Paul Salopek

Paul Salopek

Before I decided to become a nurse, I wanted to be a reporter. More specifically, I wanted to be a war correspondant or a journalist for the National Geographic. Well, this guy did it. He was reporting on the war in Sudan for the National Geographic when Sudanese officials arrested him for carrying a map of the country and two American passports.

A journalist knows the risk he takes when going into a place like Sudan or Iraq. This man took a measured risk and, for the moment, lost the gamble. But people like him are the ones that make our world smaller and our minds broader. If it wasn't for journalist willing to risk everything, we would know so little about life outside our world of American suburbia.

Now, I'm not saying every reporter deserves our praise, or that even being a hostage makes you a hero. That only makes one a survivor. But when corrupt governments afraid to let the world see what is really going on in their lands hold innocent people captive, THAT is injustice.

Please pray for this man and his family.