Sometimes, I am ashamed of the things that I neglect in my day-to-day life. For example, I consider myself a good person but how often do I contribute to charity? The fact is that, for the first 25 years of my life, I gave not a penny. I did some reports about the struggle to feed the poor of the world when I was in school, and I was well aware of what the facts are. Poverty and hunger are causes of countless preventable deaths every year. While we live the life of luxury in this country, other places people can't even afford the basic necessities. Nevertheless, knowing all of this, I did nothing to help feed the children until very recently.
When I gave some money to feed the children, it did make me feel good about myself. I felt like in a small way, I had contributed to someone else's chance for success. I was even bragging about it to one of my friends when she told me to get off my high horse. Just by giving 20 bucks or so, she said, I wasn't doing anything to really change the system. You can do all you know want to feed the child looking out at you from some commercial for some charity, but unless we make systematic changes in the way our world works, he will be starving again tomorrow. Feeding the children isn't just about giving money. It is about creating a more just, egalitarian world.
Don't get me wrong – it really does make a difference to donate money to feed the children. Charities depend on money, and although they always are fighting a losing battle, a little bit more can make a big difference. Nonetheless, all the money from all of the generous donors in the world won't feed the kids. As long as the infrastructure doesn't exist to get food to some of the world's poorest, they will still continue to starve whenever there are droughts or blights on the crops.
This is why I have become politically active in recent months. It makes me feel good to be finally doing something to feed the children. Giving a little bit of money is an easy way to appease your conscience, but actually getting involved in doing the grunt work is what really matters. Through debt relief and development programs, we can make sure to feed the children of the third world today, tomorrow, and forever.
|
