Over the past couple of years, I have heard and learned a lot about the children in Africa and other poor and undeveloped countries that are starving. As someone who loves kids, it is hard for me to think that while I'm over here in a country where battling obesity is a common problem and I never have to go hungry, there are children dying because they don't have enough to eat. On average, about one child dies every five seconds due to hunger related issues.
This has really got me thinking about how much we waste here in the US. Look at all the food that is wasted at restaurants. Either there is too much food for the person to eat or something isn’t right with the order. Or we buy something at the store to try and might not like it or never get around to cooking it before it goes bad. That food is just thrown away and we don’t think anything of it. Yet in Africa, children are picking up a few grains of rice out of the dirt and considering it a meal. Often going home and sharing it with their family. My family has never been rich, but we never had to go hungry either. I keep thinking about what it would be like if there were only a few grains of rice for my whole family. How would we choose who got to eat those few grains? Should I give it to the youngest since they aren't old enough to have the tolerance that us older ones do? Or should I give it to the older ones, since the young children don't have much of a chance of survival anyway? Or should we try to divide it evenly with everyone only getting one or two grains? How could you make a decision like that? Yet in Africa, people make these decisions everyday.
And then there is water. I’ll be the first to admit that I enjoy a good long bath at the end of the day. But these issues have made me realize that I am using gallons and gallons of water when if I really tried, I could probably get just as clean with only 10 or so gallons. While we are enjoying long baths and other things, we’re also talking about a possible fight over water rights, some children are going with barely enough water to stay alive, and some children are going without water at all and paying the price with their lives.
This is something that has been on my mind a lot lately. Maybe if we tried to be a little less wasteful, especially with food and water, then there will be more of these resources available. This would most likely lower the cost of these resources making them more accessible to places like Africa who need them, but are too poor to get them. It is definitely something that I will be working on in the future!
I think you were going strong until the last paragraph. I understand why you'd want to stop being wasteful, but I don't see how that can help the poor children in Africa. If we're saving water here, that doesn't really make it available to Africans. What we should be focusing on is sharing the wealth.
If I could personally send over care packages to these children, I would. I know there are agencies and all those depressing TV commercials about these things, like Christian Children's Fund for one, but how sure are we that the money isn't just going to this organization? I would love to do something more personal. Maybe go to Africa and help, or send that care package every month. That would help, I think.
~ *~
Visit my blog! I'll even provide a link for ya:
Comments are always appreciated! :)
I completely agree that sharing our wealth would be a more direct way of helping hungry children, but it isn't the only way. I was going for ways that everyone could help (though in a round-about way) regardless of their financial situation. Wastefulness might not help the water situation in Africa as much, but if we use so much that we do end up having water rights and such, then the poor countries aren't going to be able to afford a lot of water. As for food, a common supply and demand rule is that the more there is in supply, the lower the price will go. So if we cut down on wastefulness, then there will be more food available causing prices to go down. I admit this is a round-about way of helping starving children, but I also know that if it was my family I would appreciate everyone doing what they could even if it was just a little. But I agree with you that if you are in a position where you could help them financially or go over there yourself, that is a great way to help those children!
Thanks for the comment!
Generallee
I agree, we waste too much. If anything, instead of buying that package of pasta we're never going to cook, we could at least send it to a homeless shelter, feed the children, or other organization that can distribute it to someone who needs it. I always thought that a food program where restaurant leftovers could be served to the homeless would be a good idea. Unfortunately, this is an issue in the US as well.
Cheers,
http://progressiveu.org/blog/leslieq
Check it out...it's a work in progress.