Thursday, April 26, 2007

America Gives Back




This is my reaction to American Idol Gives Back show last night and their efforts to make a difference. Previously my posts have been about my son and me. This one will be about something bigger. For those of you who only want happy stories about my son, please forgive this post. I will return to happier topics next time.

America took notice of the poverty in Africa last night. It was wonderful but it is not enough. Millions of dollars were raised to help fight poverty in Africa and the US. I just hope we continue to raise more. I sponsor a 8-year-old boy from Ethiopia. In his last letter, he begged me not to stop. He stated without me he will be required to work, not able to go to school and there will be no one to help him. He is just one of millions.

In a country of 70 million people, 4-7 million of them are orphans under 18 years old. Although there are questions regarding my son's birth family, one thing is certain. He would most likely have died if left in Ethiopia. The world loses a valuable soul and life every time a child dies because there is not enough food to eat, medicine to go around or access to education. Without those things, the children also lose hope. Imagine living in a community where your neighbors are dying, no matter how hard you work there is never enough food and even the world has given up hope for you. Next time you look at a child close to you, imagine if you could not give him/her the basic things he/she needs to survive. Not just succeed but survive.

So what is the answer? That I don't know. I do know that we all need to do our best to save not only the children but the adults and communities as well. Our government needs to fulfill it's promise it made to the world at the G8 Summit. Our corporations need to share some of their profits to make the world a better place and each individual needs to do their best to help. For some people, it may be sponsoring a child from a country far away. Other people may be able to give large sums of money to non-profit agencies working to help others. And some people can only afford to buy some food for the food pantry.

The important thing isn't how much you give. It is that you do your best to help our brothers and sisters both near our homes and far away. People are dying and we can all do something to help.


1 comment:

Anna said...

I agree with this post. It is frustrating that so many children go without care, even in our own country. I just watched the movie Sicko and cried. It has taken us five years all together of trying to adopt and finally only have about eight months of waiting (through WHFC) left. Congrats on going for #2!
-Anna
http://adoptionsponsorship.blogspot.com