YOUNG VOICE
The truth about ice cream
It has been two hours and I'm still online. I've been changing my Friendster profile skins every five minutes and reading html tips on uploading videos from youtube. I was attempting to consume the whole 20 hours of our Internet ppaid card in one sitting.
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. That's how alarmed I was.
These may be just numbers and data, but these pieces of information mirror the reality of an unjust world. They reflect the actual condition of an unfair fate we continue to experience. But these information tell us that we can make the world a better place.
There are 2.2 billion children in the world, and one billion of them are impoverished. Almost half of the world's children skip meals, have terminal diseases, are illiterate and didn't do anything wrong to serve these.
Guys, the next time your parents couldn't buy you the most fashionable outfit, think about the 640 million children who don't have homes to provide shelter when it rains.
If you could read this article, be grateful because 121 million children don't receive basic 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 they spell hunger, inadequacy and hopelessness.
We experience constant power interruptions, and oftentimes we grumble because we missed our favorite drama series on television. I'm guilty of such. But not after I knew 706 million in South Asia live without electricity. Now, power failures appear to be less troublesome.
Then, here comes our financial debts from banks, relatives, and some friendly 5-6 guy on a motorcycle. There are times when we spend more than what we could afford. But before you think of ways to end your life in dismantled pieces, you should know, 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. In reality, the money you spend on education is just chump change compared to what you spend on ice cream.
We have to tighten our belts to save the world. The environment is reminding us every single day. Our climate grows worse, animals become endangered, and our lives are at risk. We need to take action as a united global community to stop the destructive force that we 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.
What can we do? Students, study well and do whatever it takes to finish your education so you can spare yourself from becoming an illiterate. Citizens, be responsible in your duties to the environment in simple things like switching off appliances when not in use. Teach your p-school children early about throwing garbage on the proper containers. Wealthy ones, spare some change for charity. Adopt a scholar if you could. Entrepneurs, open job opportunities to the unemployed. And to the concerned underprivileged, strive and work hard for progress.
My Internet ppaid 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.
Sources of facts: Poverty Facts and Stats (www.globalissues.org), updated 2008
(For comments and reactions please send an SMS to 09186363090 or an email to reylangarcia@gmail.com. View my blog at http://www.theyoungvoice.blogspot.com)