This morning, i heard Dia's call about childen's hunger in Africa and i decided to write a longer post about this topic. There is a HUGE emergency in the African horn as thousands of people are dying of hunger there.
In sub-Saharan Africa, a child dies every four seconds of HIV/AID and extreme poverty,... 15 every minutes.... 900 every hours.... 10 800 every 12 hours .... and about 8 millions children die every year. More than 5O% of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera, infant diarrhea, dysentery...
More around the world, more than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day. More than 1 billion children do not have access to one or more of the basic necessities of life and 90% of these kids suffer from long-term malnourishment and micro-nutrient deficiencies. (Source : UNICEF)
It's true that we are often solicited to give money for charities and that not only Africa needs our help, but there are priorities and I believe that, African children dying of hunger are one among them. A gift of 10$ can feed an African baby for 10 days... Let us think, what can we have for 10$... 7€... 17TL.... 9AUD.... 64CNY....460 IRN....77 HKD or 41 ARS ?
Of course, we are not all equals with money, and the same sum does't worth the same value according to the country where we live, but i believe we all can do something at our level.
What do you think ?
Here is a letter an african woman wrote about poverty : it's heart-touching...
« I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care".
" Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye. I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday"
(One Poor African) http://cozay.com/
Donate now : http://www.supportunicef.org/site/pp.asp?c=9fLEJSOALpE&b=1023561
Comments
Dear friends,
I am very happy you read this post, Dia did a great job asking you to stop by. Now , reading what i wrote is not enough to help those people who are starving, so you know what you still have to do. THANKS YOU SO MUCH.
my dear dia...... thank you for making my attention to read this blog.
Poverty, it is a man made disaster. We all responsible for this. We should take action to protect the human kind from this disaster. But, to be fact, poverty cannot be vanished or wiped out, but the effect can be reduced.
I was trying to find any institution which collect money for Somali or Africa in my country. There should be one or more institutions. InshAllah I will contribute a sum which I can afford, while I will encourage my friends (real life) to do so. I know it only a drop of rain in a desert, yet single drops makes an Ocean.
Again, dia...... thank you very much for sharing this blog. I hope and I pray, that your wish to become a truth, in near future.
so poverty and hunger. I hope one day for Africa will be nice ..I want to believe it..
nice a share dia...
you tell everything that we want to say, yeah we should donate to them even if not help them a lot, because of the weather and the situation in every country from disease, infection, the war, the ignoring, let us not only donate but let share our thing with them, let travel and give help to them in their country, let try to feel their pain, can you do it, can you fast for one day, not eating, not drinking anything, eat less, then you will feel their by doing not only by seeing them. lets move and don't think about moving, let's act from now.
There is nothing more horrifying than the realization that as we live our happy lives here, millions of our fellow human beings live in hunger and face starvation. The majority of the world population today lives in poverty. It is clear that the world system we have set up today is unjust and inhumane. Otherwise, how can we allow this situation to continue with less than 10% of the world population controlling over 90% of the wealth and resources on this earth?
Poverty is not only in africa it's everywhere, it's just we can't see it or we don't want to see it.
Dear Dia,
It is YOUR post that made me think about writing a longer topic about this humanitarian catastrophe. But as you can see here, it's not easy to attract people's attention to such a sad thing..... only 2 members commented this blog. It's tells us a lot .....
It's never too late dear Debbie :)) ! That's true that to make online donations we need a credit card, thought i have one for the "in case of " i never use it online because i have the feeling it's not secured enough. Maybe it's possible to donate through the "red cross" of your country.
Thanks for reading this post and for giving me your opinion.
Dear Hala,
You're right, as Mother Theresa said , "in the world people suffer more of a lack of love than from hunger" and i agree, i guess this lack of love is even deeper in rich countries. Thanks for you interst and comment to this post.
Great blog ! so impressive!
The poverity can be find everywhere ,even some rich people have the poverty in their humanity feeling towards others.
I really appreciate alot this blog with the meaning of poverty..
Thanks alot dear Manuella.