Corneille will never forget the night she left her aunt's house to fetch water and was attacked and raped. She'd crawled back to her aunt's house and said nothing, ashamed. She says her baby, named Joy, is the only brightness in her future. Corneille is only 13.
Some mothers get to choose what their children eat. Oatmeal instead of Sugar Pops. French fries instead of veggies.
Other mothers have to choose which children will eat - and which will die.
"It's horrible. They have to choose among their children," says Patricia Wolff, executive director of Meds & Food for Kids. "Sometimes they make the decision that this one has to go."
Every 5 seconds, a child dies from hunger. 16,000 children died of hunger yesterday. 16,000 more will die today. And tomorrow.
In sub-Saharan Africa, 60 children die of measles every hour. A child every minute. Because they didn't have $1 for the vaccine.
200,000 children in Africa are sold into slavery every year because their parents or guardians know at least slaves get fed.
It makes me weep. How dare you?
How dare you go to a public community and offer up your opinions on right and wrong, correcting others for the wrongness of their beliefs or the choice of their words?
You, with a roof over your head and running water and a computer connected to the Internet; how dare you speak about right and wrong, chastising anyone, when your words feed nothing and no one but your own ego?
These are questions I ask myself daily.
They help me battle the demons of human ego.
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Comments
Darkside... thank you!
Indeed, there are desperate people within 2 miles of where I live. Not starving, but still in desperate conditions, living day to day or week to week, children whose parents choose between buying food for the table or a fix for their veins. How do we respond to the poverty and wretchedness in our own back yards?
This past weekend I watched "The Kite Runner", a film which deals with some of these issues. It doesn't provide much in the way of answers, other than to do what little you can when the opportunity to do something presents itself. I highly recommend it, though.
Cartouche... agreed!
Holly... it's heartbreaking, isn't it? I'm glad you donated. Sometimes it takes a global village...
Bill... well, hi there. I didn't burn your eyes out yesterday? lol. Thanks!
Someday we will get our shit together and truly begin to care for our fellow human beings. I doubt many of us will live to see that day...too much has to happen for that kind of enlightenment to occur. But perhaps the current world economic situation is a cloud that will have “greater understanding and appreciation of the problem” as its silver lining.
Nothing like having a bit of deprivation yourself to help you gain an appreciation of the deprivation of others.
Great post. Thanks.
thanks for keeping us grounded ... and in touch with the world's reality ... and grateful for our own, no matter what it is.
Makes Sophie's Choice look like a walk in the park. Deep sigh. Thanks.
Rated.
Maryt... coming from you, I am humbled. I strive to be as together as you are. Thank you.
Lisa... lol. You crack me up.
Irritated_Mother... your avatar gets me every time. Thank you, too.
SeattleK8... You are too kind. Always. And it's appreciated!
Hyblaean... You pick words out of my head and say them so often. How is a good question. I wish I knew. For me, I adopt kids from World vision, donate to Heifer.org when I can. Drop money in Salvation Army buckets. And I host several charity websites on my server for free. And yet here I sit with all the comforts while others are starving and I wish I could do more. If I didn't have the danged bills to pay and an ex that never paid support, I could do so much more. But I do what I can. Little bits, you know?
Michael... You're so right. All I know is that I'd never want to be the "decider" - it's hard enough being me. Will we ever learn? I don't know. I like to hope so.
Leeandra... Like Lisa, Mary and Seattle, you are very kind. Your votes mean as much to me as an EP. Every thumb is a vote of confidence and I appreciate every one. :)
I could at least do that much, and vote for Obama.
The ones who get all of the attention are the silly "Animals, animals, animals" crowd. They refuse to acknowledge what's going on with the people of the African continent. These creeps even go over there...to help the animals. They have nothing to say about the people when they get back with their uploaded photos and presentations...about the plight of animals.
So what am I supposed to do about that? Those people are already mental, and don't even want to hear about people here at home.
We thrive on the strategic and valuable minerals that we yank out of there. We fight only to download and install the latest incompetent puppet government, and ignoring the fact that none of the vast diamond, and othermineral profits never make it to the starving people.
So what am I supposed to do about that, except boycott all diamonds "forever"?
Not one major film about Africa had as the story center, the lead character, an African. Even "The Last King Of Scotland" centered on the less important drama of an amoral Scottish white man.
So what am I supposed to do about that? Boycott these films, and I do. I refuse to watch them.
These are little things. I'm a little person. Who has not so much as before. I don't feel better and wish that I could do more. More would never be enough, however.
So sad and so much money being wasted out there that could be sent to help.
Thanks for posting.
rated
Luv and hugs
Greg
I sometimes wonder what I would say if a visitor to our world pointed to something like this and asked why. I’d be too ashamed to even begin an answer.
A thoughtful piece, Mlle Boomer!
In the modern world, it should be an impossibility that any child would starve......Bucky Fuller had a plan for a worldwide distribution network based on his dymaxian theories....a plan administered by a newly created branch of the UN, where the entire globe is covered. I think all major leaders should be asked to walk in Africa...among the living skeletons and starving children....