“later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.”

It seems as though these words from Warsan Shire have never been truer, or more painful. While it can be easy for us to focus on the tragedies in our own backyards, the entire world is struggling. With terrorism, genocide, starvation. With displacement, famine, and violence. Natural disasters and man-made disasters. If you can imagine it, then it’s probably happening to someone somewhere. While it’s important to take care of our own, we must remember that we are not alone. Our fellow human beings in countries across the world need help, and are often ignored by the media. Here are some humanitarian crises that may have slipped under your radar:

Rohingya Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar

War, drought, and malnourishment in Somalia

Terrorism and cholera in Yemen

These three examples merely scratch the surface of the pain our world is in. We’ve already written about Texas, Puerto Rico, and Las Vegas. Spain is in the midst of political strife and turmoil that may eventually end in civil war if an agreement is not reached. Nigeria is in the midst of what some have called the greatest crisis on the continent. More than 1200 people were killed in floods in India and Bangladesh. Literally everything in Ukraine. Nearly 400 people died in the two insane earthquakes in Mexico, a country that is facing uncertainty in its relationship with the US as well as struggling internally with drug cartels who murder people at will.

The point of this post isn’t to depress you. Quite the opposite. I hope that it inspires you to think outside your comfort zone, to do whatever you can to help your fellow humans, to appreciate what you have and to put a bit of goodness back into the world.

Last week, I donated to the Hispanic Federation to help with the Puerto Rico tragedy. I challenge you to do a good deed this week. It doesn’t have to be money-wise; I know that sometimes we have nothing to spare. But I ask you to open your heart to the hurt that is all around us. We can’t help everyone, but we can all help someone. How can you stop the hurt?

-The Collected Mutineer