By: Maria Reylan M. Garcia
It has been two hours and I'm still logged on, changing my friendster
profile skins every five minutes and reading html tips on uploading
videos from youtube. Once again, I was attempting to consume the whole
twenty hours of our internet prepaid card in one seating.
Surprisingly, I grew tired of encoding colorful layouts and embedding
most viewed music videos. I came across visiting a statistics site for
no definite reason. The website holds global data on poverty, health
and education percentage, it was quite alarming and made me think
twice before taking another breath for air, yes it was that alarming.
This may be just numbers and data, but these scraps of information
mirror the reality of an unjust world we live in. These scraps of
information reflect the actual condition of an unfair fate we continue
to tread along. Yet, how negative these scraps of information may
seem, they echo the truthful hope that we can, as the cliché goes,
make the world a better place.
There are 2.2 billion children in the world, and one billion of them
are buried in the grave of poverty. Almost half of the world's
children experience the torture of skipping meals, terminal diseases
and illiteracy, without even doing anything wrong to deserve them. My
fellow youth, the next time your parents couldn't buy you the most
fashionably in outfit, think about the 640 million children who
doesn't even have a home to go to if it rains. If you could read this
article, be grateful because 121 million children couldn't receive
even the most basic of education. Surprising? I thought these numbers
were just used for some wealthy companies' annual profit, I never
realized it could bring so much pain in my heart if it goes with words
of famine, inadequacy and hopelessness.
We experience constant power interruptions, and often times we grumble
for missing to watch the most awaited episode of some foreign drama
series. I'm guilty of doing so, and have been cursing the electric
companies involved. But not after I knew 706 million in South Asia
live without electricity. Now, power failures appear to be less
troublesome, don't you think? Then, here comes our financial debts
from banks, relatives, and some friendly Hindu guy in a motorcycle.
There are times when we spend more than what we could afford, everyone
is somehow prone to that. But before you think of ways to end your
life in dismantled pieces, let me tell you, you are not alone. The GDP
(Gross Domestic Product) of the 41 heavily indebted poor countries is
less than the wealth of the world's seven richest people combined. The
world is suffering as a whole; it's time that the world has to act as
a whole.
Now, where do we go from here? At first I thought what could a mere
teenager like me do to minimize global poverty? I scrolled down the
web page and found some extremely startling facts. In 1998, United
States of America spends $8 billion on cosmetics; Europe spends $11
billion on ice cream and $50 billion on cigarettes; $35 billion on
Business entertainment in Japan. These information seem to be
insignificant if taken singly, but what if you knew that it only takes
$6 billion more to let every illiterate read and write; what if you
knew that it only takes $9 billion more to let every one drink clean
and sanitary water. I can't imagine the world giving more importance
to ice cream than education that in reality the money you spend on
education is just chump change with the money you spend on ice cream.
Everyone has to tighten their belts. Savings is not the primary reason
why, but saving the world is. The environment is reminding us every
single day, as our climate grows worse, as our animal friends grow
endangered, as our lives are at risk that we need to take massive
action as a united global community to stop the destructive force that
we ourselves created. Global warming increases the torture of poverty,
as climate refuses to obey, crops and plantations of agriculture
disappoint us leaving some countrymen lining up for retailed rice. But
a massive action might be too huge for a simple person to produce; I
don't think so because the strongest tidal waves start from a simple
wrinkle of water.
What can we do? Students, study well and do whatever it takes to
finish your education so you can spare yourself to become one of the
too many illiterate people of our world. Citizens, be responsible in
your duties to the environment start simply in your homes by switching
off appliances when not in use. Teach your pre-school children early
of throwing garbage on the proper containers. Wealthy ones, spare some
change for charity. Adopt a scholar if you could. Entrepreneurs, open
job opportunities to the unemployed. And to the concerned
underprivileged, strive and work hard for progress.
My internet prepaid card costs a hundred pesos, which amounts to
almost two dollars. Three billion people live on less than two dollars
a day. Here I am, wanting to finish the same amount of money on music
videos and profile skins while half of the world's population is
hungry.
I think I could go one week without internet.
Let's Save the World.
Source: Poverty Facts and Stats (www.globalissues.org), updated 2008
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