As much as I can, I make it my business to talk to locals wherever I am lucky enough to travel. Taxi drivers, waiters and vendors provide a wealth of local knowledge that add to a pleasurable experience. I was on holiday in Inhambane, Mozambique a few weeks ago where we were greeted every morning and late afternoon by locals selling everything from Tiger prawns, crayfish to local clothing and wrist bands. One vendor set himself apart because he was selling portable Xylophones thereby setting himself up as an exclusive supplier.

After he explained to us what it was made from, how to tune it and how his grandfather taught him to make it, I switched the conversation to current events and asked him about RENAMO and renewed threats for a return to war.

I have to say, I was quite moved by the change in voice tone as he, kneeling in the sand by his instruments, literally pleaded with heaven to not allow a recurrence of the civil war.  He used the word "pray" several times as he narrated how his grandfather had told him about how bad the civil war was. He talked about his fear for his safety and, of course, the potential loss of his livelihood as unrest would mean the loss of tourists and the drying up of his business.

Some wars are necessary. When you fight on principle, for something that is universally acknowledged to be right such as taking on Hitler or fighting for independence you have a just war. When wars are driven by an insatiable appetite for resources or simply because oil and gas have been discovered in a region of the country, you have an evil elite causing untold misery to human beings like you and I.

I have a huge problem with this. And who do I think I am? A human being who has seen far too much avoidable suffering and one who appreciates that such misery can easily be inflicted on me, my family and society in general. I am one who has seen fear in the eyes of a xylophone vendor and I can imagine the fear of those who hear or spot drones flying overhead.

I am also one who agrees that for "evil to triumph, all it takes is for the good to do nothing." We will always have evil, it is part of the yin and yang of life itself. It is for this reason that it is demanded of us to exert out influence, however small, for good with what Covey called an abundance mentality, than simply passively give in to the machinations of those with a scarcity mentality.

Neutrality never works. In Zimbabwe for instance, when an estimated 20 000 people perished at the hands of the Fifth Brigade there was little public or international outrage because the majority of Zimbabweans were not affected or the cold war was still running its course. When the chaotic land reform process started a lot of urban people were unconcerned, arguing that some farmers deserved it, until the hordes arrived at the factory gates and started extorting money from business executives. Then of course, you had the widespread violence of the pre and post 2008 elections. Suddenly everyone discovered human rights and called on the world for help.

After the supermarket shelves became full again, the same people do not care for Bahrain, Darfur or Egypt today to cite a few examples because they are simply too far away. They are news items, not "our issue."

I hope the prayers of the xylophone vendor will be answered. Otherwise we will continue to hear from the news of about 300 dead in an incident, then to make ourselves feel better thirty dead since Ramadan or Easter instead of saying 330. All these numbers are human beings.

A single man wrote a letter to the press to complain about the arrest of students in Portugal who had raised a toast to freedom and Amnesty International was born. That same single man and woman is you. Here, everywhere and in Mozambique. We must defend what is right, wherever evil wants to wreck havoc.