Natalia Markham is a first year student at Daytona State College. She delivered the following for World Speech Day
15 Mach 2019, Daytona State College, Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
In east Africa children like 9-month-old, Akusi, are wasting away. When baby Akusi wasn’t thriving. Her mother, Lomukuny, knew why. “When I was pregnant, I had nothing to eat,” she explained. Lomukuny became malnourished and unwell. “You are hungry, and then you get sick,” she says.
Unfortunately, Akusi started life with two strikes against her — born to a malnourished mother and without a father to care for her. Because the region was exploding with malnutrition, supply could not keep up with demand.
Akusi was named for the wind that was blowing at the time of her birth. Now she faces a storm that will not abate until the world comes together to respond. To this day, Akusi holds on by a strand to survive.
This story was shared by worldvision.org. This story did not have a happy ending. But it does have an ending we can change. World hunger can be stopped one small step at a time. World hunger is happening around us. As world citizens working on making a positive impact, we should ask, who is it affecting? Where is it occurring? What can be done to battle against it? What does it mean to be hungry?
As told by, mercycorps.org, “Being hungry means more than just missing a meal. It’s a debilitating crisis that has more than 820 million people in its grip.” It goes on to say, “Families who struggle with chronic hunger and malnutrition consistently go without the nutrients their minds and bodies need, which then prevents them from being able to work, go to school, or improve their lives.”
It’s a domino effect for the worse. People suffering from chronic hunger are plagued with recurring illnesses, developmental disabilities and low productivity. They are often forced to use all their limited physical and financial resources just to put food on the table. It would be difficult to go on like that. But people who are hungry fight for their health daily.
But what caused such widespread hunger to exist in the first place? Wfp.org produced studies suggesting, “ It’s not just weather and harvest patterns that lead to hunger: War and conflict are also among the leading destroyers of food security. In South Sudan, civil war has led to mass displacement and abandoned fields. The resulting crop failure, combined with a soaring inflation rate that puts imported food out of reach, has left 3.5 million people hungry. Similarly, Yemen’s ongoing conflict has led to nearly 18 million people facing hunger — over 65% of the population.” In addition to that, The highest number of malnourished people, 520 million, lives in Asia and the Pacific, in countries like Indonesia and the Philippines.
Among those who are hungry, climate change plays a significant role. When weather conditions are poor it is difficult to impossible to harvest good crops. Other issues like, gender inequality force women and children into a lower status of importance. In regards to food, they are not getting it first.
Next, it may come as a surprise but, a third of the food produced around the world is never consumed. Gogonline.org says. Last but not least, policy stops people from getting what they need. It all sounds terrible and overwhelming, but there are ways to help. How can we help? When we come together, we have more power.
What does a world without hunger look like? It looks like everyone having the nutritious meals they need to flourish. Churches, charities, food banks, and non-profit organizations cannot get there alone. Government programs and policies play an important role too. School feeding programs can help prevent hunger, increase school enrollment, reduce absenteeism and improve learning outcome. People would be able to work not only to put food on their table but to be able to have money left-over to live comfortably as well.
What are the benefits of our efforts to solve world hunger? More people would be able to enjoy a longer life. Good nutrition can allow so many people to be able to live and love for many more years than they would otherwise. Mother Theresa once said an inspiring quote that holds true for each of us. It says, “if you can’t feed a hundred, then feed just one.”
There are people out there struggling each day to survive because of hunger. It’s debilitating, it’s heartbreaking, and ultimately, it’s life threatening. It’s not just something that is talked about on the news or said as a push to clear your plate, it’s real and it’s affecting a vast number of people. It doesn’t take a huge donation or a lifetime commitment to help solve this problem. It takes small steps.
Moving forward, we as world citizens could help others to have an ending that is far from tragic.
Works Cited: https://www.worldvision.org/blog/cost-hunger-story-needs-change’ June 27, 2017 This website tells a story about a baby that was born into an environment in which she would face hunger. It discusses baby Akusi’s background and how she is now. http://gogonline.org/magazine/5-shocking-hunger-facts/ March 19, 2019 This website shares surprising facts about hunger. It focuses in on 5 specific facts. Each fact comes with an image. https://www.mercycorps.org/articles/quick-facts-what-you-need-know-about-global-hunger October 1, 2018 This website shares interesting facts about world hunger. It explains causes of hunger in detail. http://www.bread.org/how-end-hunger October 1, 2017 This website discusses ways to help stop hunger. It talks about programs, community support and numerous ways to take action. https://www.riseagainsthunger.org/understanding-hunger/world-hunger-facts/ January 27, 2017 This website discusses resources that can be used to help stop world hunger. It shows that we can help provide relief, even in small ways.