After responding to hundreds of shipping emails, I can spew courteous thank you’s like it’s my day job. When explaining the Falling Whistles’ mission statement I find myself mindlessly saying “Thanks for supporting our cause” and I have to take a step back to realize that I’m casually talking about one of the deadliest conflicts in the world.

During a recent conversation, a friend said to me, “Congo is not a cause, Congo is my home. It is my life.” She went on to explain that she felt as though “cause” didn’t do justice in describing something as immense as the war in Congo. Cause, she said, is a word too often thrown around. It’s like jumping on the band wagon, which begs the question, when do you jump off?

If we use her definition of the word, saying “I support this cause” seems to insinuate an ephemeral attention span. It’s almost like announcing a new, albeit philanthropic trend. And as my friend points out, trends come and go. Peace in Congo may be the soup du jour for now, but what will be on the menu tomorrow?

While she makes an interesting point, with so much injustice and worthy causes out there, can beggars be choosers? Sometimes when you are tied so closely to a project, it can be difficult to accept help if it seems to come from an unworthy place. However, whether you are well versed in Congolese current events or whether hearing the Falling Whistle’s story inspired you to buy your first whistle, we are all working towards the same goal.

The important question to ask yourself when buying a whistle isn’t “Do you support this cause?” but rather “Do you care?”

If “Yes”, awesome, you’re half way there. Now I ask you, what are you going to about it?

If the answer is “No”, you should obviously not expect a refund (jokes), but ask yourself, “If you don’t care about peace in Congo, what do you care about?”

There are so many problems in our 

world that need to be addressed. So go out, educate yourself, read the news, tell a friend, contact an NGO, just care.

Stay hungry, my friends,

Arianna