Loen May F.

Gonzales MDG #1 POVERTY AND HUNGER Walking the city streets at 3:00 in the afternoon, I murmured, Pagkamalas ko. Mauran. Mayo akong payong. Giving out a sigh, my eyeballs rolled from left to right and then down. It was Gods will, I know because I felt it, that I came to be in that place and time to see a boy about 9 years of age, wearing an oversized faded black shirt with holes, lying near the steps of Jollibee. He was as if in his house, in his bed, comfortably positioned to rest and just waiting for his eyes to close. Following his straight look at the ceiling, I knew that in his mind were simple yet tough things. Simple because it was ordinary for children to think of which, and tough because he knows that it would be difficult, he would take a lot of effort compared to other more fortunate children to get to whatever he was thinking of. It was a moment, just a brief moment to eat my words, Pagkamalas ko. MIRRORS Almost half the world over three billion people live on less than $2.50 a day. At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day. More than 80 percent of the worlds population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. The poorest 40 percent of the worlds population accounts for 5 percent of global income. The richest 20 percent accounts for three quarters of world income. According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrunity and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. Around 27-28 percent of all children in developing countries are estimated to be underweight or stunted. The two regions that account for the bulk of the deficit are South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. If current trends continue, the Millennium

Development Goals target of halving the proportion of underweight children will be missed by 30 million children, largely because of slow progress in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2005, the wealthiest 20% of the world accounted for 76.6% of the total private consumption. The poorest fifth just 1.5%.

The poorest 10% accounted for just 0.5% and the wealthiest 10% accounted for 59% of all the consumption:

(Shah, 2010, September 20)

Numbers have it. But these arent just about how many but also about how much. These numbers feed our mind and these mirrors will feed our hearts.

This last picture is a painting by Joey Velasco. I first saw this during our NSTP class as a part of the film Kambas ng Lipunan. They have eyes that stare at mescrutinizing my soul. It moved me. Guilty, cause if I werent I would have not seen them that way. I was guilty of doing nothing. Akala natin sanay na sila, yun pala tayo ang nasanay sa kanila. Getting used to something enables us to decline the urge to change that thing. These lines undeniably made an impact to me.

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes, according to the United Nations. This is one person every three and a half seconds. Unfortunately, it is children who die most. Yet there is plenty of food in the world for everyone. The problem is that hungry people are trapped in severe poverty, they lack the money to buy enough food to nourish themselves. Being constantly malnourished, they become weaker and often sick. This makes them increasingly less able to work, which then makes them even poorer and hungrier. This downward spiral often continues until death for them and their families. (Hunger and World Poverty, www.poverty.com) WHAT DO WE DO? "If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." ~Charles Darwin The possible solutions for poverty clearly depend on what is chiefly causing it, and this can clearly vary with time and with place. At this early 21st century time the main poverty differences are between majority poverty as in poor countries like India, and minority poverty in rich countries like the USA and Britain. None of it may be easy to solve and the long history of anti-poverty measures has often been of failure, but successful action on poverty reduction is really possible to cut the large numbers of people who are still living in poverty. (Solutions to World Poverty, a look at the basic answers) Solutions to poverty vary. What should be focused on is what is urgent. Poorer countries should focus on basic supplies such as food and water to improve their health status. Richer countries should focus on improving their quality education and employment opportunities. In here, the government plays a big role. Again, numbers have it. It says that the government spent

millions and billions to eradicate hunger and poverty. Maybe it had worked, for a few, a very few percent of half the world population who experience poverty. The number of people living under the international poverty line of $1.25 a day declined from 1.8 billion to 1.4 billion between 1990 and 2005. The proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing regions dropped from 46 per cent to 27 per cent on track to meet the target globally. The economic crisis is expected to push an estimated 64 million more people into extreme poverty in 2010. About one in four children under the age of five is underweight in the developing world, down from almost one in three in 1990. (Where do we stand?, www.beta.undp.org) These numbers are good but they are not enough. As an individual, being aware of this issue is a big step. The campaign against poverty is now widespread and what we can do is support it. Beginning from little deeds, we can help to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. This topic gave me goose bumps. The texts as well as the pictures I saw made my eyes teary. This is reality. Clich yet a lot of people still are not aware. The level of knowing that surpasses numbers and charts but deeply defines how you feel is what I meant by awareness. Pagkamalas ko, mayo akong payong. turned out to be Maray na lang payong lang mayo sako. Sources: Solutions to World Poverty, a look at the basic answers. Retrieved August 20, 2011 from the World Wide Web: http://world-poverty.org/solutionstopoverty.aspx Shah, A. (2010, September 20). Poverty Facts and Stats. Retrieved August 18, 2011 from the World Wide Web: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

Hunger and World Poverty. Retrieved August 18, 2011 from the World Wide Web: http://www.poverty.com/ Hunger and World Poverty Sources: United Nations World Food Program (WFP), Oxfam, UNICEF. Where do we stand? Retrieved August 18, 2011 from the World Wide Web: www.beta.undp.org Pictures from: http://www.broodonline.com/index.php/component/smf/?topic=766.msg7004 http://docroe.webs.com/whatpovertylookslike.htm