William Penn Life, 2002 (37. évfolyam, 1-11. szám)
2002-05-01 / 5. szám
Kids Can Make A Difference Battling hunger at home and abroad HUNGER KILLS. Every day 34,000 children under five die of hunger or preventable diseases resulting from hunger. — Bread for the World One in 12 people worldwide is malnourished, including 160 million children under the age of 5. — United Nations Food and Agriculture The facts on hunger are staggering. They bring into clear focus a problem that seems unsolvable. The saddest part is, it doesn't have to be this way. According to the World Watch Institute: World harvest of wheat, corn, rice and other grains produce enough to meet the minimum nutritional requirements for every child, woman and man in the world. Despite this, hunger continues to plague an estimated 841 million people around the world, including 30 million in the United States. Why? The reasons are many, and all reflect the less noble aspects of human nature. Indifference. Incompetence. Greed. Hatred for those who are different from us. Thankfully, there are many people who devote great time, effort, energy and money to combat world hunger. And among those fighting the hardest to end hunger are children. One program that's inspiring children to end hunger and poverty in their community, their country and their world is Kids Can Make A Difference (KIDS). This program was developed by two former board members of the World Hunger Year, Jane Finn Levine and Larry Levine. The KIDS program has three major components: a teacher's guide, a newsletter and the KIDS web site. According to KIDS, there are a wide variety of ways that children can make a difference in the battle against world hunger. Education The first step in helping end hunger is talking about hunger. Begin teaching your family and friends what you know about hunger. As you learn more, develop and teach hunger workshops to students in other classes and other schools. Mliiunteer Hunger is everywhere including the city or town you live in. Find out what organizations are helping those people who are hungry. Find out what you can do to help...and do it! Write Letters The purpose of writing letters is to alert government officials, newspaper editors, local business leaders, producers of television news programs, etc. of the knowledge you have gained about the root causes of hunger and what can be done locally or nationally to eliminate it. Writing letters demonstrates that when people with a common purpose combine their skills and energies, the results are magnified. It is also important to write letters to elected officials, newspaper editors or television news producers, and company presidents because this can often lead to getting policies changed. If you can get government officials and members of the media talking about your ideas, then you will have a better chance at winning support for your cause and possibly getting laws changed or instituted to improve people's lives. Some topics include: homelessness, hunger and the elderly, children, unemployment, unequal education, environmental protection, discrimination and the media's role in educating about hunger. Choose an example related to your community's needs or one currently being discussed in your newspapers. Give Testimony Young people have two distinct advantages over adults when it comes to testifying before legislative bodies—they stand out in the usual crowd of adults, and committee members know that children have no vested interest in getting a particular law passed other than their own passionate belief that the law will protect people or their natural surroundings. Helping shape legislation this way is an extremely empowering and exciting experience for young people. It can set the foundation for a lifetime of activism and community involvement. 8 William I'f nil lilf, May 2002
