Piedmont College Navigator

Issue date: 1/8/07 Section: Opinion

Poverty in Africa has been brought to the attention of America in the past couple of years by celebrities like Angelina Jolie, U2's Bono, and campaigns like the new red razor from Verizon; but why should we care? Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau show that America has 35.9 million people living in poverty in our country. Are they not just important as the 314 million people, according to statistics from the Worldbank, living in Africa? Of course they are, the difference is the standard of being poor. In the U.S. the poverty threshold according to the U.S. Census Bureau is $9,645 per person. In Africa the 314 million people that are in poverty are living on $1 or less a day, thus only living on $364 a year. The poverty in the United States is not something to be ignored, but the government does supply food stamps, WIC, and housing development to many of the poor in our county. Many African countries are run by corrupt governments and cannot provide any of these programs to their people. For example, according to the UNICEF in sub-Saharan Africa, measles takes the life of a child nearly every minute of every day, one in six African children dies before the age of five, only 57% of African children are enrolled in primary education, and one in three of those does not complete school.
According to the Worldbank, Americans between to age of 18 and 27 in ten years will accommodate for 50% of the world's wealth. If we, this group that is becoming so wealthy, all contribute only $5, roughly the price of a chicken sandwich combo at McDonalds, a week to helping the people of Africa, we can cut in half these numbers in only four years. Granted to get every person in this age group to do this for four years is improbable, but it is possible.
So next time you go out to eat or buy a movie ticket, think of the three children in Africa that are dieing because of the lack of vaccines and malnutrition and what that $5 could pay for. We are the next generation of world leaders, being so it is our job to help make a difference in the lives of those that share this planet with us.

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