Trusting the Untrustworthy

Novinite Insider » EDITORIAL | February 10, 2006, Friday // 00:00

By Petya Sabinova

"Where is the Love?" This popular song can very well sum up the scandal that is now ripening in Bulgaria. Apparently the chief of the local Red Cross had turned his back on altruism to face his love for money. Or that's what the prosecution says, at least.

Everything that has surfaced lately just taught us that institutions in Bulgaria are not to be trusted. Big surprise there. After the St. Ekaterina Hospital revelations, the good doctor image is out of the picture. So is justice, with 30 prosecutors on the corruption list. The arrested customs officers were just toppings on the cake. Now it turns out that we are not supposed to believe in charity anymore. Here's where I say enough. It seems that in the rush of pre-EU-accession accusations, pointed fingers, and investigations, no one paused to ask whether putting one criminal in jail is worth robbing thousands of faith.

Don't get me wrong. If the guy truly is guilty, I'd love to see him pay his dues. However naive, foolish, and plain stubborn it may seem, though, I refuse to lose faith in the need to help others. Will I keep on donating the jeans I can no longer fit in to someone skinnier and needier? You bet. Even if I run the risk of then seeing them on the market. After all, half of the time when we donate, we also do it to feel good about ourselves, even if just for a second.

One person may have messed up, but this does not mean that the whole organization is faulty. Thousands of people owe their life to charity, and they need us to keep on believing. Add to that the hundreds who have given their time, efforts and hearts to make the system work and my own heart just refuses to stop trusting them.

Just look at the youngsters who spend a cold Saturday on the streets of Sofia with a Red Cross money-box facing more rejections than the Doors at a Grammy. They are still there the next day because they know that what they do matters to someone. Should their devotion be dubbed pointless just because of one mistake? In the end this is a decision that everyone has to take on their own.

Now the Red Cross has some pretty serious face-saving to do for Bulgarians move to the beat of a new classic - "Where is the Trust?"

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