Thought for today:
"So you think you life's hard then, do you?
From a world population of 7 billion folk, 842 million people don't have enough to eat and 1.7 billion people lack access to clean water. A staggering 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year. 12% of the world's population in the affluent west uses 85% of the world's water with approximate disparity being reflected in the use of all other fuel and mineral resources also.
Such facts are perhaps less surprising when one learns that 98% of the world's undernourished people live in developing countries and that hunger and poverty hits hardest in Asia (552 million), Sub-Saharan Africa (223 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (43 million). Over 1.4 billion people are said to exist on $1.25 daily and 35 million people from poorer countries are living with HIV/AIDS.
The next time we all feel a bit short of this or that and a bit sorry for ourselves and circumstances, we would do well to remember that what an average British family of four on benefits spends to survive for three months of the year would keep a whole village in the Sub Sahara going for a full four months!
Indeed, a mere couple of pounds (less than the cost of the smallest MacDonalds burger) will provide clean water for a family of four for a month in Africa or Asia. All figures come from International Government sources.
It's hard to think about such daily poverty and still feel hard done by, isn't it?" William Forde: August 1st, 2014.
"So you think you life's hard then, do you?
From a world population of 7 billion folk, 842 million people don't have enough to eat and 1.7 billion people lack access to clean water. A staggering 2.3 billion people suffer from water-borne diseases each year. 12% of the world's population in the affluent west uses 85% of the world's water with approximate disparity being reflected in the use of all other fuel and mineral resources also.
Such facts are perhaps less surprising when one learns that 98% of the world's undernourished people live in developing countries and that hunger and poverty hits hardest in Asia (552 million), Sub-Saharan Africa (223 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (43 million). Over 1.4 billion people are said to exist on $1.25 daily and 35 million people from poorer countries are living with HIV/AIDS.
The next time we all feel a bit short of this or that and a bit sorry for ourselves and circumstances, we would do well to remember that what an average British family of four on benefits spends to survive for three months of the year would keep a whole village in the Sub Sahara going for a full four months!
Indeed, a mere couple of pounds (less than the cost of the smallest MacDonalds burger) will provide clean water for a family of four for a month in Africa or Asia. All figures come from International Government sources.
It's hard to think about such daily poverty and still feel hard done by, isn't it?" William Forde: August 1st, 2014.
