Hunger was a word we
never used as an adjective in my house. “You are not hungry , you don’t know
the first thing about being hungry Shannon”. My mother has actually said these
words to me before, and I never understood it until the summer of 2010. “Global
hunger now affects over a billion people worldwide” (Actionagiansthunger.com).
Being told that hunger affects children all over the world casts a deep shadow
on the lives of us who eat 3 full meals a day. “The diets of most of the 800
million chronically hungry people lack 100-400 kilocalories per day. Most of
these people are not dying of starvation, often they are thin but not
emaciated. The presence of chronic hunger is not always apparent because the
body compensates for an inadequate diet by slowing down physical activity and,
in the case of children, growth. In addition to increasing susceptibility to
disease, chronic hunger means that children may be listless and unable to
concentrate in school, mothers may give birth to underweight babies and adults
may lack the energy to fulfill their potential” (FAO.org) The presence of
hunger is everywhere in the world, and those of us who are lucky enough to have
food available when we wish to eat it should be doing everything in their
capabilities to help those who are not as fortunate. One act of kindness could
make the difference in a life or death situation.
Getting educated is the
first step to help out this worldwide epidemic. Is it humanity slipping away
from the human race? Or is it pure ignorance that we don’t know the suffering
happening all around the world? Watching an informational commercial of a
starving child with Angelina Jolie speaking in a somber voice will not help
poverty cease to exist. 1 in 5 people do not know the effect of hunger in the
world. They do not know that 1.3 billion people live off a dollar or less a
day, they have no clue that in 1991 46% of African Americans where hungry in
the world.( thinkquest.org) The absence of information can be changed though,
with the world completely connected today through social media anyone can post
about these facts on “Facebook” “Twitter” anything. The average Facebook user
logs on at least 3 times a day, one post with 30 friends viewing and retweeting
can be seen by 125 people a day. Today’s generation has the ability to stay
connected in each others lives and learn about there everyday details, why not
spread a little knowledge about what is really important these days? Instead of
what trivial movie you are going to see tonight.
”On
March 2, OneRosemount, a group of 30 to 40 pastors, school principals and civic
leaders, including the mayor, aim to pack about 285,000 meals to send to the
Dominican Republic, where they will help feed 2 million Haitian refugees living
there. "The idea was, 'What if we came together as a community to
literally impact the world?'" said Bill Goodwin, pastor at Lighthouse
Christian Church and event co-chairman.” (Startribune.com) Speaking out in your
own communities is a great next step. Reaching out through the community to
help reel in members will spread like wild fire. After school groups, after
church groups, Girl Scout meetings, “soccer moms”, business dad’s. Interacting
with others is a part of everyone’s daily routine. When educated people come
together for a cause the result is usually positive. One person can spread the
word, and one group can act. It doesn’t take up your whole day to spend thirty
minutes at a meeting that’s goals aim to end world hunger. It is something very
simple that can be done and ultimately be fun. I highly encourage such acts of
kindness.
“Be the change you want the world to
see”. I can tell you first hand that seeing a third world country with my own
eyes is one of the most life altering experiences I have ever endured. When I
first set eyes on the poorest country in the western hemisphere I thought I had
traveled back in time a hundred and fifty years. Houses weren’t even homes like
we know, they were tents and muddy rubble slapped together. Worn down, were my
only words to describe the country. Stepping off the plane into the new world I
realized that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Adults and children alike swarmed the
unpaved streets barefoot with worn out and stained clothing. I was trying to
catch my breath when all of a sudden a girl about 7 years old ran up to me. She
looked at me with this look of heart wrenching need and she held out her hand.
I couldn’t give her anything, we weren’t allowed. If one person was given
something everyone else would start to swarm. So I had to hold back the
crackers I had in my backpack and the tears that had already started to swell
up. My experiences in Haiti have changed my outlook on life forever. That is
the final step in the movment against hunger, taking initiative. When you don’t
just want something you work towards it, things start to happen.
The war on hunger needs to be won in
a victory, there are a lot of things that can be done to help it little by
little. Getting educated on the topic, joining a team to fight it, and actually
going to help will all slowly end this vicious battle against hunger. The fact
is that people are dying because of the fact that they can’t have food in their
bellies. Americans have the chance to change the world and help out every day.
40$ can feed a child for 50 days, a couple extra hands in a third world can be
the difference in a whole village eating a meal. There are things that you can
do to help out, you don’t just have to spend thousands of dollars on a trip.
Spread the word, and together lets end world hunger!
