Are You a Vulture?

Last week as I was driving to pick up my daughter from school, I suddenly came up on heavy traffic. As vehicles slowly passed, veering to the left lane, I saw the reason for traffic. A car was immovable, slanted in the middle of the road, with its female driver on the side , assessing damages to her car, and looking about, as though she’s trying to find the culprit for this misfortune. “Hit and run,” I said to myself. But as I looked through my rearview mirror at her bewilderment, my mind started running a mile an hour. “Is she Ok?” “Does she need help?” Without delay, I tried to navigate my way through the thick traffic in hopes of getting off the main road, and rallying back to her aid.

However, it was too late! Traffic made it impossible; I missed my chance to help. My thoughts went to battle, wondering what I could have done better, or if stopping to lend a helping hand would have been safe. I consoled myself saying, she seemed fine; no blood, or lost of life. Whatever the reason I came up with, I was just not comfortable with my decision, but was happy to see, that fifteen minutes later, while driving back the opposite direction, the proper authorities were there to give her some assistance.

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you should have, could have, would have, but you didn’t? I have come to the conclusion, that as a people, we’ve become numb and dumb to the needs of others and some show themselves as vultures. I think the following story brings home the point more clearly.

“In the 1990’s there was a widely circulated photo of a vulture waiting for a starving little girl to die and feast on her corp. That photo was taken during the 1993/94 famine in Sudan, by Kevin Carter, a South African photojournalist, who later won the Pulitzer Prize for this ‘amazing shot’.

However, as Kevin Carter was savouring his feat and being celebrated on major news channels and networks worldwide for such an ‘exceptional photographic skill’, he lived just for a few months to enjoy his supposed achievement and fame, as he later got depressed and took his own life!

Kevin Carter’s depression started, when during one of such interviews (a phone-in programme), someone called in and asked him what happened to the little girl. He simply replied, “I didn’t wait to find out after this shot, as I had a flight to catch…” Then the caller said, “I put it to you that there were two vultures on that day, one had a camera.”

“I put it to you that there were two vultures on that day, one had a camera”.

Thus, his constant thought of that statement, later led to depression and he ultimately committed suicide. Kevin Carter could have still been alive today and even much more famous, if he had just picked that little girl up and taken her to the United Nations Feeding Center, where she was attempting to reach or at least take her to somewhere safe.

Today, regrettably this is what is happening all around the world. The world celebrates stupidity and inhumane act, at the detriment of others. Kevin Carter should have taken the girl away from that place, which will cost him nothing, yet he didn’t. Here is the inhuman posture, “he had all time to take his shot, but he had no time to save the girl’s life”.

“He had all time to take his shot, but he had no time to save the girl’s life”.

Thus, we must all understand that, the purpose of life, is to also touch lives. So are you too a Vulture? In whatever we do, let humanity come first, before what we stand to gain out of the situation. In all we do let’s always think of others and how we can be of benefit to humanity, how we can lend a helping hand and wipe away tears. Hence, when we seek knowledge, wealth, fame, skills or even positions, let’s think of how we can use it to benefit the people and society at large.

Today, there is a lot of poverty in the land, so if our God Almighty has blessed you, be a blessing to others, extend a helping hand to those in need. Remember, you giving, is also a way of appreciating divine blessings, bounties, and favour of God Almighty upon you. Therefore, it is very important that we all should help the poor and needy, the orphans and widows amongst us, so that they can meet their needs. Please don’t be a Kevin Carter, be human and think humanity.

Beware, we humans are not humans, if we lack humaneness in all we do.”

Author unknown[to me].

There is much we can take away from this article, including the sad reality that Kevin wasn’t able to process negative thoughts and turn them into positives: changing the way situations, experiences and events are viewed. Sad though the outcome, the lesson is a great one for is to learn.