A Few Things To Keep In Mind With The Upcoming Holiday.

It is almost time for a glutton’s favorite holiday in the States – Thanksgiving. Over the past few years I have become rather disillusioned with the basis of this holiday. What exactly is it that we are celebrating? Our ‘successful’ encounter with the Native Americans (which left about 75% of their population dead from war and foreign disease)? Our birth of our free nation (I’m pretty sure that holiday falls in July)? Or do we celebrate the harvest (while millions are unable to feed themselves and their families)? And why do we find the need to overindulge on this day when every single day there are millions of people who do not have that luxury?
As much as I hate to post a blog like this, it needs to be said and a lot of people need to hear it.
So as I sit here in Tanzania, constantly reminded of the need to live simply and of the importance of the people who we share the earth with, I’d like to share a few things that I hope you will keep in mind as you celebrate Thanksgiving this year. I encourage you all to take the time to really read all of this post in its entirety.
(The following facts and quotes were found at changingthepresent.org - a website that is aimed at changing the tradition of giving material gifts and moving towards giving donations to various organizations.)


“When I gave food to the poor, they called me a saint. When I asked why the poor have nothing to eat, they called me a communist.” – Dom Helder Camara

- In Sub-Saharan Africa, 200 million people go hungry every day.
- 250 million people have died of hunger-related causes in the last 25 years – roughly 10 million each year.
- 1 in 5 people in the world go to bed hungry each night.
- 30 million Americans – 13 million of them children – live in households that cannot afford an adequate balanced diet.
- Each day, 19,000 people die of hunger and hunger-related diseases. That is 13 people every minute of every hour of every day.
- The amount of grain produced in the world today could provide each person on the planet with the equivalent of two loaves of bread per day.
- The average American family throws away 14% of its food.
- 3.4 million people die each year because they lack access to safe drinking water.
- 1/6th of the world’s population does not have access to safe drinking water.
- A child dies every 15 seconds from water-related diseases.
- The average person in the developing world uses less than 3 gallons of water each day for drinking, washing, and cooking. This is the same amount used to flush a toilet in the developed world.
- It would cost an estimated $16 billion more each year to halve the number of people without access to safe water and sanitation. Americans spent $15 billion on bottled water last year alone.
- Women and children in rural Africa walk an average of 5 miles a day for water.
- 20,000 people die every day because they are too poor to stay alive.
- More than 1 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than $1 a day.

“I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask: ‘Mother, what was war?” – Eve Mirriam
“Peace is not a dream; it is hard work, and there is nothing naïve, glamorous or simplistic about it.” – Dr. Oscar Arias, Nobel Laureate in Peace
“There will be no future without forgiveness. Any process of peace is bound to collapse if this is missing. There is no way to peace and stability can come through the gun of vengeance.” – Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu
“Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he listens to it and acts on it, he is giving a great deal of what it is the world needs most. It is not complicated but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act on it.” – Pablo Casals

- War has killed 2 million children in the last 20 years.
- 90% of modern war casualties are civilians – mostly women and children.
- In the last 5600 years there have been only 292 years of peace.
- There are 92 known cases of nuclear bombs lost at sea.
- Every 30 seconds, an African child dies of malaria.
- Every year, more than 10 million children die before their 5th birthday from completely preventable diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia.
- Every day, 8000 people died from AIDS-related conditions.
- As many as 300,000 children currently serve in government forces or armed rebel groups. Some are as young as 8 years old.
- 1 in 4 victims of female genital mutilation will die as a result of the procedure.
- One woman dies in childbirth every minute in developing countries.
- 1 in 16 African women will die as a consequence of pregnancy.

You can help, if you look for ways to get involved you will find that they are staring you in the face. You don’t need to travel to another country; there are plenty of opportunities in all corners of the US.
Peace.