Education Can Make a Difference

Benin
In Benin the average income is $1 per day, life expectancy is 55 years and less than 35% of Benin’s adult population can read.

Burkina Faso
In Burkina, 44% of children suffer with stunted or delayed growth from malnutrition. Malaria is endemic, average income is $1 per day and school enrollment -especially for girls- is very low. The Aids epidemic has already orphaned 120,000 children in Burkina.

Ecuador
Ecuador is often called ‘heaven on earth“ for it‘s spectacular scenery. In many areas poverty is still common especially in the rural areas.

Honduras
Almost three quarters of Honduras’ population is rural and 68% of those are considered below Honduras’ poverty line.

India
In India, nearly half of all children under the age of 5 suffer from malnutrition. Though this is a country of progress and potential, it is also a land of significant poverty. Picture the entire United States living below the poverty level and you will know how many people in India are starving.

Madagascar
In Madagascar 48% of children suffer from some form of chronic hunger and more than 10% are acutely malnourished.

Mali
In this West African nation, chronic hunger and poverty are common. In fact 218 children out of 1,000 die before the age of 5. Compare this to the United States where 7 per 1,000 die.

Mexico
Mexico remains a country of significant poverty. 24 million Mexicans live in extreme poverty, with the majority living in rural areas.

Peru
Child poverty is of special concern in Peru. More than 60% of Peru’s children live below this country’s poverty line.

Senegal
The average income is less than $1per day…..the equivalent of just $350 U.S. per year.

There is a way these countries can and are being reached. Not only with food, but more importantly education! Freedom from Hunger is doing just that. Reaching people through education. Starting in 1988, Freedom from Hunger launched “ Credit with Education”. They and their local partners give small groups of women access to small loans and offers them a safe place to save a little money.
These loans are called micro loans and with them these woman become entrepreneurs who run a home based business selling crafts and food.. These women generate a regular income, along with a sense of purpose and self worth.

When these women gather to pay back the loans they learn about health, nutrition, family planning and sound business practices.

To learn more about what Freedom from Hunger is doing in every one of these countries and more please visit this site. It is only a click away.
Freedomfromhunger

National World Hunger Awareness Month

In looking at food donation, I was interested in how and who these charities help. The following charities are some of the highest rated for the work they do, not only in the U.S. but other nations as well. Each link you click will take you to their Web site and you can see what they do to help with a hungry world. Don’t forget, these charities are looking for volunteers as well as cash donations.

America’s Second Harvest
Every dollar donated provides sixteen meals. They provide food assistance to twenty five thousand people each year.

Children’s Hunger Fund
This one I liked. They feed nearly thirty thousand people each week, not to mention distributing five hundred million in aid to over seventy countries.

Friends Of the World Food Program
This is a U.S. based organization and is the largest international food aid group in the world.

This is one of my favorites, because they teach people how to feed themselves. Education is the key to stopping world hunger.

Heifer International
They are having success in Africa, Asia, the South Pacific. Central and Eastern Europe. Latin America and North America. By teaching self reliance.