We are a generation that has grown up with infomercial images of poverty-stricken children who need our help. With every promise of the amount of money the program requested, the narrator told us how much of a difference it could make in one child's life.
What ever happened to those children?
According to the World Health Organization, more than 10 million of them still are needlessly dying before they reach their fifth birthday.
In an effort to obtain a realistic figure on how many of the world's children are dying unnecessarily, the organization launched a campaign in 2001 that found that Ethiopian children are more than 30 times more likely than Western European children to die before they even enter grade school.
Nearly three out of four (73 percent) of 10.6 million deaths are due to pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, infection of the blood or pneumonia in newborns, preterm delivery and asphyxia at birth. Of course, poor nutrition also is a significant factor contributing to these deaths.
The aforementioned figures are definitely somber. With tsunamis, troops dying in Iraq, and other horrific global events, it's a lot for a mere student to try to change all of the awful things that take place in the world. The phrase, "think globally, act locally" comes to mind, but how can you reach those children far away in Third World countries? How can you contribute while you already are subsisting off your parents or struggling to pay rent? How can you give time when it's already dedicated to school and/or work? Is it just as easy an infomercial says?
No, it's hard.
During this period of education and personal growth, the least MSU students can do is give their thoughts and minds. Thoughts to the fact that such an atrocity is going on in the world and it needs attention. Minds that are willing to learn skills that can be used to make a positive change in the world.
It's difficult, and perhaps a bit naively optimistic to see things in such a broad picture, but that's how progress is made.
Recently, one man's idea to bring a peanut butter-type paste to Sudan's Darfur region helped cut malnutrition rates in half. Called Plumpy'nut, the nutrition-packed provision is causing a revolution in the way malnutrition is fought. Whereas it was typically contended through powdered milk formulas that need mixing and hard-to-aquire clean water, Plumpy'nut requires no water and is easy to deploy into places that are really hurting. Such a breakthrough would never have been possible without the help of individuals who put their higher education toward the project.
Then there is former President Bill Clinton, whose foundation plans to donate $10 million to expand treatment for children with AIDS in the developing world. With the money, The William J. Clinton Foundation plans to provide AIDS drugs to roughly 10,000 children by the end of the year. Acts like this not only directly help people in need, but also have the power to draw attention to their plight.
With more awareness, we as students can take the things we learn on a daily basis and use them to make a contribution to the world's neediest later in life.
