Last Tuesday, I was watching a program on television called, E:60, on ESPN. It was on at 6 p.m. I had just finished dinner, and I was deciding on whether to watch it or not. Normally, I do not like to watch a lot of television during the day, but I decided to sit down and watch this show for about 45 minutes. For those of you who have never heard of E:60, it is an hour-long television program where broadcasters share news stories from around the world about top headlines in sports. It is somewhat like 60 minutes on CBS, but with a sports twist to it.
The third news story that came up was about South Africa. South Africa was the host of the 2010 World Cup not too long ago, but soccer was not the main point of the report. The story was about how a broadcast journalist went to South Africa, and he conducted interviews with female soccer athletes in the black townships. Specifically, these women were lesbian, and they experienced the horrors of rape just because they were homosexual. This kind of rape is known as corrective rape. Someone rapes another person for the sole purpose of trying to change that person's sexuality.
The report was very sad. South Africa is not a safe country for people who may be homosexual because 80% of South Africans believe that homosexuality is wrong. Plus, one out of every two women end up getting raped in South Africa, which is the highest rate of rape in the world. The police do not do much to try to control the situation either. Sometimes, they do not even try to catch the suspects. The men in the townships do not care what happens to these women. Many of the men believe that a man is a man, and a woman is a woman. The homosexual women get beaten, get knocked unconscious, and some end up pregnant where they have to have an abortion because they cannot care for the child. No one would stand up for these women. The women had to step up and stand up for themselves. The journalist who conducted the interviews did a nice job of coming into South Africa, respecting the opinions and beliefs of both sides to the story, and leaving with a report that would inform the world of this terror.
I have been thinking about this news report for a couple of days now. It just bothers me that so many people do not know about this, especially after the World Cup taking place. Maybe, this is God calling me into action. Perhaps, God wants me to use my writing skills to become a journalist to inform people of what is truly happening to this world. I do not know, but I think God is telling me to use my passion for writing to make a difference in this world, to provide a light in this dark world, and to give people some perspective.
Still, I do not know if journalism is the right career path for me, but finding my call from God is going to take lots of prayer and listening to what God has to say. Maybe, God is giving me a global challenge or opportunity to help interconnect identities in an evolving world with the words and opinions I write down and share. God knows best, and I have to trust in him with all of my heart no matter where he leads me in this life. Journalism is a very tough career path for any person, but if God is calling me to my passion of writing, I am ready for the challenge. I am prepared to go the distance and embrace the future. God is so amazing in what he can do.
Here is a link to the video and news article. Just to warn you, the video might be disturbing.
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