Reflections

Global issues are just that-global. We are all affected one way or another. Whether it be the fact that some our our government funds go towards those governments helping external countries, or how our media is flooded with facts about global issues. Also, it could be the taking action part that influences our lives. For instance, in my life, some of the income for my family on a monthly basis goes towards the sponsorship of a child in another developing country. Finally, we are influenced by these global issues because of how globalized we are as a global society. Today, all countries depend on one another, and if one country begins to struggle, there will be repercussions in a chain of countries and places all around the world.

Just like how all people are affected in some way, all people are capable of contributing to a change for the better. Whether it be donating money to an organization to help the issue on a regular basis, or just donating that handful of change to the organization set up at your local grocery store. We can all contribute somehow. We don't even have to spend a penny on the issue either if that's the route you'd rather proceed upon. Just creating awareness, like that of which this blog is doing, can help in major ways to solving these global issues.

Any of these small attributions, can bring about a big change for the better. You see, if everyone donated just a single dollar to every organization towards these organizations (which would most likely never happen considering how many there are), there would be billions on end to supply these organizations. Also, again, it's not just the money factor that brings about big change. Creating awareness helps in more way than one. For one, it could go viral in this day in age with the media! Also, with all of that attention towards the topic you are pressing, you could influence people to bring about change themselves such as donate money, participate in helping internationally first hand, or even do what you did- created awareness.

Both local and global issues should be targeted strategically and should not be dealt with in a similar way. Each situation is different, therefore, requires a different approach. For instance, going about a poverty issue in Africa, requires sort of an "all at once" approach in my opinion, as it's a major issue that cant be solved individually because these people will just fall back into place with their poverty surroundings. However, on a local scale, solving a community issue you could work an individual approach or try the whole community- it doesn't really matter because it's on a smaller scale. As you may see, both require the same sort of assistance, yet they need a totally different approach.

How do we balance the world's need for resources, whilst still protecting our environment and people? Well, to protect the people, making sure products are made under good conditions (not child labor), and also that these workers get a fair price for their product by ensuring that the product you have s fair-trade certified. To protect our environment, we could try to just be aware of how much we are using up of the natural resources, and be conscious as to how much we really need it. Also, the alternate ways to create things can be with chemicals in a factory, instead of our resources. That would be great, except for the CO2 emission! We're just destroying our Earth in a different way!

In society today, there is always someone to point fingers at when it seems an issue is brought into play. Like who should be responsible for finding a solution to this issue- government, corporations, or individuals? I think that all three are responsible in one way or another! As for the government, they owe it to their people to bring them out of the economic drought they have been drowning in for countless generations. Corporations need to solve the issue, because they owe it to the people who are passionate, yet powerless, towards the issue to bring about a positive change. Although, it all comes down to the people. The people globally are responsible because we depended on Africa at one time or another in our history, and we owe it to them to be there for them. Also, who's going to support the corporations? Who's going to elect the government? I think all three of these groups are equally responsible, and that in a way, they all sort of work together in solving issues.

In the past few decades, have things change for the better or for the worse? The poverty situation in Africa has made a turn for the better. As stated above, we need an "all at once" approach to solving this issue, but yet that hasn't happened- at least not by just one organization. Today, we have so many organizations working towards solving this issue in particular, poverty in Africa, that there is an "all at once approach already happening! With all different organizations taking different views and aspects towards the issue, as one, we are covering all that we need to cover, all at once. I still believe we need that extra push to actually bring Africa out of this state, but I do believe we are on the right track, but that we need to elaborate more to really make a significant change on a global scale.

Getting Involved

We've already discussed how to get involved on a smaller scale- but how will I get involved? Well, I think that firstly, by creating this blog, I will raise awareness on the issue and hopefully get others actively involved as well. I hope that just by sharing this blog with other people, I can convince them to help out the situation. Secondly, my family sponsors kids in Africa for about a year at a time through an organization called World Vision. This is when we pay a certain fee every month, and that money goes towards helping that child we sponsored. I plan to keep going throughout the next few years with my family, and carry on when I move out. Finally, in the near future, in my high school years, I plan to get involved hopefully with some of the trips that occur abroad to places all over the world in economically struggling communities, including many in Africa!

Canada's Role

Canada's role in this issue is a positive one. Canada is the home of many organizations that help to stop poverty around the world and in Africa such as "Plan Canada". Plan Canada is an organization that focuses on five main contributing factors of poverty worldwide (especially in Canada), and comes up with strategies to target and resolve the issues. Canada is not detrimentally involved with the issue, and is involved in more way than one to help. In this particular issue, Canada is only involved in the way that we have organizations, and programs, that help with the poverty in Africa, and really, Canada has no negative impact on the issue which is awesome! We, as Canadians, can be proud to say that we have no negative impact (yet strongly a positive impact) on this crisis happening in our world- and that, that's pretty great.

How Can Individuals Get Involved?

As individuals in society, sometimes we can feel powerless, and in the minority, but there are still ways we can make a difference! Firstly, donating money to organizations that help with poverty is a great way to get involved! These organizations are mostly non-profit and run strictly from the donations of the generous and caring individuals around the globe. The money donated is what makes those organizations possible. Whether it be a small donation or a large one, it still makes a difference. Secondly, one could look for possible opportunities to actually take part in a trip to help poor countries abroad, like those in Africa. There are opportunities out there that will allow you to partake in making a change in a community. If you are a youth, talk to your activities adviser or principle to see if there are opportunities for you. If you are older, check up on newspapers, flyers, etc. to see if there are opportunities for you. Finally, just be aware. Be aware of what's happening in poor countries like those in Africa and the poverty situations that they are in. Just being aware could put a different perspective on your life, and not necessarily help those in need, but to appreciate what you have and not take it all for granted, as it could be YOU in the horrible poverty stricken situation.

Challenges

How come we can't solve this issue? I mean, with the countless people, organizations, countries helping this issue- how come it isn't solved? For one, some organizations take the wrong approach. They attack the issue for individuals and not for the whole of them. Even if we can bring one person or family, or even community out of poverty, they will just fall right back into it in a matter of time because of the environment factor. I don't mean the plants and trees type of environment, no, I mean their surroundings. You see, solving the poverty issue in Africa, is different than solving the same issue in, say, Canada or USA. In Canada, the 'individual' approach would work. That is, because those people, once given help, can jump into an economy which is already steadily thriving. In Africa, once they're 'helped', there is a slim chance of them staying like that because there is no economy for them to go to. Another challenge would be how far behind Africa is in the global economy and how there are few jobs available to the native Africans that even remotely compare to the opportunities of those countries around them. Also, most people who help this situations, don't necessarily work to solving the issue, but rather work as a coping mechanism to the people in Africa. So, as you can see, the people helping Africa's poverty situation are on the wrong track! Instead of helping to eliminate the issue, we just help them cope with living in poverty, or take individuals out of poverty just for them to fall right back into it!

Who is Involved Detrimentally?

I would say that the main contributor to this problem of poverty in Africa would be the government! They seem to have let this issue become as bad as it is today, by letting their economy stay at a standstill as others progress over many years, as per mentioned in the history of this topic. The government has allowed for their people to suffer year after year struggling to get back on their feet. The people of Africa not only are living in poverty now, but the situation is so bad, that even if we had a solution to this issue, many generations in the future would still have to suffer poverty because it would take several years to regain a strong economic status. I believe that the first step to gaining that status would be a democratic government. There are facts to show that the countries in Africa that have a better government status than the others (democratic/ semi-democratic versus communist) have a better situation as per the depth of the poverty in that country. Other than the government, I don't believe any other peoples are significantly involved detrimentally because other countries either do not contact within Africa, and some even strive to help these countries! Also, the people of Africa, I believe, are definitely not to blame. They did not chose, nor deserve to be born into a world filled with hunger, pain, disease, and loss with no way to escape the tragedy they call their lives...

Organizations that Help Poverty in Africa

There are many organizations involved with helping the poverty in Africa, for example,One, The Water Project, and Oxfam. One, is an organization that recognizes all ramifications of poverty and works on eliminating each one individually. It has specific "teams" that go and help all over the world to eliminating poverty. It focuses eliminating the issues paired with health care/ diseases, agriculture, energy, development assistance, water and sanitation, debt cancellation, trade and investment, maternal and childcare, educations, and millennium development goals. One helps Africa in more ways than one, because Africa can benefit from most if not ALL of those issues One works to eliminate, as they are all occurring in Africa today. Next up, Oxfam. Oxfam has five main objectives they focus on. The right to a sustainable livelihood, the right to basic social services, the right to life and security, the right to be heard and the right to an identity. Oxfam works tirelessly to achieve these objectives and strives to end poverty one step at a time. Oxfam has worked worldwide and has made many lives better. They have development programs in over ninety countries that help people into learning how they can achieve their rights. They also specifically focus on theright to gender justice as girls and women are often discriminated against in many countries, including those in Africa. Oxfam provides clean water, food, and sanitation in places where a natural disaster has hit. They also talk to governments, other organizations, and other people and inform them about the little amount of natural resources we have left, and how to stop it from getting and smaller They work to secure global food supplies in hopes that nobody will have to go to bed hungry. Also, Oxfam pushes to secure a steady financial flow to those countries in poverty so that they can at least get the basic necessities they need such as food, water, shelter, and healthcare. Oxfam helps Africa immensly as this steady financial flow helps with their poverty issue a lot, and also the other aspects to the organization are beneficial to Africa and some are the underlying problems of poverty. Finally, The Water Project. The Water Project, unlike the first two organizations, focuses specifically on one issue, the issue of clean drinking water. The Water Project believes that all countries have the right to clean water, and that this issue is one of the main roots behind poverty! The Water Project believes that getting clean water is the first step in working your way out of poverty! They believe in a "poverty cycle" that starts with deprivation of clean drinking water, and ramifications go on from there. They believe that if they can eliminate that issue, they can break the cycle. All three of these organizations are completely beneficial to Africa as the poverty rate is increasing, and we have no time to waste.

History of Poverty in Africa

Poverty in Africa is an ongoing issue that started many generations ago. In fact, poverty in general is an ongoing issue worldwide- but nothing like Africa. As compared to the rest of the world, in thirty years, Africa has managed to sustain a solid 40% of its population living in absolute poverty whereas averaged, the rest of the world diminished from 40% poverty to under 20%. How did Africa become so far behind- or left behind rather. Africa, about a hundred some odd years ago, was not, in fact, such an underdeveloped country. Africa did have some resources that were able to keep its people “in the game” for many years. It wasn’t until the technological advances that Africa started trailing off. As advances were made time and time again, Africa would become further and further behind in the world’s economy. Why is that you ask? Well, you see, as Europe and other areas of the world made more advances, that would equal more jobs, more money, more power, more people wanting to move there, etc. After this kept repeating itself, Africa was left behind in the dust, falling further into poverty as each new technological advance occurred. How come we haven’t done much about this problem? The root of the issue is believed by many to be a political standpoint. As this issue continues to grow at a rapid rate, the governments seem to “help” in only temporary ways only to enhance their political image. Even though the poverty rate increases on the daily, I still believe that there is a chance for Africa to catch up to the world’s economy if we work as a globalized community, and act now, before Africa falls into an even sadder state of poverty.