The problem with people like you is that they keep talking and talking but seem nothing to do
whatsoever in practice. I prefer to be more right-down-to the earth as only in this way
problems can really be addressed and something be done about it. As a single person I
cannot "save" the rest of the world, and it is not my job to do so. But doing
the little others and I can do is still more than what the armchair liberals do -
talk..talk...talk...

There's a 70 (something) year-old guy I know back in Australia who has been divorced (single) for many years. He's a lovely, considerate, kind and caring old(ish) man.

A few years ago he went to Thailand for the first time, just for a holiday. One morning, he came across a 30 (something) year-old Thai woman who was selling cigarettes on a street corner. She had half her leg missing, below the knee.

During his stay in Thailand, he bought cigarettes from her every day and they became acquaintances. He's semi-retired so he subsequently made several trips back to Thailand, just for a holiday, and saw this woman every day. (Oh, Pigsy, there was no sex involved. He's probably not capable and she had only one-and-a-half legs, so get that idea out of your mind, lol). When he was back home in Australia, they would e-mail each other quite regularly (she would use an Internet cafe).

He learnt that she lost her leg in a motorcycle accident several years earlier, and as such, wasn't able to do a 'proper' job.

She was therefore reduced to selling cigarettes on the street.

Getting a prosthetic limb had never been considered, so he looked into it on her behalf and discovered that one could be made and fitted for around AUD$1000.

After knowing this lady for a couple of years, he finally managed to convince her to let him pay for one.

The whole thing was a success and she was eventually able to return to normal work.

As their friendship grew (still platonic) she wanted to take him back to her hillbilly village and introduce him to her family. He agreed to go.

Once there, he learnt that although her family were essentially poor farmers, they had a lot of land.

The upshot of it was, that this guy, (after 2 more years), spent around AUD$10,000 helping them build a bug farm on the land they already owned.

That bug farm is still going strong. It provides cheap protein for the whole village and although doesn't make a huge profit, it's self-sustaining.

In short, this guy has no family to leave his material things to, so he decided to do something that made him feel good. It's his legacy if you like.

He still goes there a couple of times a year, (health permitting), and he gets a huge 'buzz' out of seeing what he helped to create.

Stories like this put the word 'human' back into 'humanity'.

If there were more people like him, I'm sure the world would be a much better place.......