Now is a Good Time to Wake Up
To the Editor,
Not long ago, a truck drove into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people. It was all over the news. Then, on Christmas Day, an attack at a market in Cameroon, Africa killed 2 people. No one heard about it. So what makes an attack in Berlin more news worthy than the attack in Cameroon? I certainly don’t have the answer to that and you probably don’t either. But, it does makes me think about the global poverty crisis; about the people suffering in the developing world who have fallen off the radar too.
Everyone knows that Carrie Fisher just had a heart-attack while traveling over the holidays. We even know how many times the D-list celebrities on the United flight next to her tweeted about the incident. But how many people know about the global poverty crisis? How many people know that over 2.5 billion people, almost half the world’s population, currently live on less than $2.50 per day? How many people know that in Pakistan, only 17.8 per cent of the population can use the internet? Or that 3.5 million refugee children do not have the option to attend a school.
I used to care more about the “Carrie Fishers” of the world too. Way more than about the 795 million people living without enough food. But then, I woke up.
I first learned about the Borgen Project when I applied to be an intern, a writer for their online magazine. But within weeks of starting my internship I became much more. I became a supporter. A few weeks later and I became even more than that. I became an advocate.
Now, I’m urging others to do the same. To acknowledge the terrifying statistics and make a commitment to help those in need.
The Borgen Project promotes innovations in poverty reduction by building awareness to the facts, and to some of the ways we’ve already seen succeed. Essentially, they are an ally for the world’s poor.
You see, there’s nothing too complicated about improving living conditions for the billions suffering world-wide. The Borgen Project understands this, and beyond spreading awareness, they work with U.S. Congress to foster more permanent change.
Listen, I love Star Wars too, and Princess Leia is super cool. But it’s sickening that 47,000 people take the time to re-tweet about Carrie Fisher’s health, and ignore the billions of people living in poverty in our world today. Please help those suffering not get lost in the crowd. Cultivate some compassion and take the time to make a difference. Who knows, you might even make yourself stand out a little during the process. At the very least, follow @borgenproject and @borgenmagazine and re-tweet their posts along with your essential celebrity news of the day. And while you’re at it, google “Cameroon Christmas Market,” and take a moment to remember the lives we lost there too.
-Ashley Henyan, West Los Angeles Resident
