The 1968 Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding

I bring greetings from CARE's Chairman, Mr. Ben Touster, and his sincere regrets that he is unable to be here today to accept this great honor on behalf of the organization he has served and loved for more than 20 years.

We accept the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in the name of the American people whose generous support has made it possible for CARE to be effective.

Challenge abounds in the world today. I speak particularly of the challenge of disease and the challenge of poverty that degrade millions of our fellow members in the family of man.

Of the 200 human beings that are born every minute, about half will be dead before they are a year old. Of those who survive, half will be dead before they reach 16 years of age. Many of the remainder will have a life expectancy of about 30 years. During this brief and wretched existence, they will be sick and hungry most of the time. Most of them will never learn to read and write.

The challenge is clear—the opportunity is clear. Are we to say to them that modern man can do nothing to help them change their lot? If we do, we shame both them and ourselves. It does not have to be—and it will not be.

Accompanying the Magsaysay Award is a wonderful grant of $10,000.00. Because the situation brought about by the civil war in Nigeria today represents the most urgent call upon relief organizations like CARE, the decision has been made to donate this grant toward the relief and rehabilitation of the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims of that conflict.

We are often asked what CARE will do in the future—in which countries it will operate. These questions can only be answered by the need. We will help where required and requested, and within the budget provided by the individual donations of the American people. Perhaps no better answer can be given to CARE's purpose than to quote the words of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy who said:

"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is without question the single most important honor that has come to CARE. We are proud and grateful for having been chosen to receive it. To the Foundation we, in turn, pledge that we will rededicate our efforts to the future service of men.