Janese Johnson

In these days there seems to be a lot of despair going on in the world. With despair seems to come complacency and complaining.

Sometimes when I suggest to people about how we can make a difference, I get a cynical reply back: How could we possibly make a difference with so much corruption and suffering going on in the world?

Yes, there does seem to be a lot of that, but what good are we not doing anything about it?

Fortunately, thanks to those who have put much pressure on the government concerning the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, there has been good news in the past week.†

Before sharing the good news, I would like to share a precious little story that has been circulating around the past few years that most of us have heard at least a few times. I believe that we can never hear this story too much because it shows the importance and power of the difference we can make just by trying to help one person, animal or situation at a time, and to not let despair take over our ability to help. Itís called The Starfish Story.

Once a man was walking along a beach. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day. Off in the distance he could see a person going back and forth between the surfís edge and the beach. Back and forth this person went. As the man approached he could see that there were hundreds of starfish stranded on the sand as the result of the natural action of the tide.

The man was stuck by the apparent futility of the task. There were far too many starfish. Many of them were sure to perish. As he approached, the person continued the task of picking up starfish one by one and throwing them into the surf. He said to the person, ìYou must be crazy. There are thousands of miles of beach covered with starfish. You canít possibly make a difference.î The person looked at the man. He then stooped down and picked up one more starfish and threw it back into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said, ìIt sure made a difference to that one!î

Because of the pressure that has been put on Congress, many innocent detainees are being released from Guantanamo. In the past week 16 innocent men (starfish) have been freed. They are being released without a trial because they are innocent, and have been all along. There are quite a few men and boys in Guantanamo who are innocent but were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Jumah Mohammed al Dossari of Bahrain is one of the 16 who were released. Five years ago when Jumah was flying back from New York to Pakistan, he was taken into custody and falsely accused of being a terrorist. Even through the torture he still claimed his innocence.

His years in Guantanamo have been a nightmare beyond belief, and in his desperation he has tried to commit suicide at least a dozen times. Two of the many suicide attempts happened when his attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan was there in the building.

One attempt was a year ago when Jumah tried hanging himself, and was fortunately caught and cut down just in time. His despair grew stronger with each abusive situation that he endured. Jumah did not know if he would ever be free to see his family again, and he was only 28 years old when he entered there.

He wanted out so bad that his last attempt to kill himself was just two weeks before his release. Jumah cut his stomach open with metal, almost hitting a major artery. He was fortunately caught in time again.

Jumah is now free after five long horrific years of abuse and isolation. He was released to the Saudi Arabian government because he has dual citizenship with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. They are treating him amazingly well.

His story is only one of many who are free because of people who care. It is crucial not to give in to despair and complacency, because there are many peopleís lives at stake who are waiting for their freedom.

Even if we are working on helping only one person at a time, it still really matters to that one person. We can really make a difference.

Jumah and the 15 others freed from Guantanamo can now attest to that truth.