World Poverty - Think Again

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One day a man was walking his dog along the beach after a storm. The tide had washed thousands of starfish onto the beach. They were still alive, but only just. A child was making her way along the shore, throwing starfish into the sea, one by one.
"Hey, " the man called out. "there are thousands of starfish on the beach. You're not going to make a blind bit of difference!"
The child stooped, picked up a starfish and threw it back into the sea. Then she smiled at the man and said, "Made a difference to that one!"

There is so much grinding poverty in the world -- how could just one of us possibly make a difference? The reason it seems so impossible is that we tend to focus on the immense number of people suffering from poverty -- and on how little we can do individually. So we give up trying.
But there are two points to remember when we think about global problems:
1. Every action counts;
2. We are not alone.


Go over to http://www.whiteband.org/en to receive frequent updates on poverty and what you can do to help.

Head on down to http://goodlifezen.com/the-blog-with-heart-challenge/ to learn about the Blog With Heart Challenge and participate in it.

Some other websites to view and join:
http://www.one.org/international/
http://www.care.org/



Some tidbits:
Almost half the world — over 3 billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (567 million people) is less than the wealth of the world's 7 richest people combined.

Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.

Less than one per cent of what the world spent every year on weapons was needed to put every child into school by the year 2000 and yet it didn't happen.

The poorest 40 percent of the world's population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three-quarters of world income.

Number of children in the world - 2.2 billion
Number in poverty - 1 billion (every second child)

For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are:
640 million without adequate shelter (1 in 3)
400 million with no access to safe water (1 in 5)
270 million with no access to health services (1 in 7)

Children out of education worldwide:
121 million

Survival for children Worldwide:
10.6 million died in 2003 before they reached the age of 5 (same as children population in France, Germany, Greece and Italy)
1.4 million die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation

Health of children Worldwide:
2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized
15 million children orphaned due to HIV/AIDS (similar to the total children population in Germany or United Kingdom)



Sources:
http://zenhabits.net/how-we-can-help-alleviate-world-poverty-in-three-easy-st...
http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

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