Voces Inocentes.

It's coming to the end of the semester...everything's due. One of those things is my second cultural activity. I decided to watch a movie in Spanish with a friend. 

I just watched this.

It is so much more than just a Spanish movie.

I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't seen it, but it's a movie that will make you cry, smile, and cry some more. It's set during the Salvadorean civil war in the 1980s, and follows the story of a struggling family caught right in the middle. It's horrific, poignant, and unbelievably, unforgivably real. But I'm not writing a movie review here. I'm writing about what happens after the movie.

Because a movie like that will make you think. It had better make you think. It'll make you think about the role America should play in international affairs, about your relationship with your family, about love, about hate, about whether there's a "right" and a "wrong" side, about child soldiers, and about how lucky you are.

How lucky you are. Mhmm. Don't tell me you see this

and the thought doesn't even cross your mind. Because yeah, you are lucky. But it goes further than that. It has to go further than that. You can't just post "Wow, I'm so glad I'm an American!" or "Man, that's rough. I can't imagine living like that." And then go your merry way.

There's just something inherently wrong with that. Being so blessed gives you the obligation to try to bless others. You might just be this poor college student, with an overwhelming amount of homework to do and exams to study for, trying to make tuition, rent, and groceries. Your cupboard might consist of ramen and mac&cheese. But you're still so so blessed. Books like The Kite Runner and movies like this weren't created to help you appreciate your iPhone, your Thanksgiving dinner, and the family you're going to go visit over Christmas break. They're about making you see the problems of the world so you can change the world.

It just makes me want to DO something and it seems like I can't and that's just really really frustrating. Because even though the Salvadorean civil war ended, there are still 40 countries that use child soldiers. It happens every day. Based on a true story, Voces Inocentes is not just an emotionally manipulative movie. These kinds of societal problems aren't any easier or less awful in real life.

So. I made a donation to a legit organization to help prevent and rescue child soldiers. I can't do a whole lot. But I'm going to do what little I can. And I encourage you to do the same--maybe not even to this cause. But to some cause that you feel strongly about. Start changing the world. Now.