Jess' Blog

We've seen pictures like this on T.V (etc) and while we often feel momentary sympathy for these children - we do nothing, as the ad turns over to a Red Herring Sale!
As we continue to watch our television programs, that child we saw 30 seconds of on that ad continues to struggle for life, burdened and bound by poverty.

What is Poverty? Let me guess, you thought something along the lines of "no food, no water, no money"... Well, poverty is far more binding than that! Poverty still exists even when there is 'enough' food.
"...anyone without the basics of good health, an education, knowledge of human rights, or the power and opportunity to demand these things, is vulnerable to hunger, exploitation and premature death 1"
This is poverty; stripped of the power and opportunity to change your circumstance.

Many African children are growing up in communities where people die young, very few know how to read or write and preventable chronic illness occurs as everyday life. These have little chance of making a more positive future for themselves and their families.

"Every boy and girl around the world has a right to expect that we will do all we can to ensure that they will enjoy their right to an education" - Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the UN.

There are endless potential benefits, for loosening the grip of poverty, born of education.

Education is about more than just attaining a good job. It changes lives in many ways (for example, look at how much your life has changed because of schooling!). It is essential for self-esteem, financial security, social justice, health and, over time, for community and economic development.

Just 13 years old, Pascal Mwanchoka's figured the boys' schooldays were over for good.

"My mother wasn't feeding us, she wasn't taking us to school," said Pascal, who came here from the coastal city of Mombasa looking for work but ended up living in the gutters of Nairobi.
Less than a year later, Pascal and 10-year-old Lenjo are off the streets and back in class, attending a free program in Nairobi for children too poor even to afford a meal of maize and beans. They are among millions of children who struggle against vast obstacles for the luxury of going to school on the poorest continent in the world 2.

In Australia, and other well-developed nations, we "...have the means and the knowledge to protect the lives and to diminish enormously the suffering of children 3"
With teacher training, a little 'financial support', or the building of a school house, communities in Africa, and other under-developed countries, can give their children the education and employment opportunities their parents never had.

"When people can learn skills and are given opportunities to apply them, they are empowered to bring about change to their own lives 4"

Children are suffering, innocent people are dying and powerless to change their circumstance because they don't know how, don't have the opportunity or freedom to do so.
While there does exist few hospitals and increasingly more medical aid coming into Africa, they can only treat the already existing problem. To reduce and prevent the problem, education is needed.

"Children are our future"
After seeing a video in Health Studies, called 'A Walk to Beautiful', i made up my mind there and then - i want to be a part of bringing hope to the children of Africa, to the future of Africa.
My dream is to teach, to share what i know, to love and care, to bring hope for a better future to these young children.

Poverty is real. And we can do something about it!