Like the Hummingbird

I watched this great documentary the other night, called Dirt! The Movie.  One of the best bits was a story shared by one of the participants, who is working to save the Congo from desertification, an overwhelmingly impossible task:

Once, a long time ago, all the animals lived in a beautiful forest. They loved their forest,

and lived in peace and harmony. But one day, a storm came and lightning started a fire in the forest. All the animals fled in terror, and stood on the riverbank, helplessly watching as their home burned to the ground. They all agreed, saying "There is nothing we can do. Oh, it is so sad, our home is burning!" The great elephant, the tricky monkey, the fast gazelle--they could do nothing. But one of the animals, the tiny hummingbird, said to herself: "Something must be done!  I must try to save my home!" So off she flew to the river, and scooped up one tiny drop of water in her tiny, tiny beak. And she flew to the fire, and dropped her tiny drop of  water onto the flames. Over and over, the hummingbird flew from the river to the fire, each time dropping one tiny bead of water onto the flames. The other animals, the great elephant,  the tricky monkey, the elegant gazelle, they all asked her "why are you doing this?  Don't you know that one drop of water will never put out this great fire?" And the hummingbird, never pausing in her flight from the river to the fire, carrying her tiny drop of water to the flames, replied: "I am doing the best that I can." All of us can be like the hummingbird, doing our best wherever we are, to make our world a better place by putting our tiny drop of water onto the flames and save our homes. All we must do is the best that we can.

I think I will be the hummingbird.