The Mercy Corps Blog

Blog Post Posted July 3, 2009, 7:12 am by Roger Burks

Signing your name to it

Every July 4, I read the U.S. Declaration of Independence. As a work of art, it’s astounding in its eloquent and persuasive prose. As a philosophical piece, it’s influenced countless nations to shape their own destinies.

But to me its real, enduring power lay in the immediate action that brought it to life. Fifty-six men signed the Declaration and each, by doing so, endangered their lives by standing up to the world’s greatest military power, Great Britain. Their vow is remarkable:

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

We celebrate their courage, as well as the sacrifices and victories that followed, each Independence Day. But at Mercy Corps, we see that kind of commitment and action year-round.

The people we work with are extraordinary in their bravery, resilience and resolve. They stand —sometimes alone, at first — against discrimination, prejudice and injustice, often enduring threats of violence. They are truly world-changers.

My thoughts turn to a young woman in northern Uganda who returned to help the people of her homeland recover from years of conflict, despite a childhood of horrific violence and two abduction attempts. A young man in Kosovo, once beaten by policemen for carrying an Albanian language book, who now unites Serb and Albanian youth to tell the truth through journalism. A 14-year-old bonded laborer in Nepal who engaged his country’s government — and the world — in freeing his people from generations of near-slavery. And two women from different ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina who, during the divisive and brutal Bosnian War, forged a friendship despite deadly odds.

They are like the Founding Fathers, signing their names to a cause despite the consequences. I am proud to work alongside them.

It’s been 233 years since that singular day of action in Philadelphia. What can you do today, wherever you are, to help those around the world who still struggle for freedom and their most basic rights?