[WAR child ~ HOPE]
"Keep hope alice." Jesse Jackson, Hyde Park, March 2003
By the time you read this, the full scale of the humanitarian disaster in Iraq will be emerging. After 12 years of sancions, a lifetime of oppression and now the effects of war, the crisis for Iraq's 13 million children is on-going.
Five thousand years after Mesotamia became the birthplace of civilisation, children in Iraq today face an uncertian future, traumatised by war and demoralised by the slow, dull ache of grinding poverty.
Iraq's healthcare system is in tatters. Primary school attendance is at an all-time low. Infant mortality is in free-fall.
Chronic malnurtion is already affecting every fourth child under five years old. Up to half a million children have died since the first Gulf War ended. And that was before the second war on Saddam ever began - a conflict, which like all conflicts, will affect children more acutely than anyone.
In this context, 'Hope' may seem a curious title for a record.
But if we cannot give Iraqi children hope, we give them nothing at all. In a recent survey of children in Iraq, a desperate 40 percent said they could see no reason for living.
The hopelessness and despair this reveals is perhaps more devastating than any of the physical hardships these children face.
Human beings can live with most things, but they have to want to live. In the post-war sceneario for Iraq, this must change. In recent years we have seen so many nations tear off the shackles of the past. The impossible can be possible as South Africa has shown us.
The aim of this record is to get money quickly to Iraq, to aid its rise from the ashes of war to new beginnings. But hope is also an act of faith in the hopes and dreams of Iraqi children, showing we believe in the peaceful future they long for.
This album of exclusive tracks has been recorded against the clock as the war in Iraqi is being fought. In just three weeks, some of the greatest names on the Brotosh music scene have altered their scgedules and crammed into studios across the world to be a part of Hope.
Each artist has selected a track that means something to them at this present time of crisis. You will find hope, love, anger and confusion both in the lyrics and in the music.
We would like to thank each of our artists, but also you for buying this record. In doing so you have already made a difference. Iraqi's real hope is its children. By investing in them you are investing not only in the future if Iraq but in all of our hopes for a peaceful world.
With best wishes,
Ros Wynne-Jones, Daily Mirror
James Topham, War Child
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not vecome dirty." ~ Mahatma Gandhi.
"Salams! I'm honoured to be part of this album of conscientious songs in aid of those small and harmless souls. It seems to me that Peace Train is more relevant than ever. The message continues to breeze thunderously through the hearts of millions of human beings and there is a powerful need for people to feel that gust of hope rise up again.
As a member of humanity and as a Muslim, this is my call for a peaceful solution to the dangerous path some world leaders seem to be taking. I pray for those whose lives are lost or shattered by the war and its bleak after effects. Peace be with you."
YUSUF ISLAM ．Dubai, 26th March, 2003
"Whatever the politics, whatever the rights and wrongs of war, children are always the innocent victims so I am delighted to be able to make this small contribution to a magnificent project that I hope goes a long way to alieviating some of the pain and suffering.
My track Calico Skies contains a poignant verse about the futility of all wars and I hope it is appropriate in the circumstances.
I must congratulate the Daily Mirror and War Child on the speed at which they have reacted to the needs of the children in Iraq who will benefit from the sales of this album and wish them every success in raising as much money as possible.
And, just as importantly, I must also thank you for your generosity in doing your bit to help such a worthy cause by buying this album."
PAUL McCARTNEY
London, March 24, 2003.
五月一日 至 七日
好似見到送走劉永佳先生那靈車
家強:喂呢隻唔係情歌o黎喎,個名叫 “全是愛”乍!
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