We approach the “big story of need” with a question: “Who exactly is a needy person?”
There are Bill Murray “gimme, gimme needs”, and there are Haiti earthquake needs for food, water, emergency medical care and shelter. There are I-have-to-graduate-to-get-a-good-job/I-want-this-promotion-to-buy-my-dream house/I-can’t-live-without-this-girl-in-my-life needs/I-need-to-save-this-much-every-month-to-retire-on-time needs, and then there are I-have-no-idea-what-my-kids-will-eat-tomorrow/I’m-afraid-to-go-look-for-firewood-for-fear-of-being-raped/My-parents-have-died-from-some-mysterious-disease-and-I’m-living-on-the-street/I-work-80-hours-a-week-for-not-enough-to-live-on needs.
When we refer to “needs” we’re talking more about the latter kind than the former kind. In other words, we focus on the tangible physical and structural needs of people for survival, sustenance and stability. The reality of suffering and hardship in the world today suggests to us that there is a great big story of need all around us, and that story needs to be told.
The curious thing is that we’ve discovered and continue to discover that the more we focus on the needs of others, the more our own personal, psychological and spiritual needs for meaning, significance and harmony get met. But in order for us intangibly needy people (relatively speaking) to focus on the tangible needs of others (again, relatively speaking), we have to have some sort of meaningful relationship with them. STS helps establish that relationship by seeking to understanding the broad panorama of conditions under which they live, and the individual color and flavor of what makes each of them unique.
We invite you to:
- Check out the STS Wiki — Learn about the big story of need as it relates to the specific “Problems,” “People,” and “Places” of the world around us. (For example, a few of the many “Problems” we address are “Poverty,” “Human trafficking,” “Homelessness,” and “Genocide.”) While there is a lot of great information out there related to what we call “the story of need,” it’s hard to find it all in one place. With our wiki, we’re attempting to change that.
- Join the STS Wiki — Contribute your experience or expertise related to a specific Problem, group of People or Place. Anyone with Internet access can browse through our wiki, but as a member you’ll be able to discuss and edit our wiki pages along with our collaborative community of people who care about understanding and “sharing” the story of need. We just launched our wiki, so WE NEED YOUR HELP to build it into a useful, integrated resource for ordinary people like us.
- Check out “Their story of need” — Here on our main website, we profile individuals, families and groups that specially represent the story of need “on the ground.” If you know of a similar story that needs to be told, please contact us.
