To the editor:
Ten years ago our family began “sponsoring” a little child from a developing nation. It has been a highlight of our lives. That means that for $1 a day this child from a country unable to sustain itself receives a healthy meal, clean water, immunizations, and schooling. Here water is a luxury, and death from hunger and largely preventable diseases take over 26,000 lives every day. Through the pooled monies; wells are dug, drought tolerant crops planted, medical needs met, education brought. In time self-sufficiency is realized, hope is born.
I thought I understood the sufferings of the poor. I would soon find out that I did not.
On Christmas Day 2010 my daughter and husband brought home their 5-month-old son from Ethiopia. And two months later unexpectedly went back to get his twin brother who was in critical condition. Tesfahun fought severe diarrhea for three months, Mulugeta had chronic pneumonia. Over 6,000 children die every day from diarrhea due to unsafe water in developing countries. Pneumonia is the second leading cause of death in children under age 5. How could it be that diarrhea and pneumonia take thousands of lives every day in the third world?
Why did some countries grow (industrially, economically) while others did not? Why were so many in Africa without the basic necessities of clean water, enough food, and health care? The ticket required to board the train called the industrial revolution, was primarily “adequate rain” and “good soil.” Therefore Africans are “still” where our great grandparents “were” prior to this train’s arrival in our country. Poor farmers with five or six children in order to accomplish the work necessary to live.
It’s difficult to imagine the scope of the tragedy that happens in Africa day after day, and largely due to geography. I will try to present via our imaginations, the reality they face. You are watching your local news and hear of a daycare center with 25,000 children burning to the ground … no survivors. The next day another daycare another 25,000 children. The next day and the next, with no end in sight … none.
Please take this opportunity to save a life. Choose a little child who is starving and feed him. Or possibly a couple children who have lost a brother to malaria and provide a bed net. It costs $1 a/day. “World Vision” has their finger on the pulse of the world’s poor. There can be very few greater joys available. “You” can make an actual difference in the health, length, impact, and joy of a child’s life. Visit www.worldvision.org today.
Carol Smith
Acton