Disclaimer: Somewhere on this blog are multiple grammatical mistakes, spelling errors and obscure Star Wars references.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Making Poverty History... Think about this...

As we wake up every morning, there are lots of things that we take for granted. Not necessarily those of the Gucci kind, but even the more basic, simpler things. Electricity for example…the soft hiss of the central A/C reminds us that, yes, the bill has been paid and that it is really comfy sleeping in on Friday mornings in 24oC, while outside the mercury continues to soar.

At the breakfast table, a simple spread of sunny side ups, toast and tea (or coffee), is nothing different or special. I mean honestly, shouldn’t cost you more than a dollar or two. After breakfast, and a hot (or cold) long, shower we’d probably change into something simple, like a t-shirt and jeans. Or maybe instead of the jeans some of us would rather don a pair of khaki shorts, since it’s so hot outside.

Consider this though… What if things weren’t really like that? Assume that for one month, the electricity bill was left unpaid. Doesn’t really paint a pretty picture does it? All that time spent indoors in the heat would not be my cup of tea. And all that sweat. Oh dear. Sweat = not good. Unless you’re exercising. Even breakfast though…What if you went to bed knowing that when you wake up in the morning, you can’t exactly have someone make you breakfast or even make it yourself. Nope, there’s nothing to eat.

Imagined that?

Now imagine this:

Poverty as described in a dictionary is the condition a person is in if he/she earns less than $1 a day. And that is just a textbook description. There are some who earn a little more than $1, and some who earn zilch. Neither are in the most desirable conditions.

45.3% of people under the poverty line live in Southeast Asia, while 22.4% live in Africa. And for a local twist, a huge percentage of labourers suffer almost the same way right here in this country. In these places, lots of people don’t exactly wake up snug under covers in their bedrooms. Or in their beds at all. Most of them wake up not knowing whether they can afford to or even get breakfast from anywhere. In that regard, most of them haven’t had three square meals a day for as long as they remember. Clothing? What clothes? There aren’t any Giordano’s or Bossini’s for them to get their daily ware from. Even if there was, odds are they probably couldn’t afford it. No Food. No Shelter. No Clothing. These people lack the 3 basic services in life that is a must for everyone. These people don’t know when their next meal is, and many of them don’t know how long they’re going to live. If the Statisticians did their jobs right, then according to them, poverty kills one child every 3 seconds.

That said, I’d like to share an interesting quote with you readers.

His name was Walter Bagehot. He was an English journalist from the mid-1800s. And he said:

“ Poverty is an anomaly to the rich people; it is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner, simply do not ring the bell. “


I’m not trying to say that we’re all rich here… But what his quote implies is that… Unless you’re not in that condition yourself, you don’t truly comprehend what they feel like. Yes, sympathy, pity, and maybe a passion to correct these horrendous conditions may implant themselves in your heart, but you will never be able to fathom what goes on through their minds. Not unless you’re either seeing it with your own eyes, or, (God forbid) one of them. On a lighter note, seeing how Survivor has run into its 13th season maybe they ought to dump the contestants in a slum in Bangladesh or a village in Dharfour.

No one should have to go through what these people suffer as a part of their daily lives. No one deserves to. That’s why at Make Poverty History, our aim is to eradicate global extreme poverty. It is the single, most largest coalition in the world or charities and other foundations trying to pressure governments into fighting poverty worldwide. The gap that keeps growing between the rich and the poor is created out of man-made elements and is nothing that we can not tackle. By working together, poverty could soon be classified as, ‘extinct’. But it won’t happen today, or tomorrow. Nor in one year, or two. But with the support of people all around the world, it could happen soon enough. Average Joes, just like yourself. You don’t have to be movie star or a musician to make a difference. If we work together, Planet Earth can be poverty – free by 2015.

Think about it. Because that’s all you would need to do to make up your mind. And once you’re done thinking about it:

Take action. Join the campaign. Help fight poverty worldwide.

For further information on the campaign and its goals visit, www.makepovertyhistory.org .

xx

Ps: This Article was originally intended for the MPH UAE Newsletter. I'm just posting it here for reading cuz by the looks of it, the MPH Newsletter died...

9 comments:

Lhjunkie said...

Well written...

Alt.Ctrl.Del said...

Great job dude!! We should totally publish this on the MPHE blog and the non-existent newsletter! Remind me to get back to Anish about that...

Keep it up :)

Anonymous said...

enuf with the poverty, spend money on bettering yourselves.
dont try to make yourselfs feel bettr by talking about how you can save the wordl.

Anonymous said...

Anish sucks!!! He is just a arrogant bastard who does all this to get girls. M.Ali should know better than to support this.

but what the hell. Isnt M.Ali also the same as Anish!!

Anonymous said...

dumbass, he doesn't love Anish. its a nice cause to help n support n he just wrote an article for it which he published on this site... wats wrong with helping to remover poverty?

do you even KNOW mali?

Anonymous said...

Can you pahtetic excuses for human beings go ANYWHERE without criticising someone?

When someone does something horrible, you complain, and when someone actually does something good for OTHER people you complain?

There's no pleasing people like you, is there?

Grow up. Get a life. And appreciate the wonderful things (and people) around you before you become some bitter, sorry, waste of skin and space.

Zuberi said...

"Grow up. Get a life. And appreciate the wonderful things (and people) around you before you become some bitter, sorry, waste of skin and space."

that is soo uzma...
busted!

Farhan Rehman said...

zZz -_-
*iD rather be sleeping*
fuck u all..
peace out..
:P

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Anish sucks!!! He is just a arrogant bastard who does all this to get girls. M.Ali should know better than to support this.

but what the hell. Isnt M.Ali also the same as Anish!!


whoevr said tht... cum ras al khor...