For the 28 Aid Workers Who Were Murdered, Honor Them by Being an Aid Worker Wherever You Are

The photos of another young woman, identified as Gayle Williams, who was shot while walking down a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, have been flashed across the news screens and almost as quickly, another young life has begun and ended. The death toll of aid workers so far in Afghanistan is 28 this year, up sharply from last year.

As I write these few words about her, I'll take the liberty of calling her by her first name, not because I knew her, because I never met the lady, but because I want to bring home the fact that she was a person, a human being who worked closely with the neediest people on earth. She deserves respect for that and also love and compassion.

Some people say, "It's crazy to go to such a dangerous place and those who lose their lives deserve what they get."

Imagine what kind of place the world would be if a stranger never stopped to help another stranger, if a firefighter never risked his or her life to go into a burning building to save someone, or if people like Gayle didn't overcome their fear and go to a dangerous place in order to help those unfortunate enough to be trapped in such a place?

Aid workers are the very best of us and perhaps the wisest of all. They know the value of their own lives and how much more valuable a life becomes when it is lived in service to others.

Gayle's photo reveals a bright and smiling face, full of hope. While millions of us watch the parts of the world that are in turmoil and suffering from deadly religious intolerance, a few, like Gayle, decide to make a difference and go into those dangerous places to bring hope and aid to the people who are so desperately in need of help. Gayle worked with the disabled.

It doesn't really matter what Gayle's religious beliefs or political leanings were, the important thing is that she lived and loved. She was somebody's daughter, friend, and helper. I don't seek to judge the people who murdered her, but will say that like all acts of cowardice, it was an act of fear. Gayle overcame her fear, unfortunately for the world and human race, many, like the ones who murdered her, do not.

We can't bring her back, but we can do something for her. In her honor, in honor of all the aid workers who have volunteered and sacrificed, we each can commit an act of kindness, help another human being, be an aid to someone, wherever we are.

That won't bring her back to us, but it will make the world a better place and that is all that she was trying to do, make the world a better place.

So wherever you are and no matter who you are, find a way to do something kind for someone else. Give someone a helping hand, commit a random act of kindness, and do it in remembrance of all the aid workers and unsung heroes who are making our world a better place, every day of their lives.