The ole time sayings that are familiar to people of my generation never fail to hit a home-run of truth when we need to come back to basics and face reality. Take this one: “An ounce of prevention is better than a whole pound of cure”… simple truth everybody knows. But the sad thing is, society seem to be too caught up in its own drama to pay any attention to truth, these days. If so, we need to un-dramatise ourselves and focus on some real life-enhancement solutions.

I met someone the other day who said that one of the latest victims of domestic violence was his friend. He ventured some “hearsay” that the neighbours always used to hear the partners brawling. I asked if no one ever called the police about the matter.

He said people don’t want to get involved in other people’s business. Spare me. People are always getting involved in other people’s business, but not to help, it seems. Suppose someone had intervened, and the intervention had lead to one or both parties getting some counselling, or even through the legal channels were ordered to keep away from each other.

Maybe, just maybe, both would be alive today, and none would be facing a prison term for allegations of murder. We have some fine institutions set up to offer support to persons going through these types of problems. But somehow, maybe there is a need to make these institutions more visible and proactive.

It seems there is an under-utilisation of resources when people in need are not reached by these resources. We have both governmental and non-governmental agencies and departments that are set up to handle all kinds of social problems. Yet, people seem to be in a quandary when they need help. It has to be made clear that these agencies and departments are not there just for style.

They are not there for certain persons; they are there for everyone. They are there for a purpose, and the purpose, if I’m not mistaken, is to minimise and reduce the kinds of domestic violence that occur in the society.

What can be done on a year-round basis to make these organisations more effective? How can people benefit more from them? These should be the sort of questions that we, as community leaders, seek to answer due to the challenges that are increasing in our midst.

One of the aims of Related by Humanity is to promote Human Rights education. This simply means that by informing the public about basic human rights, and that all persons have the same human rights and that these inalienable rights pertain to various aspects of everyday life, it is hoped that understanding Human Rights will lead to respect for each other. Once a standard of respect has been established, it is expected that personal behaviour would be governed accordingly.

Thus, behaviours that were taken for granted would be seen in a different light, the light of understanding and respect.

Respect for others can change the way we treat others. Certainly, when it comes to issues of domestic violence, there are all kind of factors that may need to be taken into consideration. People act and react according to the stimulants in their environment. But as human beings, we need to understand that we are responsible for the choices we make.

Knowledge helps us to take care of our responsibilities as we should. We are not simply to act or react according to external factors, because something or someone pushes us towards a certain action. We need to analyse our situation after carefully collecting the facts and not being selective about reality. Reality is real. It’s what’s happening. Not what we want others to think is happening, or not what we would like to happen. But what’s actually happening.

That’s reality. If our organisation can effectively reach people on the human level, to teach life sustaining skills, self-worth affirmations, and understanding of Human Rights, we may be able to change trends for the better.

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