An unheard voice

What happens when you get a cold? Do you go to the nearest pharmacy and buy a packet of Cold and Flu Fighter, or do you open the medicine cabinet to take some Panadol?

Well, guess what, the people of the poorer countries, like Afghanistan, don’t have Panadol or Cold and Flu Fighter. And more, they don’t have herbs they can mix up to form some sort of potion. They don’t have ANYTHING! And the worst part of it all, these people might get some sort of deadlier disease, more dangerous than a cold, and heck, they don’t even have fresh water to drink. And while we sit at home eating and drinking, the people of the poorer countries are walking two miles barefoot to the market, BEGGING for food, when all we need to do is to open the pantry, and shelves of food are lying there. And when we’re thirsty, all we do is get out a glass and turn the tap on and clear water comes out, while people in Laos or Africa are literally wringing dirt out of a bowl of black water. And why exactly am I writing this? Because I want the people of third-world countries to be heard. I want them to have voice. I don’t think its fair for them to be suffering while the government sits there doing nothing. I’m speaking for them. I’m writing for them.

Abundance, not scarcity; right now, we have enough food to feed EVERYONE in the world. And in twenty years time, we will STILL have enough food for everyone. And yet 700 million people don’t have enough to eat.

Here we are, with countries literally DUMPING food away, when we have people digging under clay and rocks looking for baby frogs, lizard, crabs and grass roots. And many years ago we had Americans dumping wheat into the ocean just to keep the wheat prices stable. If they wanted that to happen, why didn’t they just switch to corn production? Instead of dumping it into the ocean, they could’ve sent that overseas to feed the stomachs of starving children, knowing the fact that one person dies EVERY two seconds from starvation and every year hunger kills more than 12 million children worldwide. But no, and now everyone wants to turn the blame onto something else, and that’s nature. It’s easy to blame nature. But its really human forces that should be blamed. We want money, so we’re selling the food to people who can afford it. But what about the poor people, who are miserably paid for their jobs. They won’t have enough money for food; some don’t even have jobs.

Man people die of PREVENTABLE, CURABLE diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and acute lower respiratory infections; in 1998, these claimed 6.1 million lives. Fatal diseases like AIDS and measles are something in everyday life, and yet there is no one out there to help them. Children are slowly becoming blind and when they grow up, they’ll have to get their children to lead them. And to save someone from these illnesses, it isn’t going to cost a lot. In fact it costs as much as your early morning coffee……. $2. We don’t need a lot of money to save someone’s life. It’s that simple. It’s that cheap.

Imagine having a family, a family of 4, living in a medium sized house? Sounds good? Alright, imagine this, a family of 6 living in a small bamboo hut…the size of a queen sized bed! Cramped and uncomfortable, they don’t have furniture no beds and no tables. Not even a chair! They have to crawl around on their hands and knees, other wise the floor will break. Also their houses are made miles from anywhere, so a simple walk to the market brings pain with every step.

How did you grow up? Maybe you grew up in a wealthy family, or just an average one. Well, whichever one you did grow up in, there’s one thing for sure, you had toys. Rattles, dolls, action figures little cake shaped toys that had buttons that lighted up every time you switched the ON button. Or maybe you had a game boy Colour with the newest games. Well, whatever you had, consider yourself lucky. If you had lived in Laos, you would be lucky to even have a tin bucket. Items like that are rare for the poor people, and many children can’t buy toys due to lack of money.

Everyone here in Australia is properly educated. We’ve learned English, maths, science, technology; the list goes on. But have the poor people learned any of this? Is it fair to pass them by just because they don’t have enough money for education? No. even though they are poor, they deserve the right to learn. They should be able to go to schools, learn new things; things that they never knew existed. For when they learn things, they take it with them wherever they go; it’s something they’ll never forget. Something that they’ll value, and keep forever.

Are the governments doing anything? Are they ACTUALLY helping to try to get rid of poverty? The answer to both of these questions is no. If the governments WERE doing something, poverty would probably be gone by now. Yes, I repeat, povertyWOULD be gone by now. But no, because we’re spending it all on junk food. Do you know how much money it takes to wipe poverty off earth? $76 billion. And guess how much money we spend each year on junk food? $96 billon. So if we use that money to get rid of poverty once and for all, then we’ll have $20 billion left for junk food. Isn’t that fair? Well, according to the junk food addicts, no, because it wouldn’t be fair for them. Well, have they ever stopped and thought about the poorer people who don’t get hamburgers or French fries? Doubt it.

If you have read up to here, I am CERTAIN that you will know what I’m talking about, give wiping poverty off the earth a go. I may already have written this, but I will not let the cries for help from poor people go unheard. I will not let their voices lie in the bottom of a bit. I am their voice. And you are reading it.

This article, by Amy Chang from Willoughby Primary School, was the Year 5/6 winning entry in What Matters? 2007—a writing competition, run by The Whitlam Institute, that gives year 5-12 students in NSW and ACT a chance to say what matters in society today. For more information go to: http://www.whitlam.org/whitlam/index.php