Men's Journal has another interesting article up on their website. This time it's the Diary of Emile Hirsch, who recently visited the Congo in Africa, along with four young activists, only to have his eyes opened to the plight of people living in that part of the world.
Hirsch joined the team after becoming associated with Oxfam. He admits that he'd never heard of the charitable organization before playing Christopher McCandless in last year's film adaptation of Into The Wild. McCandless donated his entire life's savings, a sum of $24,500.68 to Oxfam before embarking on his own journey that ultimately ended with his death in Alaska.
Reading these diaries you can see Hirsch's progression from someone who knows nothing about the Congo, who then reads briefings on the topic, to eventually witnessing the place first hand. The 23 year old actor visits a remote village in the jungle at one point of his journey, and meets men, women, and children who have all suffered as a result of the conditions in the country that include open warfare, poverty, and disease.
The article is an excellent read, and demonstrates well what it can be like to visit remote places in distant countries and interact with the people there. It's nearly impossible to come away unchanged by what you see there, even in relatively stable countries. Visiting a place like the Congo would be life altering. For Hirsch, it seems that that is the case.
No comments:
Post a Comment