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give we are being good people; anc� it can help us come to peace with the fact that we live in <br />more comfort than rt�any others in the world. This Aboriginal woman says that if you approach <br />someone of lesser privilege in a way that makes you fee! Iike you're "helping" them to appease <br />your own guilt, you might as well leave them alone. But if you understand that everyone's life is <br />cornplicated, and everyone has their own struggles to face, then you can approach someon� with <br />a willingness to engage—not only with iheir problerns, but also one's own. <br />During the 1980's, there was a terrible civil war in the Latin American country of El <br />Salvador. The government took part in raiding citizen's hames, occasionally killing entire <br />villages of inen, women, elders and children. My famiiy's good friends lived in El Salvador <br />during this time. They immigrated to Mexico to escape the violence. Many of their farn�ly <br />members had been killed, and they fled their own country to escape death. <br />In i�nmigrating to another country, there are issues oiadjusting to a new culture, striving <br />to be accepted, and trying to adapt to a new lifes�yle, among other challenges. Because this <br />family was in danger of being killed, they had to leave their homeland, their possessions, and <br />their way of life as they knew it. <br />The atrocities committed during the l 9$0's war violate the 16Th right in the Universal <br />Declaration of Human Rights. II states that "The governmenf of your country shot�ld protect your <br />family and its members." In this case, the goverr�ment was doing the opposite, igniting <br />widespread fear and distrust throughout their country. The 3�d right in the Universal Declaration <br />of Human Rights states "You have the right to live, and to live in f'reedom and safety." This right <br />was also grotesquely �iolated when tens of thousands of citizens were murdered. <br />Learr3ing about our friends' struggles during the war helped teach me that not everyone in <br />this world is graced with stability and safety in their everyday �ife. I may not wake up every day <br />