Recently i have started to catch myself up on worldly affairs since i began my travels just over 2 months ago. I read an article discusing the famine in somalia and it hit home for me. I am not quite sure why to be honest. Maybe it has to do with a book i read earlier on my trip discusing somalia in the early 90's and the political unrest along with droughts killed many people. The us and the un were working in the country to keep peace and help the starvin people but after two black hawk helicopters were shot down, the groups withdrew from the country. Now somalia is suffering from one of the worst hungery emergency of the generation and the un is affraid to go in and help the starving people out of fear for their safety.
Last year i went to nairobi kenya and i volunteered 6 weeks in an orphanage. I don't think i had a large epiphany after leaving or a real life changing experience but after reading about somalia i realized something has to be done. The UN needs 300 million dollars within the next two months. Thats a large chunk of change but really if everyone helped a little, that would really spread the cost out. I am well aware that there are problems here in north america but unlike third world countries, we have many tools available to help us get on our feet. I am not trying to downplay the problems here though i just feel like somalia really needs the world right now.
A famine is offcially declared when 2 adults or 4 children out of 10 000 people die every day. Now medicine hat has around 70 000 people, give or take a few thousand. Thats 14 adulta dying every day or 28 children. Mortality rates in somalia are 3 times the level of the emergency ceiling. So many people are dying everyday and they are fleeing to neighbouring countries where refugee camps are overflowing.
In my personal opinion you can't just give a starving man a bunch of food, because sooner or later that food will run out. You need to give him te tools he needs to keep sustaining himself after the food you have given him has run out. But right now enormous amounts of people are dying and lanourished and they need food to get on their feet and then they will be healthy enough to learn skills or the methods to sustain themselves.
I want to do something to help. I am just one person but everyone is just one person but if everyone in the world thought that way nothing would ever change in the world. I just want to ask anyone out there who is reading this for ideas. Ideas to help, most likely raise money. Ideas to help make a change. I feel like i am stumbling around in the darkness but its te first step to bring awareness of this issue and my plan. If you want to read more about the famine you can on this website:
http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110720/ap_on_re_af/af_east_africa_drought
If you guys have any comments or suggestions, leave them on my page or email me them. My email is crembowski@hotmail.com. Thanks everyone!
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