Read the following slowly. Let these facts from the United Nations website sink into your mind and heart…
- Half the world’s population live on LESS THAN TWO DOLLARS per day…
- Almost 16,000 children die EACH DAY due to poverty- that’s 1 CHILD EVERY FIVE SECONDS…
- Nearly a BILLION people entered the Year 2000 UNABLE TO READ OR SIGN THEIR NAME…
- There are approximately 2.2 billion children in the world. 1 BILLION do not have access to SHELTER, CLEAN WATER and HEALTH CARE…
- 121 MILLION children do not receive EDUCATION…
- 1.6 billion people – a QUARTER OF HUMANITY – live without ELECTRICITY…
Unbelievable, hey?
To think that there is a girl your age who is starving to death, as you skip your breakfast because you don’t feel hungry or as you throw away the sandwich your mum made you for lunch because you bought something from the school shop instead.
To think that there is a classroom in Uganda filled with 90 students sitting on a dirt floor without any pens or paper, trying to learn basic knowledge, as you groan in despair when you receive your next project.
To think that every day, young girls are sold into abusive slavery, as you worry about what clothes you are going to wear or complain about having to clean your room. It certainly puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? It’s even a bit scary to step out of your comfort zone and put yourself in someone else’s shoes, isn’t it?
The biggest question you may be thinking is, “But what can I do that could really make a difference?” After all, the problems in this world are overwhelming. My response to you, beautiful girl, is, “Take small steps at a time. One act of kindness at a time. One person at a time. It all adds up over a lifetime.”
- Get together with some friends and together, sponsor a child in a developing country.
- Organise a fundraising project to raise money for a charity that touches your heart. It could be a charity for children with cancer, refugee students, families of those in prison… there is a page at the end of this book that lists well known international charities.
- Clean out your wardrobe and pull out all the clothes that are too small for you or you don’t like to wear anymore. Wash them, iron them, fold them and donate them to a charity for homeless people.
- Over the next two months, buy one or two grocery items each week (packet of pasta, bottle of pasta sauce, tin of soup, box of tea bags etc.). At the end of the two months, you’ll have a bag of groceries to give to a charity group or church group that helps poor people in your community.
- Do a bit of research- find out what community groups actively help those in need in your town or city and get involved!
Finally, make sure that your parents or another adult is aware of what you are wanting to do. Discuss your ideas with them, listen to their advice and don’t do anything that they do not agree with. So, my fellow Girl of Wisdom, are you ready to change the world… one step at a time… one person at a time?
“How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
(Anne Frank, Writer.)
Girls Of Wisdom 