You are known as a writer with great influence on public. If you were the one who direct humanitarian activities, to which sphere of activity you would orientate humanitarianism : Sting is trying to rescue the tropical rain forest, Bono lectures to leaders of the strongest states, Sharon Stone collect financial resources for humanitarian purposes, Gilberto Gil is a Minister of Culture. Have you ever thought or wished to politically engaged?
I think that it is everyone’s responsibility to be involved in one�s community. I’ve always been very skeptical about people that say: “I want to save the world, help others!” This is because to save the “world” is a Sisyphus project : too abstract to actually be put into practice. What is possible – and the most difficult task – is to first look at oneself and try to identify what’s wrong. Before searching for the other, one has to find oneself.
I took forty years to find myself � to accept my dream: to become a writer. Only when I started to walk down the path of my personal legend was I able to honestly turn myself towards others: before that there were too many walls inside my soul.
I looked around me and said: “I can’t change the world, I can’t change my country, I can’t change my city, I can’t even change my neighborhood! what I can change is my street.” That’s when I went to a favela ” in Rio favelas are in the center of the city � and met a group of people that were taking care of children. Since then I’ve been cooperating with them and now we take care of 430 children.
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This is wonderful when people of influence get involved to try and improve to change an area whether its saving the rainforest’s or helping children, all effort and relief is very important, but what helps is that they direct attention to humanitarian activities and show others to help and love thy neighbor no matter what the situation is meaning again I like what the Pitts/Jolie family do as they are a family made up beautifully from all over the world .I constantly read about lots of stars engaging in this kind of work ,but I have been a bit skeptical myself as to are they doing for publicity or from the heart ..
You are a good /kind, sweet man Paulo Coelho :-)
When I ever will come to Rio I would like to visit your institute there.
It is so good to observe the goodness that are in your heart.
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