- Over 25,000 children die each day. [ref.] This death toll is equivalent to the World Trade Center attacks occurring over 9 times a day, or the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki occurring every 8 days.
You might ask why this is such a big deal, people die every day. When hearing “25,000 children die each day” you must remember the rarity of children dying of natural causes. Realistically, if a child dies it is from some kind of external threat. Lets do something to alleviate the external threats such as poverty surrounding the world’s children.
- 21% of the world is living on less than $1 a day. [ref.]
There is no reason why the worlds wealth should be so unevenly distributed. Many of these nations living on such meager money per day provide many of the products we enjoy in our comfortable lives.
- 41% of the world lives in unsanitary conditions, putting them at a much higher risk of disease or infection. [ref.]
Everyone has seen the picture on T.V. of the little starving child with the swollen belly. This belly is not due to starvation, it is caused by parasitic worms in their intestines. When in the intestines the parasites consume whatever food the starving child may be able to eat. The world is very knowledgeable on issues of sanitation and water purification, this must be something we translate to these nations in great need.
- Over 370 Million of the world’s children will never make it to the 5th grade. [ref.]
Many children have to leave school at an early age because their family needs them to work making it even harder for individuals to break the cycle of poverty due to their lack of education.
- Nearly a Billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. [ref.]
With the ease of communication in the world today there is no reason that any able person should not have the ability to read or write. Lets fight world poverty and greatly lower this number by the beginning of the 22nd century.