Food crisis in Africa
Monday, October 20, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Don’t Ignore Poverty Data
Latest figures show an urgent need for inclusive growth
Vinod Thomas
Robust economic growth in the first few years of the 21st century has helped reduce poverty worldwide. But new numbers show that the actual extent of deprivation in India and elsewhere is far greater than previously thought. This insight does not question the role of growth in improving livelihoods, but it spotlights the need for much greater inclusiveness in the growth process in the face of the scale of poverty. Sustained growth remains a high priority. But it is not just how fast a country grows; crucially, it is also how it grows. Widening gaps between the rich and the poor dampen the impact of growth on poverty. Countries such as Brazil or Mexico have historically had a much higher income inequality than India or Indonesia. But disparities have been rising in recent years in the large Asian countries, while they have been falling in major Latin American nations. The new poverty estimates from the World Bank incorporate the finding that living costs are actually higher than estimated before, reflected in a global poverty line of $1.25 a day. These calculations suggest that as of 2005 there were 1.4 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty. One-third of them would be in India, signifying the largest number of poor compared to other countries — and even relative to the country’s own past by these measures. Rapid growth has helped reduce India’s percentage of people in poverty, though far slower than in East Asia. And when coupled with high population growth, the numbers of the poor, which is what matters, show an increase. What’s striking is how close to the poverty line tens of millions live in India, making for a large change in the poverty numbers from a small shift in the chosen threshold. Even modest shocks can push millions below the poverty line. How well do these poverty measures mirror deprivation and its changes? For one thing, they do not adequately reflect access to schooling, health care, water and sanitation, or other public services that mark people’s well-being. Nor do they capture crime and violence or environmental destruction, which are especially serious in low-income localities. Across countries, some of these attributes — especially those affecting the underprivileged — have improved in recent years, but others have taken a turn for the worse. But regardless of the precise numbers, the urgency is clear in India for achieving more inclusive growth. Experience across countries tells us that it is important to get at inequalities, but in ways that do not derail growth. In this respect, generating opportunities and jobs for the poorer segments of the population would seem to be the best way forward. Policy leaders and policy documents in India recognise the directions needed: the key would be to spur actions and achieve results. High on the agenda for greater inclusiveness would be actions to address disparities in education that contribute to large earning differentials. Compared to Korea or Russia, education inequalities are large in India or Indonesia. What matters, of course, are not only greater access to schooling, but also the relevance and quality of the education — and learning outcomes that determine its usefulness in the workplace and contribution to growth. Narrowing earning gaps also calls for efforts to address the growing skill differentials, worker mobility and the functioning of labour markets. A second issue concerns rural-urban and regional differences in incomes. Expansion of agricultural productivity, complemented by the construction of all-weather rural roads and rural electrification, would have important impacts on rural poverty. Systematic differences in income levels across states and sub-regions also merit attention. In China and India, the poorer states or provinces have, in general, grown slower than the richer ones, while it has been the other way around in some other middle- and high-income countries. A third policy area for inclusion involves improved ways to provide income support to the poor. Many countries have relied on the provision of subsidies for consumer items, but the programmes have seldom been well targeted or effective.On the other hand, conditional cash transfer programmes have looked promising. Mexico and Brazil provide cash support to poor families conditional on children attending school and going to clinics for check-ups. These approaches have shown encouraging results in reducing poverty today, and improving education and health that help sustain future growth. And then there is the new danger that is affecting all: climate change and natural disasters wreaking havoc in the lives of people, especially the poor who are most likely to be in harm’s way. The Indian Ocean tsunami left more than 10,000 people dead and about 5,600 missing in India alone. The fury of the Kosi river affected 2.5 million people in 1,600 villages in Bihar, and 70,000 people in the immediate shock in Nepal. If combating damages to the environment was once considered a diversion from growth, its neglect now represents a central threat to growth. The poverty data reminds us that it is not enough to grow, it is also vital that increasing numbers of people benefit from the growth. India can generate high growth with a far greater impact on poverty through policy actions. As it turns out, inclusive growth is not only key to social progress, it is indispensable to sustaining growth itself.
The writer is director-general, Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank. Views expressed are personal.
Vinod Thomas
Robust economic growth in the first few years of the 21st century has helped reduce poverty worldwide. But new numbers show that the actual extent of deprivation in India and elsewhere is far greater than previously thought. This insight does not question the role of growth in improving livelihoods, but it spotlights the need for much greater inclusiveness in the growth process in the face of the scale of poverty. Sustained growth remains a high priority. But it is not just how fast a country grows; crucially, it is also how it grows. Widening gaps between the rich and the poor dampen the impact of growth on poverty. Countries such as Brazil or Mexico have historically had a much higher income inequality than India or Indonesia. But disparities have been rising in recent years in the large Asian countries, while they have been falling in major Latin American nations. The new poverty estimates from the World Bank incorporate the finding that living costs are actually higher than estimated before, reflected in a global poverty line of $1.25 a day. These calculations suggest that as of 2005 there were 1.4 billion people worldwide living in extreme poverty. One-third of them would be in India, signifying the largest number of poor compared to other countries — and even relative to the country’s own past by these measures. Rapid growth has helped reduce India’s percentage of people in poverty, though far slower than in East Asia. And when coupled with high population growth, the numbers of the poor, which is what matters, show an increase. What’s striking is how close to the poverty line tens of millions live in India, making for a large change in the poverty numbers from a small shift in the chosen threshold. Even modest shocks can push millions below the poverty line. How well do these poverty measures mirror deprivation and its changes? For one thing, they do not adequately reflect access to schooling, health care, water and sanitation, or other public services that mark people’s well-being. Nor do they capture crime and violence or environmental destruction, which are especially serious in low-income localities. Across countries, some of these attributes — especially those affecting the underprivileged — have improved in recent years, but others have taken a turn for the worse. But regardless of the precise numbers, the urgency is clear in India for achieving more inclusive growth. Experience across countries tells us that it is important to get at inequalities, but in ways that do not derail growth. In this respect, generating opportunities and jobs for the poorer segments of the population would seem to be the best way forward. Policy leaders and policy documents in India recognise the directions needed: the key would be to spur actions and achieve results. High on the agenda for greater inclusiveness would be actions to address disparities in education that contribute to large earning differentials. Compared to Korea or Russia, education inequalities are large in India or Indonesia. What matters, of course, are not only greater access to schooling, but also the relevance and quality of the education — and learning outcomes that determine its usefulness in the workplace and contribution to growth. Narrowing earning gaps also calls for efforts to address the growing skill differentials, worker mobility and the functioning of labour markets. A second issue concerns rural-urban and regional differences in incomes. Expansion of agricultural productivity, complemented by the construction of all-weather rural roads and rural electrification, would have important impacts on rural poverty. Systematic differences in income levels across states and sub-regions also merit attention. In China and India, the poorer states or provinces have, in general, grown slower than the richer ones, while it has been the other way around in some other middle- and high-income countries. A third policy area for inclusion involves improved ways to provide income support to the poor. Many countries have relied on the provision of subsidies for consumer items, but the programmes have seldom been well targeted or effective.On the other hand, conditional cash transfer programmes have looked promising. Mexico and Brazil provide cash support to poor families conditional on children attending school and going to clinics for check-ups. These approaches have shown encouraging results in reducing poverty today, and improving education and health that help sustain future growth. And then there is the new danger that is affecting all: climate change and natural disasters wreaking havoc in the lives of people, especially the poor who are most likely to be in harm’s way. The Indian Ocean tsunami left more than 10,000 people dead and about 5,600 missing in India alone. The fury of the Kosi river affected 2.5 million people in 1,600 villages in Bihar, and 70,000 people in the immediate shock in Nepal. If combating damages to the environment was once considered a diversion from growth, its neglect now represents a central threat to growth. The poverty data reminds us that it is not enough to grow, it is also vital that increasing numbers of people benefit from the growth. India can generate high growth with a far greater impact on poverty through policy actions. As it turns out, inclusive growth is not only key to social progress, it is indispensable to sustaining growth itself.
The writer is director-general, Independent Evaluation Group, World Bank. Views expressed are personal.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Social Entrepreneur: Harish Hande (Part 1)
Dr. Harish Hande is the co-founder of Selco, a rural sustainable energy company which has over 80,000 installations and 25 retail sales and service centers all over Karnataka, a state in Southern India. Among it’s many accomplishments, Selco has created India’s first rural solar financing program using regional banks. I recently talked with Harish about the development of Selco and his journey as a remarkably committed social entrepreneur.
SM: Tell us bout your childhood, where you grew up and what kind of education you had. This will help us put the interview in context. HH: I grew up in a steel town in Orissa, a state on the East Cost of India. I did all of my schooling up to 12th grade there, and then I went to the IIT for undergraduate work in Energy Engineering. I did my Master’s and PhD at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, also in Energy Engineering.
SM: All of your educational background is in Energy Engineering? HH: Yes. I concentrated on one discipline and have all of my training there.
SM: What did you do after you finished your Masters, did you work anywhere? HH: No, I have not worked anywhere else. Selco Is my first job, and hopefully it is my last.
SM: Did you just decide to pick up the pieces, leave Massachusetts and go to India to start Selco? HH: It did not happen exactly like that. My PhD revolved around rural electrification, and during my fieldwork I looked at Sri Lanka and India. However, while I was doing my Master’s I also focused on rural electrification, I was looking at the Dominican Republic. I had gone there for a very brief visit.
The person installing solar panels there later on became my friend. It was at that moment that I realized solar power was such a viable energy solution. When I came back to the US, and I prepared for my field work in Sri Lanka and India, the questions about what was a reliable solution for rural electrification which was also feasible, emerged. There were various solutions which seemed could be applied, but while I was doing the actual solution design work, I came upon the solution that became Selco. I also met my cofounder then.
SM: What year was this? HH: Sometime between 1992 and 1993.
SM: Can we then say that you started Selco in 1993? HH: As a concept, that is correct. As a formal company we started it in 1995.
For more click on the title
SM: Tell us bout your childhood, where you grew up and what kind of education you had. This will help us put the interview in context. HH: I grew up in a steel town in Orissa, a state on the East Cost of India. I did all of my schooling up to 12th grade there, and then I went to the IIT for undergraduate work in Energy Engineering. I did my Master’s and PhD at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, also in Energy Engineering.
SM: All of your educational background is in Energy Engineering? HH: Yes. I concentrated on one discipline and have all of my training there.
SM: What did you do after you finished your Masters, did you work anywhere? HH: No, I have not worked anywhere else. Selco Is my first job, and hopefully it is my last.
SM: Did you just decide to pick up the pieces, leave Massachusetts and go to India to start Selco? HH: It did not happen exactly like that. My PhD revolved around rural electrification, and during my fieldwork I looked at Sri Lanka and India. However, while I was doing my Master’s I also focused on rural electrification, I was looking at the Dominican Republic. I had gone there for a very brief visit.
The person installing solar panels there later on became my friend. It was at that moment that I realized solar power was such a viable energy solution. When I came back to the US, and I prepared for my field work in Sri Lanka and India, the questions about what was a reliable solution for rural electrification which was also feasible, emerged. There were various solutions which seemed could be applied, but while I was doing the actual solution design work, I came upon the solution that became Selco. I also met my cofounder then.
SM: What year was this? HH: Sometime between 1992 and 1993.
SM: Can we then say that you started Selco in 1993? HH: As a concept, that is correct. As a formal company we started it in 1995.
For more click on the title
INTERVIEW-UN prepares to feed more as financial crisis bites
By Megan Rowling
DUBLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.N. food agency expects to feed around a third more hungry people next year, as the global financial crisis adds to the pressure of high food prices on poor nations, a top official said on Wednesday.
Sheila Sisulu, deputy executive director at the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), said an increase of around 30 million in the number the agency helps would offset a decline in food and fuel costs.
WFP is providing aid to some 90 million people in 2008, and plans to widen assistance to the newly poor in urban areas who have been hit hard by food inflation in the past two years.
"If those people now lose their jobs as a result of the financial crisis, then we will see the effect again possibly in insecurity in some countries -- riots and so forth," Sisulu told Reuters ahead of a conference on hunger organised by aid agency Concern Worldwide.
"We will see the effect of the financial crisis on the village road."
People who have survived on money sent by relatives working overseas are also likely to need help as tough economic times translate into fewer jobs and lower remittances, Sisulu said.
As a result, the agency expects to request the same level of funding from donors in 2009, she said. Earlier this year, soaring food and energy prices forced WFP to double its budget to close to $6 billion.
International food prices have since declined, partly due to the slowing world economy. They fell to a nine-month low in September but were still 51 percent higher than two years ago, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Sisulu said the impact of the global food crisis would deepen just when it was slipping down the agenda.
"I think it will get worse -- less as a direct correlation of the financial crisis but more because people are getting complacent," she said. "Just because it's off the headlines, people think it's gone."
But in the coming months, countries where crops have failed, such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, will need increased food aid.
Last week, WFP said the number of Zimbabweans facing severe food shortages would rise from more than 2 million to 5 million early next year, before the next harvest.
The agency appealed for $140 million to provide food rations there over the next six months. It warned that without fresh contributions, it would run out of stocks in January, just when the need was greatest.
Sisulu said she hoped donors would understand the urgency of the situation at a time when global financial turmoil could start to have a domino effect in poor countries.
"If you take southern Africa, we are entering the lean season. Anybody who loses their job now loses the planting time, and that will add pressure to those numbers like in Zimbabwe," she said. (Editing by Alison Williams)
DUBLIN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - The U.N. food agency expects to feed around a third more hungry people next year, as the global financial crisis adds to the pressure of high food prices on poor nations, a top official said on Wednesday.
Sheila Sisulu, deputy executive director at the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), said an increase of around 30 million in the number the agency helps would offset a decline in food and fuel costs.
WFP is providing aid to some 90 million people in 2008, and plans to widen assistance to the newly poor in urban areas who have been hit hard by food inflation in the past two years.
"If those people now lose their jobs as a result of the financial crisis, then we will see the effect again possibly in insecurity in some countries -- riots and so forth," Sisulu told Reuters ahead of a conference on hunger organised by aid agency Concern Worldwide.
"We will see the effect of the financial crisis on the village road."
People who have survived on money sent by relatives working overseas are also likely to need help as tough economic times translate into fewer jobs and lower remittances, Sisulu said.
As a result, the agency expects to request the same level of funding from donors in 2009, she said. Earlier this year, soaring food and energy prices forced WFP to double its budget to close to $6 billion.
International food prices have since declined, partly due to the slowing world economy. They fell to a nine-month low in September but were still 51 percent higher than two years ago, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
Sisulu said the impact of the global food crisis would deepen just when it was slipping down the agenda.
"I think it will get worse -- less as a direct correlation of the financial crisis but more because people are getting complacent," she said. "Just because it's off the headlines, people think it's gone."
But in the coming months, countries where crops have failed, such as Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, will need increased food aid.
Last week, WFP said the number of Zimbabweans facing severe food shortages would rise from more than 2 million to 5 million early next year, before the next harvest.
The agency appealed for $140 million to provide food rations there over the next six months. It warned that without fresh contributions, it would run out of stocks in January, just when the need was greatest.
Sisulu said she hoped donors would understand the urgency of the situation at a time when global financial turmoil could start to have a domino effect in poor countries.
"If you take southern Africa, we are entering the lean season. Anybody who loses their job now loses the planting time, and that will add pressure to those numbers like in Zimbabwe," she said. (Editing by Alison Williams)
Global Food Crisis: Meet Three Families Fighting for Survival
by Scott Cotter
While many of us are feeling the squeeze of higher prices, sponsored families supported by Children International now find themselves facing a real crisis.
Many already teeter between calamity and survival. To stay afloat, they often master the fine art of eking out an income in jobless communities through persistence, hard work and ingenuity. They've summoned the courage to keep going, and to work harder for just pennies a day.
Sponsorship helps by covering the cost of many basic necessities so families can focus their resources where they're needed most. But with every cent being stretched to the limit, the food crisis has pushed many over the line. Some remove children from school so they can work and provide additional income. They may forego medicine or health care for the sick, resort to collecting water from contaminated (and free) sources, or simply go hungry.
As this crisis unfolds, we're taking a closer look at those most affected - the poorest of the poor - and examining how rising prices are taking a toll.
The Bisa Family: Tabaco, Philippines
Ailene feels all alone.
Just a few months ago, lightning struck and killed her husband, Ronnie, as he fished to put food on the table and earn a living. In his absence, Ailene is raising three daughters - Ronilyn, Maria and Melody, ages 13, 8 and 4 - all by herself.
"We're still not used to my husband being gone," she utters. "My youngest keeps asking when he'll come back. I still can't believe how we're able to survive."
Scared - and terribly lonely - she has turned to the only things she knows for the survival of her family...laundry and weaving. The result of her hard work and mountains of worry is less than $5 a week. It's enough to buy a little fish, some rice and bread and a few vegetables; there's never anything left over for other necessities.
"We still haven't reached the point where my daughters have nothing to eat at all," she offers, "but we have experienced missing some meals. It doesn't matter if I don't eat as long as my daughters don't go hungry."
Ailene's two youngest, Marie and Melody, are sponsored and have recently been diagnosed with malnutrition. They're enrolled in Children International's feeding program in Tabaco, and Ailene says the school supplies and tuition, medical care and clothing helps alleviate some of the financial strain. Still, she adds, the future seems uncertain at best. "In the coming weeks, I'm not sure what will happen."
The Chisala Family: Lusaka, Zambia
The winds whip up a small dust cloud that tumbles across the patch of bare earth in front of the Chisala home before carrying it down the road and off toward other block dwellings scattered here and there.
It's lunchtime, yet in the compounds it is eerily quiet. Not a single person can be seen outside tending to a charcoal cook stove preparing something for lunch. There is no capenta (staple fish), there is no mealie meal (corn meal), not even a few withered vegetables to prepare.
Paul Chisala stands looking at the lifeless road and squints against the searing midday sun. Quietly, he laments the situation. "I can no longer buy a 25 kg bag of mealie meal because I can no longer afford it."
The Chisala family isn't alone. While rising food prices - as much as 75 percent - have devastated families around the globe, sub-Saharan Africa may be ground zero for this crisis.
Families already in trouble because of overwhelming unemployment, rampant disease and an undervalued currency survive on next to nothing. The average income in the communities Children International serves is just $20 a month.
The outcome is easy to see. Paul says his daughter, Kareen, 10, often goes to school hungry because they have nothing to feed her. Or, she refuses to go because her hunger leaves her feeling weak and unable to study.
"I have tried to look for a job, but there are no jobs," Paul reveals. "All I manage to get are part-time jobs. There are times when I go for two months without any work. I end up begging for food from my brother, who is a soldier."
Children International is attempting to alleviate the problems by supporting community schools where children can get breakfast before starting the day. This not only helps prevent more malnutrition and helps children concentrate, it gives families more incentive to make sure their children - children like Kareen -go to class.
The Lozot Family: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Olivia Lozot is known as "The Garbage Lady," an unflattering nickname she shrugs off without a thought.
Her family, she and her four children, eat and earn a living from what others throw away. "I have always worked," explains Olivia. "But now that I have small children, I can't get a job."
The family lives in one of Guatemala City's many slums, amidst a backdrop of gang warfare, drugs and depression. They have no electricity, running water or everyday comforts beyond two small beds. For a mother of four who can't read or write, there are few opportunities.
That's why Olivia makes her own. And her children, Ana, 15, Donal, 11, Marcos, 3, and Jesus, 1, are often there by her side. They look for nylons, glass bottles and aluminum cans ... anything they can sell.
"When we go to the dumpster," says Olivia, "I carry extra clothes because the smell of garbage gets in their clothes."
Although Olivia can't read or write, she wants her children to attend school. Donal attends school for children who work, going in the morning before he joins his mother and siblings in the garbage around noon. Ana, however, refuses to go, choosing instead to dig in the trash all day and care for her younger siblings.
"Sometimes, I feel sad and desperate," confesses Olivia. "I tell the children when there is food they can eat but when there isn't they must tolerate it."
Still, despite the difficulties, Olivia wants her children to someday realize a better life ... something that has always eluded her.
Children International's sponsorship program helps by reducing her expenses for school supplies, clothing, health and dental care and other basic needs. But as prices for basic necessities go up - especially for food - the money she could use to help them improve their future also remains elusive.
Making Do
As prices for food and other staples continue to send shockwaves throughout the global economy, families most affected - those earning just a few dollars a day - will have to learn how to cope. Many will work even harder than they do now. While others will simply be forced to do without.
Sponsorship is one answer, helping reduce the expenses families face for many of their most basic necessities. And your additional support can help assist families in critical need. Please call now or visit this link to make a donation to help ease the struggle families face during this food crisis.
About Children International:
Children International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization that works to ease the burdens of poverty on children through one-to-one child sponsorship. Our programs and services provide health, educational, material and emotional assistance to impoverished children and families in 11 countries around the world.
While many of us are feeling the squeeze of higher prices, sponsored families supported by Children International now find themselves facing a real crisis.
Many already teeter between calamity and survival. To stay afloat, they often master the fine art of eking out an income in jobless communities through persistence, hard work and ingenuity. They've summoned the courage to keep going, and to work harder for just pennies a day.
Sponsorship helps by covering the cost of many basic necessities so families can focus their resources where they're needed most. But with every cent being stretched to the limit, the food crisis has pushed many over the line. Some remove children from school so they can work and provide additional income. They may forego medicine or health care for the sick, resort to collecting water from contaminated (and free) sources, or simply go hungry.
As this crisis unfolds, we're taking a closer look at those most affected - the poorest of the poor - and examining how rising prices are taking a toll.
The Bisa Family: Tabaco, Philippines
Ailene feels all alone.
Just a few months ago, lightning struck and killed her husband, Ronnie, as he fished to put food on the table and earn a living. In his absence, Ailene is raising three daughters - Ronilyn, Maria and Melody, ages 13, 8 and 4 - all by herself.
"We're still not used to my husband being gone," she utters. "My youngest keeps asking when he'll come back. I still can't believe how we're able to survive."
Scared - and terribly lonely - she has turned to the only things she knows for the survival of her family...laundry and weaving. The result of her hard work and mountains of worry is less than $5 a week. It's enough to buy a little fish, some rice and bread and a few vegetables; there's never anything left over for other necessities.
"We still haven't reached the point where my daughters have nothing to eat at all," she offers, "but we have experienced missing some meals. It doesn't matter if I don't eat as long as my daughters don't go hungry."
Ailene's two youngest, Marie and Melody, are sponsored and have recently been diagnosed with malnutrition. They're enrolled in Children International's feeding program in Tabaco, and Ailene says the school supplies and tuition, medical care and clothing helps alleviate some of the financial strain. Still, she adds, the future seems uncertain at best. "In the coming weeks, I'm not sure what will happen."
The Chisala Family: Lusaka, Zambia
The winds whip up a small dust cloud that tumbles across the patch of bare earth in front of the Chisala home before carrying it down the road and off toward other block dwellings scattered here and there.
It's lunchtime, yet in the compounds it is eerily quiet. Not a single person can be seen outside tending to a charcoal cook stove preparing something for lunch. There is no capenta (staple fish), there is no mealie meal (corn meal), not even a few withered vegetables to prepare.
Paul Chisala stands looking at the lifeless road and squints against the searing midday sun. Quietly, he laments the situation. "I can no longer buy a 25 kg bag of mealie meal because I can no longer afford it."
The Chisala family isn't alone. While rising food prices - as much as 75 percent - have devastated families around the globe, sub-Saharan Africa may be ground zero for this crisis.
Families already in trouble because of overwhelming unemployment, rampant disease and an undervalued currency survive on next to nothing. The average income in the communities Children International serves is just $20 a month.
The outcome is easy to see. Paul says his daughter, Kareen, 10, often goes to school hungry because they have nothing to feed her. Or, she refuses to go because her hunger leaves her feeling weak and unable to study.
"I have tried to look for a job, but there are no jobs," Paul reveals. "All I manage to get are part-time jobs. There are times when I go for two months without any work. I end up begging for food from my brother, who is a soldier."
Children International is attempting to alleviate the problems by supporting community schools where children can get breakfast before starting the day. This not only helps prevent more malnutrition and helps children concentrate, it gives families more incentive to make sure their children - children like Kareen -go to class.
The Lozot Family: Guatemala City, Guatemala
Olivia Lozot is known as "The Garbage Lady," an unflattering nickname she shrugs off without a thought.
Her family, she and her four children, eat and earn a living from what others throw away. "I have always worked," explains Olivia. "But now that I have small children, I can't get a job."
The family lives in one of Guatemala City's many slums, amidst a backdrop of gang warfare, drugs and depression. They have no electricity, running water or everyday comforts beyond two small beds. For a mother of four who can't read or write, there are few opportunities.
That's why Olivia makes her own. And her children, Ana, 15, Donal, 11, Marcos, 3, and Jesus, 1, are often there by her side. They look for nylons, glass bottles and aluminum cans ... anything they can sell.
"When we go to the dumpster," says Olivia, "I carry extra clothes because the smell of garbage gets in their clothes."
Although Olivia can't read or write, she wants her children to attend school. Donal attends school for children who work, going in the morning before he joins his mother and siblings in the garbage around noon. Ana, however, refuses to go, choosing instead to dig in the trash all day and care for her younger siblings.
"Sometimes, I feel sad and desperate," confesses Olivia. "I tell the children when there is food they can eat but when there isn't they must tolerate it."
Still, despite the difficulties, Olivia wants her children to someday realize a better life ... something that has always eluded her.
Children International's sponsorship program helps by reducing her expenses for school supplies, clothing, health and dental care and other basic needs. But as prices for basic necessities go up - especially for food - the money she could use to help them improve their future also remains elusive.
Making Do
As prices for food and other staples continue to send shockwaves throughout the global economy, families most affected - those earning just a few dollars a day - will have to learn how to cope. Many will work even harder than they do now. While others will simply be forced to do without.
Sponsorship is one answer, helping reduce the expenses families face for many of their most basic necessities. And your additional support can help assist families in critical need. Please call now or visit this link to make a donation to help ease the struggle families face during this food crisis.
About Children International:
Children International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization that works to ease the burdens of poverty on children through one-to-one child sponsorship. Our programs and services provide health, educational, material and emotional assistance to impoverished children and families in 11 countries around the world.
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