Prior to the Oscars, I went to see the documentary shorts with my family. I always made it to see the animated and live action shorts, but the documentaries were often more difficult to find showing anywhere.

this was..my first year. 

I knew they would be much more emotional because they are focusing on real people, and it is important for hidden stories to be told. The first one was a very sweet tale about an old Jewish man who lived through the Holocaust and took up the violin to cope. There was a school drive for “forgotten” instruments and he decided to give his violin away. This story was quite uplifting because it showed the impact of the violin on the girl who received it.

I felt warm after this one..

There were a few more fun films..until I was hit by “Extremis.” It told the story of doctors who help families decide that the time has come to let their loved ones die. I was balling about my recently past grandmother, pets who we put down, having to do this for my own parents. 

INTERMISSION.

Thinking there might be some more uplifting ones in the mix, I went in to the second set with a happy attitude to be moved by people’s lives.

BAM! 

In comes the first refugee documentary (coast guard saving thousands in the Greek waters).

BAM! 

A different side of the refugees (a family who fled after their father was taken by ISIS).

A more light hearted one about a woman and the TGV

Just a reminder..! 

(White Helmets risking their lives to save people stuck in bomb rubble)

I am very glad that my eyes were opened to what is happening in Aleppo and with the Syrian refugees. I had a minute understanding of the different horrors that people are facing. Watching these films opened my mind to THE NEED TO HELP in some way. I hated that after the documentaries were finished, I simply drove home.

But what can really be done?

I CAN’T join the PEACECORP or the army.

I CAN’T go into politics and make a big difference.

Donations can only do so much.

 

I WANT to take all the refugees in that I can.

I WANT to help.

Innocent human beings should not live like this.

I WANT to fight!

I WANT to become an activist.

 

But how?