PROJECT ONE MILLION SOULS

FIRST, LOVE

This isn't the typical boy meet girl, boy likes girl and girl likes him back, music in the background as they kiss under the pouring rain kind of story. To me, it's more than that; it's about two boys who showed me what love really is about, in its purest form. Meet David and Joseph.

David was brought into this world with no love talk more of a silver spoon. His first cradle was a polythene bag with which his mother dumped him in and left him to face the intricacies of this onerous world alone in the discomfort of the bush. By a stroke of luck, he was found by a Good Samaritan who took him to an orphanage home.

Growing up, he became close friends with Joseph another child in the home whose story isn't far off from his. I can't put in plain words the beauty that transcends just watching this two together… I think it was those little things they did for each other, the sharing of biscuit that was never enough or the cheese balls they shared?, or when Joseph hugged David when he was sad, or sipping from the same drink, or the little pranks they played? I don't know where I saw it because it's unseen yet so visible.

They aren't blood brothers although they bare the same surname with the other 160 children in the home; I believe they could discern that they weren't actually bonded by blood. The admirable fact is that they are bonded by the one word I have not come to entirely comprehend - Love. Today, I'm not here to preach, give this or give that, because you can give all of those without truly loving. Today, I ask you to take off your shoes and step into the worn out pair my friends wear.

Now, take a second and figure where it hurts, is it the used clothes you have to wear? Is the fact that your biological parents left you all alone? No one to come for your Open day at school, or is it the countless uncelebrated birthdays? Or the fact you don't even know the actual date when you were born? Have you ever taken a second to think if we "the so called privileged" ever actually show love? Just maybe you have an imperative role in an all-encompassing plot? Maybe it isn't just about you? Maybe there's a child out there, a homeless person down the road losing hope and it's our task to restore just that? You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you - John Bunyan Never deprive someone of hope; it may be all they have…. It's time we made a difference, it's time we stopped the show of pity and celebrate love, and it's time we act, true love is always backed up by actions, spare some time to birth a smile. Let there be a festival, a Festival of love.

Life isn't just about you or me; it's also about the role we have to play in the story of others, the smiles we leave eternally on the faces of people we meet. Now, here is an opportunity to act, this  Apri 7,2012 , join hands with Project One Million Souls as we celebrate love, it's going to be a festival, a Festival of Love with the Children from orphanages, Adults from the Aged Homes, The Blinds and Disabled, Boys and Girls From Remand Homes . Love comes first. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead. But then, this is what I think, what do I know?

Written by : Funto Ayinoluwa (@ObaFuntAy )