Global Day of Action Against Poverty, Oct. 15, 2006
Day of Action was an eye-opening event to say the least. Through the facts and figures, the magnitude of issues such as extreme poverty and global HIV/AIDS is overwhelming, and, therefore, doubts in our ability to make any sort of significant difference as an individual or as a small group easily creep in our minds. Despite of reservations, some of us felt that the least we could do is educate ourselves on these issues. Some of us are still in school and others have jobs and families, but we refused to disregard the situation as too big to confront.
As you review facts and figures below, a strange sense of despair may set in as you’ll learn that millions of our brothers and sisters around the world are going hungry and struggling just to survive. But I encourage you to keep reading, and if you look deeper, you may also catch the glimpse of enormous effort of millions who seek to improve the lives of the most marginalized individuals in society.
The issue of poverty is widespread. Even in this land of plenty, more than one in 10 citizens live below the poverty line. In our own neighborhoods in Houston one in three children goes hungry each day, and Houston is second only to Detroit in the number of hungry children. While helping to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the Kid’s Meal Project, it was heart-breaking to learn that the lunches we were putting together may be the only meal of the day for many children. Kid’s Meal Project provides 300 lunches for at-risk and special needs children of age 2 – 6 Monday through Friday between 9:45am and 12:30pm. To volunteer, please contact Maushmi@bethecause.org
Day of Action power point presentation:day-of-action.ppt
Fact sheet:aids-and-extreme-poverty-fact-sheet.doc
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