Despair and Disparity
All I Want For Christmas is Safe, Clean Drinking Water
On a drizzly Sunday night, I went with a friend to Meditation Mount to hear a talk on "Ending World Hunger." To be honest, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I had a tooth-ache, I was tired and I have enough problems of my own taking care of my elderly parents, my animals, paying my bills and working on local issues, without adding "ending world hunger," to my already impossible to-do list.
I made the effort to show up for this event mainly because the speakers, Lyn Hebenstreit and Tara Blasco, directors of the Ojai-based Global Resource Alliance (GRA) organization, are my longtime friends. They had just returned from a two-months trip to rural East Africa to help locate new sources of clean water. I figured the least I could do was show-up to hear about it.
This time of year it seems especially important to be grateful for all we have and to do what we can to help those who are less fortunate, whether it is a family living here in Ojai or across the globe.
The despair and disparity that exists in the world is more than the human mind can fathom. It boggles the imagination to grasp that in this day and age, worldwide, over a billion people still walk miles every day to fetch water for their daily needs – water polluted by livestock, infested with parasites and contaminated by bacteria like cholera, typhoid and dysentry.
As I settled into my comfortable seat with a nice hot cup of Good Earth spice tea, Lyn and Tara described working with families so poor that buying charcoal or wood to boil the water before use is out of the question. They reminded us that without safe drinking water, health, hope and progress are almost impossible.
It's one thing to hear about it but listening to Lyn and Tara share their first-hand experience of the extreme disparity that exists in our world leaves an indelible impression. But I did not leave their program depressed. Their slide-show presentation told an inspiring story of what a few individuals can do to empower people to break the cycle of hunger, poverty and disease.
Seeing the expressions of gratitude on the faces of people when a source of clean water becomes available in their village, helps us to appreciate all we take for granted, like a glass of safe drinking water.
Here are some numbers to think about for the New Year.
World Hunger and Poverty by the Numbers
The World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the world is well-fed, one-third is under-fed and one-third is starving.
There are more hungry people in the world today than at any other time in history.
Every five seconds, a child dies of malnutrition.
More food per person is produced now than at any time in history. There is more than enough to feed every man, woman and child on the planet.
One out of every four people in the world lacks access to clean, safe drinking water.
Five million people, mostly children, die each year from water-borne diseases.
Over 26,000 children die each day from the effects of extreme poverty.
300 to 500 million people are infected with malaria each year. Approximately three million – mostly children - die as a result.
One out of every five people in the world live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.
Almost half the world — over three billion people — live on less than $2.50 a day.
At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day.
The richest 20% of the world’s population consume 86% of the world's resources, while the poorest 20% consume less than 1.5%.
The assets of the world’s three richest people exceed the combined Gross Domestic Products of the world's 48 poorest countries.
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.
These statistics are just the tip of the melting iceberg. To learn more, go to the source: Statistics of the World' Poor. Poverty Facts and Figures. www.globalissues.org
This at least gives us some idea that no matter how bad it gets -- even if we are among the poorest of the poor in Ojai, we're still in the top 20% of the world by virtue of having enough to eat, clean water to drink, plumbing and a roof over our head, no matter how humble it is.
"I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will NOT refuse to do the something that I can do. " -- Helen Keller
Notes:
Lyn Hebenstreit and Tara Blasco received the Noble Peace Prize from the Ojai Peace Coaltion in 2008. For more information about Global Resource Alliance visit www.globalresourcealliance.org
or contact Lyn Hebenstreit at globalresourcealliance@gmail.com
(805) 646-4439
This editorial was published in the Ojai Valley News, 12/23/2009
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Comments (13)
great write-up, Suza...thanks!!
Comment #1 Posted by: evan austin | December 23, 2009 03:41 PM
According to Forbes.com, the 3 richest people are:
1) Bill Gates - $40 Billion
2) Warren Buffett - $37 Billion
3) Carlos Slim Helu - $35 Billion
It's amazing, isn't it,that the very richest persons actually live on the same planet as the very very poorest people, and yet there is very little connection between them. A billionaire cannot possibly spend his fortune in a satisfying way by buying this and that mansions or airplane or rolex watch. The only meaningful thing to do is to help the most in need. People with no water to drink can get a life back from the brink with the tiniest bit of aid. Animals can be saved from misery and extinction.If billionaires aren't doing what they can, how do they sleep at night?
Comment #2 Posted by: Sholom Joshua | December 23, 2009 05:35 PM
#1 and #2 are not particularly greedy people.
They do seem to have a talent for amassing wealth.
#2 still lives in the house he grew up in and drives a 90s Chevy.
#1 has a pretty impressive high-tech mansion but doesn't flaunt his wealth.
Both are committed to improving the condition of the world through their various foundations and humanitarian projects.
They probably sleep quite well.
I don't know about #3.
Comment #3 Posted by: mk | December 23, 2009 06:09 PM
I don't know who #3 is either, but I know #1 and #2 give TONS to charity. The data might be more meaningful if we could see what percentage of their wealth they give away (and it might give Sholom pause).
Comment #4 Posted by: charity | December 23, 2009 08:07 PM
Bill Gates - Africa
Gates Foundation
Comment #5 Posted by: Anonymous | December 23, 2009 08:42 PM
Thanks, Anonymous (Comment #5)
Charity (Comment #4)got me thinking. I googled, "What percentage of their income do Bill Gates and Warren Buffet give away."
Very interesting articles, from the spiritual realm to the financial realm. Will post a few links/excerps, later.
What I am learning is bringing up a whole other layer of questions, related to what Sholom wrote (comment #2)
Comment #6 Posted by: Suza | December 23, 2009 09:13 PM
There are so many things about Bill Gates I do not understand, including his alliances. We live in a world of contradictions. It's like McDonald's donating to all kinds of charities and good causes while their products are an environmental and human health disaster.
A thousand other examples come to mind.
If you saw the 60-minute program on how the US dumps toxic computer parts on the poorest of the poor, one wonders why the people that invent and produce computers are not held responsible for cleaning up their waste.
Comment #7 Posted by: Suza | December 23, 2009 09:31 PM
Years ago, when Gates was in single digit billions, he was well known for being very tight when it came to charity. Much more recently, there was some front page news that he could make a lot of money from his charitable work in Africa. I don't know if that's true.
What's a given is that not many sources will print anything unflattering about him. After all, he can buy just about anything, including influence in media.
Buffett is interesting. A real biography would be worth reading.
Comment #8 Posted by: Sholom | December 23, 2009 09:35 PM
From a New York Times article published June 26, 2006:
"Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and executive, said today that he never seriously considered doing anything with his $44 billion fortune except giving it all away."
"I'm not an enthusiast for dynastic wealth, particularly when 6 billion others have much poorer hands than we do in life," Mr. Buffett said at the New York Public Library, where he was appearing with Bill and Melinda Gates, the only Americans richer than he is.
Mr. Buffett said on Sunday that he would give away 85 percent of his fortune — about $37.4 billion worth of stock in Berkshire Hathaway, the company he runs — to five charitable foundations, with the greatest share, about $31 billion, going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is dedicated to improving health and education, especially in poor nations."
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/26/business/26cnd-buffet.html?_r=1
Comment #9 Posted by: Suza | December 23, 2009 09:50 PM
President Obama: Feed the Hungry Instead of Wall Street
Dear Ojai resident,
Most of the time, broken promises from politicians barely raise an eyebrow.
But what if a broken promise condemned one sixth of the world's population to chronic hunger?
The world's most powerful leaders, including President Obama, did just that in November when they refused to even show up for the Food Security Summit in Rome.
And just four months after promising $22 billion to fight hunger, the G8 leaders still haven't spelled out how they will fund it.
Don't let world leaders get away with ignoring the problem of global hunger.
Ask President Obama to take the lead and demand world leaders make good on their promise.
The global food system is too big to fail. Right now, 1 in 6 people around the world don't have enough to eat. That number is skyrocketing, up 20% since 2005.
Financial multinationals like AIG and Goldman Sachs were considered too big to fail and were bailed out with $100s of billions last fall. Why can't world leaders follow through on their promise to invest a fraction of that amount on eradicating hunger, one of the most pressing issues of our time?
Tell President Obama that ending world hunger is more important than bailing out irresponsible banks...
- The Change.org Team in partnership with ActionAid
Comment #10 Posted by: Anonymous | December 23, 2009 09:56 PM
If you want to erase hunger be prepared to fight corrupt governments. That is why the most fundamental right is the right to an honest government. What hope is there for Africa when we freely elect crooks because we look the other way or bury our heads in the sand because the candidate supports our very narrow special interest.
If you want to end hunger be prepared to fight for it. You might even need a firearm.
Don't be so naive.
Comment #11 Posted by: luke blogger | December 24, 2009 06:25 AM
all money/wealth on the planet is determined by political (bankster) forces of planetary rape, not by 'free' market forces of planetary rape.
the Trillions of dollars in political-monies which are printed each year by those in power (the Rothschilds and Rockefellers and Monarchists whose wealth hundreds of TRILLIONS, not tens of Billions) -- those Trillions printed could be given to the poor and workers of the world to REFOREST the planet, to return water and wealth -- instead of our current budgetary earmarking for continued cultural war and Earth rape.
the words we sing are our consciousness, and until we sing songs of honesty, equality and healing, we ourselves will continue to increase our consumer dementia and sickness, and murder of culture and planet ...
Comment #12 Posted by: millennium | December 24, 2009 08:40 AM
3) Carlos Slim Helu - $35 Billion. He controls telecommunications in Mexico and Latin America.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim
Comment #13 Posted by: judy k | December 24, 2009 03:25 PM