united and force the people in power to end such heinous acts, demand justice for all those innocent women, children and men who have to live a daily fight just to survive, for those that have to eat the soil they walk on to simply to stop themselves and their families from starving to death.
Although Red Nose day is seen to be about getting enough donations to buy simple things such as mosquito nets or water purifying equipment it does also open up a persons eyes to how people in a third world country actually live, (albeit a seemingly 'gentle' view), so this again is a good thing. The more you know about a fact then the more you may want to help..!!!

If there were no such programs as Red Nose day then would the people around the world care about a problem which they knew nothing about..? Would the governments of the world simply try and brush these troubles under the carpet..?
To bring these shocking sights into every ones front rooms can only be a good thing as it makes the world realise that there are people out there who are in dire need of help not just to be happy but to actually survive day by day.

IMO, (and this IS my opinion, not all fact), the BBC programming that you actually see is very tame compared to the actual activities going on, probably more political as I don't really think that the Great British government could allow the BBC to tell the full truth about the horrors going on in 3rd world countries, whilst their own governments sit there and do absolutely nothing about it, preferring to spend any monies for their own goods , on there own properties and on there own selfish needs, ignoring the thousands of under privileged and dying people who they are meant to be serving.

So if you haven't already donated to this good cause then why not? And what's stopping you digging deeper into your pocket to give that little bit more.
I do realise that we are in a bit of a financial slump but at least we aren't fearing for our lives or trying to feed our children with ground down stones... but many of those poor people in Africa are, so please think about helping those that need it, even if it's only a few pence. And if for some reason you don't care about people who are dying in a country miles from you then think about the fact that some of the money collected does go to help the vulnerable people of Britain as well.

Summary: Lenny Henry's baby is still doing its job..