Help Me.Please.

                                         

Pictured to the side is six-month old boy Ali Mohammed al-Tawaari,who is greatly malnourished.Born just before the war outbreak,Ali Mohammed al-Tawaari may not survive much longer.In fact, over sixteen-thousand children so far in this war-torn country of Yemen have been impacted by severe malnourishment.As many as 1.3 million are greatly at risk for the same issue.

Malnourishment has always been a main struggle for poor countries and when wars hit the area, the issue is just exacerbated. Yemen who normally imports 90 percent of its food but now it is unsafe for traders to import food and move it safely inside the country, which is leading to the surge of food prices and the inability for families to sufficiently feed their families.With a country that is the most impoverished in the Middle East and who has 60 percent of its population living under the poverty line, the sudden upsurged of childhood malnourishment is soon to be seen.

There are children searching for food through trash liter in the streets.Planes coming into the country to supply food aid have had to turn back due to the violence and time limits.There seems to be little relief in sight for these small children struggling amidst conflict.

Increased malnutrition has also caused the children to become susceptible to diseases such as measles and chronic diarrhea.Once the war started medical doctors had to be evacuated leaving the hospitals with inept workers where routine treatments and life-saving healthcare can become lethal. 

I realize that I may be listing fact after fact,I realize that not everyone is going to share the same passion that I feel,But,this blog has supplied me with a place to bring awareness to others.To be able to increase people's cultural awareness and face the fact that there are children constantly suffering,constantly living in fear of bombs falling down on their heads and their mothers and fathers torn from their arms. Being a Penn State student I may joke about being a broke college student but i'll never have to fear where my next meal will be, or if and when I might be executed.I'll never have to feel immense fear walking  building to building during my classes.

Here's a Fact,183 million dollars  is needed to meet the humanitarian aid for these children.Without these funds these children are faced with no hope for the future.

Hopefully, four years from now i'll cross that stage and take my diploma, looking back at how I finally got to this moment.Maybe I will be proud of the chances I took.Maybe I'll look out at the crowd and say "wow, I finally did it," But hopefully i'll never be satisfied.Hopefully I'll realize the steps i still need to take to improve the world and do my part.Maybe one day, children will stop suffering.Maybe just maybe, the world will become a better place.

Life is Short:Do Your Part

As i was thinking about ideas for the second post of this blog names of different countries were swarming in my head, should i focus on education or healthcare, or maybe infant mortality? I enjoy reading the comments that my classmates have posted about my posts thus far, because different inputs allow me to rethink my ideas and thoughts. This in turn,allowed me to come up with week's blog.

You might be thinking to yourself, how can i give my part and assist in helping these children? Well, there are a few ways to do this that does not involve thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours a week planning.Today I will be listing and discussing a few ideas that i have personally done and some others that may be useful in the future.

1. Notecards/ Letters

For my Senior project in high school I had a class of 8th grade students gather the week before Thanksgiving break and write letters that would(hopefully) be received by students overseas. The students wrote about what they were grateful for and what they hoped the children would be blessed with in the coming months.Some students wrote that thy hope the students would be able to become whoever they wanted to become, or the chance to travel the world. even the chance to escape terror and live in peace.As i was walking around the room and watching these students poor out their hearts on paper that may or may not be received by these children, it brought tears to my eyes. These students had only seen a short video and done some activities and they were already passionate about making an impact. Writing letters or becoming pen pals with a child living overseas in dangerous areas, can be the easiest and most selfless way or making a child's day or year, and doing your part in helping.

2.Fundraiser

Fundraising takes more time and effort but it can be a very successful venture.Many churches and schools have pasta fundraisers to raise money for a specific cause.This idea could certainly be duplicated and can bring in large amounts of funds to certain organizations such as UNICEF or Charity organization. If pasta is not your forte, baked goods or auctions could also be just as effective.

3.Care Packages

This is another form of charity that i have had experience in when doing my Senior Project. As extra credit that went towards their class, I had the eight grade students collect body care necessities such as toothpaste and soap to give to the Lutheran World Relief which sends different forms of care packages to impoverished nations, many times ripped by war. By donating and getting involved in the LWR(Lutheran World Relief), you have the choice to organize care packages that range from quilts to school supplies. They have some strict guidelines and you have to live close to a drop off station but this could be a good way to get large amounts of people involved at once and increase donations

4.Freerice.com

Many of you have probably had experience with this website.It's an extremely easy and quick way to give back for those who don't have much time to organize and plan. Free Rice is a website that has two goals "Provide education to everyone for free" and, "help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free". You simply login in and create an account and then answer different trivia questions ranging from math to English. Each correct answer to a questions is equivalent to a certain amount of rice. Simple,yet just as effective to give back and increase your support.


I realize that many people do not have hours of time a week to give back, and it may not be on the top of your list of importance, but any small amount of support and volunteering can make a large difference in the end. We are only given one life to live and only a short amount of time to make the most out of it. Our life would be more fulfilling if we spent  more time helping others escape certain burdens in their lives, rather than increasing our burdens with materialistic matters.

Dangerous Profession:Life of Child Miners

For my first passion blog post I will be focusing on children living in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically those working as children miners.To paint a picture of the increased epidemic of child labor, the International Labor organization did a survey.In their findings, they found that with the estimated 215 child laborers,115 million work in extremely hazardous conditions.In the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the most dangerous types of child labor is artisanal mining.Artisanal mining requires plucking of rocks from tunneling or loose surfaces which can lead to rock slides.

Some of the statistics found in doing the survey were staggering.19 percent of the children have witnessed another child dying a the mine site, while another 87 experience severe body pain.The problem with these young children working at the mine sites is the fact that as we all know, their bodies are continually maturing and developing.The extreme and heavy work can cause bone and muscle deformities and permanently damage the bones growth. The continual exposure to Uranium and Mercury are also extremely harmful to the developing child's brain.In fact,since children breathe more deeply and faster then adults, they breathe in more airborne pathogens as well.

These children are forced to work every day with little time for family,little to nor breaks, and no time for normal childhood activities.Many of these children are the sole bread winners for families.Many of the children miners have had to drop out of school because the lack of funds, or the inability to attend class because of constant illness.It is not by choice that these children work in these dangerous environments, but it is a sad way of life for at least 40 percent of the children.There is no regulations placed n these environments, so until a set of rules are put into place, children as young as 8 years of age will be thrust into these sites and left with no childhood or peace of mind.But regulations are simply not enough.There's a lot to be focused on in the DRC such as child soldiers,sexual assaults, and forced marriages. The.The epidemic of poverty and malnourishment are rampant and the leading cause to many of these issues.All these children want is a chance to leave put their dreams, the same way that many of us hope to accomplish.But with limited support and resources, and danger extremely prevalent, there is no chance for them unless we put in a concerted effort to a help them in any way possible.



"With one king gesture you can change a life.One person at a time you can change the world.One day at a time we can change everything." -Dr. Steven Maraboli