That look in the eyes

Jane Goodall speaks to professional fundraisers:

. . . as the chimp fell into the water at a zoo, the man dove in after the chimp to fish him out, only to see him slide back into the water off a steep slope. His family screaming frantically on the side, a group of chimpanzees racing toward him to investigate, the man risked his life again for the chimp.

Asked later why he risked his life to save the chimp, the man replied that it was like looking into the eyes of another man, and the look was, “Won’t anyone help me?” Jane Goodall has seen that look in the eyes of chimpanzees used in medical research or hunted for meat and in the eyes of chained elephants, but also in the eyes of homeless people and in the eyes of street children. . .

. . . “I haven’t been anywhere in the world where compassionate people do not try to help,” Goodall said, describing people who are tackling seemingly insurmountable problems. . .

. . . It was fundraising and philanthropy that first allowed Goodall to travel to Tanzania in the summer of 1960 to study chimpanzees. A businessman from Des Moines, Iowa, provided the initial funding for what was a six-month study. “That’s where I got the money -- philanthropy -- that’s supported me in the past,” she said.