Feed the Body AND the Mind
By kenya on Oct 15, 2008 in General, Photos
Today is Blog Action Day and this year’s topic is poverty. An estimated 1.4 billion people in the developing world are in poverty while 36.5 million people are in poverty in the United States. I am no means an expert on poverty but I have certainly lived there.
Many people equate poverty to hunger but poverty to me is not only the lack of access to food. I would say it’s the lack of access to healthy food, clean water, adequate housing, health care and a safe environment among other things. Simply providing these things is not the answer. Providing aid is noble but making people dependent on that aid does more harm than good. It’s only part of the solution; education and training is also needed. One way that education can improve one’s life is the obvious – college or vocational school will improve one’s ability to have better employment choices. Another aspect of education and training is in the area of skills needed to live. This would include such topics as how to replenish the soil when growing crops, how to properly clean water for drinking and medical training. Self-sufficiency is key.
Some organizations that focus on education are:
In the DC area, the following organizations are always looking for volunteers and/or donations:
VolunteerMatch should be able to direct you to organizations in your locality.
