Your New Year’s Resolutions: Spare a Thought for Charity
Have you made some resolutions for the New Year? If so, does it include anyone else but yourself?
Many times, New Year’s Resolutions fall apart even before the end of January. This year, why not make one that involves others. Maybe the responsibility of not wanting to break a promise to someone else, would make for a long lasting resolution.
During the current existing credit crunch, it is easy for us to forget about the vast amount of people in the world, who are more needy than ourselves. We’re all taken up, and rightly so, with providing for our children and doing the best we can to save money in order to brace ourselves for the existing and potential economic free fall.
However, how are the people in poorer parts of the world – who’ve started with nothing, coping? Are they providing for their children, or are they left to live in the street?
While the occurrence of street children is not a new phenomenon, the downturn of the world’s finances can leave many of them in a worse state than they already are.
Who are the street children
image-UNESCO/Vidal (Street kids in Siagon)
Far from our world of comfort and luxury, 100 to 150 millions children carry out their daily lives in the open streets. These children tend have been totally or partially abandoned by their parents and other protective adults, and scrape around for food and other necessities for themselves. They take shelter either in the streets themselves, or in abandoned buildings, containers or vehicles.
Many street children (who are mainly under 12, and as young as 4) have no adult supervision or care. A small number of them go home at the end of the day and contribute their ‘takings’ to their family’s upkeep, but the vast number of street children live permanently on the streets on their own, and are invariably subject to abuse and exploitation – and in extreme cases – even murder.
While the majority of street kids are in found in developing countries, many are found in rich states like Germany (10,000) and the USA (up to 1 million). I’ve personally seen street children in New Orleans.
How did they get there
image-world street children news (Street kids in Iraq)
Many of the children live on the streets, due to violence in the home. They seek to escape this torment, but once they get on the streets, it becomes difficult, and sometimes impossible to reintegrate them with their families.
This is not the only cause though, many of them come from poor families in underdeveloped countries, where the only way of surviving is to live in the streets and beg for a living.
In families with tenuous ties with responsible adults, children are abandoned and left to fend for themselves. This can result from desperate families having too many mouths to feed, or (as in the case of some parts of Africa) children being left parentless due to Aids.
What will become of them
image source (Street kids in Brazil)
It differs in various parts of the world, but in Brazil for instance, most of these kids expect to be killed before they are 18. Conservatively speaking, about 2 street kids in Brazil are killed daily. Every day we when wake up in our beds, there are more than 2 million street kids in Africa, 11 million in India, and 8 million in Brazil, waking up to traffic in the street and no plans for breakfast.
Is there help
image-global consciousness (Street kid in Africa)
The Consortium for Street Children has set out in their mission statement, their dedication to improving the lives of these children, not only by creating organisations dedicated to their rights, but also to making grants available to them, and raising public awareness to their plight.
While there is help, there is much more to be done.
So while we tighten our belts for the next few years due to the credit crunch, let us spare a thought for the kids living and working in the streets of our nations. Let us remember that (compared to them) we are wealthy, and have everything we want and most of what we need.
Let us help them when we can, because while we have to give up on some of our luxuries, and buy one less pair of shoes, there are little kids, younger than our own, who have to fight even for the piece of concrete on which they lay their weary heads.
Finally, some may say that this is not the time for charity. I say that this is definitely the perfect time for charity. One less hot dog for us, is a filling, warm meal for a hungry child living in the streets. Let’s resolve to help one of them today, and our New Year’s Resolutions may not be passing fads any longer.
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User Comments
BC Doan
On January 4, 2009 at 8:25 am
Anne, this wonderful article strikes a cord in my heart! I will bookmark it as a reminder..thank you!
nobert soloria bermosa
On January 4, 2009 at 8:25 am
unfortunate kids,i am with you Anne!we can also help the needy in our little way in our own locality.in my place of work,our department have an annual project that extend financial assistance to the poor and less fortunate in the society.we’ve been doing this for more than 10 years,in 2006, an orphanage was our beneficiary, in 2007- it’s an institution for teen-age mothers who were victims of rape,sexual abuse,and incest. last year we extended our help to indigenous patients of a gov’t hospital.
Glynis Smy
On January 4, 2009 at 8:37 am
Thanks for reminding us to not be selfish in 2009, Anne.
Michele Cameron Drew
On January 4, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Beautiful written, Anne, with an important message. It’s such a sad thing and the fact that it is happening right here in our own country makes it even worse. I would love to showcase an excerpt of this on my blog, if you don’t mind. Please let me know.
-M
R J Evans
On January 4, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Yup. As Glynis said a reminder every now and again is a good thing. This article made me swallow hard. STumbled!
Louie Jerome
On January 4, 2009 at 2:37 pm
A timely reminder!
Karen Gross
On January 4, 2009 at 3:22 pm
We certainly have no idea here in Canada what abject poverty is really like. Yes, we have street people here, but we have soup kitchens and shelters for them. For any fellow Canadians reading this: I challenge you to donate to “Treasures in the Trash”, a charity which seeks to rescue children in Uganda who live and work in the trash heaps. This charity is a ministry of Crossroads, http://www.crossroads.com
Karen Gross
On January 4, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Sorry, that address is http://www.crossroads.ca.
Judy Sheldon
On January 4, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Anne, such an eloquent reminder. Our church had a benefit drive for our local shelter. There are many people who live within a short distance from us who are one pay check away from homeless, and then others who are homeless. It is amazing how hard it is to get back on your feet when you have no where to sleep. We have poverty every where. When I lived in New York there were children who lived in the streets because they were not allowed to go home. When we would call the authorities they would do nothing and the children would sleep under cars at night, with no food or care.
God bless you for addressing this.
Mockingbird
On January 5, 2009 at 11:28 am
Anne, that is such a eloquent article. I was planning to spend some time this year on charity and giving, and was thinking of ways that my writing could benefit various charities. I feel I have not done enough in the past to raise money for charity and this year is the time I plan to address that.
Shergill
On January 6, 2009 at 9:32 pm
Good article, as usual. Keep up the good work! We love to read your work.
Ruby Hawk
On January 7, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I don’t see poverty like this around us but I know it is here. We have food pantrys where people can go for food and we have clothes closets for anyone who asks. People who have very low incomes can get help with rent but many people fall through the cracks. Some have no income at all and no home.I don’t see them but I know they are on the streets.It is a sad thing.
eddiego65
On January 8, 2009 at 8:40 am
Very heartbreaking! Thanks for a very unselfish reminder.
Anne Lyken Garner
On January 9, 2009 at 5:16 am
Thanks for the very supportive comments, everyone. I really do appreciate them.
Mr Ghaz
On January 10, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Excellent work from you! Well done ! It’s very informative and helpful article. must read. such a fresh ideas! Thanks for sharing
Tendai Joe
On February 2, 2009 at 5:16 am
i am a former streetkid now doing admin work for another streetkids organisation.I am so touched when ever this subject comes up and you can check what we are doing http://www.mylife.org.za we are in South Africa,Cape Town.
You can also check me out on Facebook Tendai Sean Joe
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