Twenty-one thousand. That is a big number. It stands for how many people die everyday in the world due to hunger related causes. That is a death every 4 seconds according to the United Nations. Sadly, it is children who die most often. Unfortunately, these numbers are not going down. Hunger related problems around the world are enormous, not only because so many people are dying, but also because so many are close to dying. People are working very hard to prevent poverty, but what they are doing is not enough. So how can these issues be resolved?

In some parts of the world, many people do not have enough money to support their basic needs, like food and water. Almost half of the world’s population - more than 3 billion people - live on less than $2.50 a day. More than 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty and live on less than $1.25 a day. With that much money, you cannot get a meal from the dollar menu at McDonald’s. People do not even have McDonald’s, their cities do not have enough money for one. So how do these people live? They live without enough food; 870 million people worldwide do not have enough food to eat. How do you support a family without enough food to even feed yourself? People cannot and this is why so many children are dying. In Democratic Republic of the Congo, the long dry season limits crop growth and they cannot grow food year round. This impacts families because they are forced to go hungry. They also do not have enough clean water for themselves or their crops. One out of six children in developing countries is underweight; one out of four children will have stunted growth due to malnutrition. If your child is starving to death and you cannot do anything about it, how would you feel? You would feel helpless, and no one ever wants to feel helpless. We don’t feel it, but nearly 1.3 billion people already do.

Third World countries are mainly described as “developing”. What does this mean? It means they are lacking materials, good food sources and are not as wealthy as most of the world. Most of the world still has their own struggles. In developing countries, there are about 1.9 billion children; that is a lot of kids. Of the 1.9 billion children, 400 million live without access to clean water, that is 1 out every 5 children. Also, 270 million people don’t have access to health services. So if they get sick and have any major illnesses, they do not have the resources to get to get well. Think of how many times you have been sick in your lifetime and have had to go to the doctor. I am guessing all of us have, or will get sick at some point. If you were living in a country full of poverty, your chances of getting better are slim. So how do these people get better? The answer is they do not; they will die or be very sick the rest of their lives. It is difficult to get better when you do not have resources like clean water. So many people die every year because they are not immunized as well - 2.2 million of them are children.

More than 3.4 million people die every year due to unclean water related problems and unsanitary conditions. Nearly all deaths, 99 percent, occur in developing countries, according to the World Health Organization. The water sanitation problem takes more lives than guns do in wars. Those statistics should not exist, but they are real. People in poverty don’t have enough food to eat or have sanitary living conditions, but more people in the world have a mobile phone than a toilet. Think of that, where does their waste go? It goes into their streets, contaminating their water and food. No wonder so many people die due to poverty. They drink water with dirt, pee, and poop in it. That is disgusting. If people get cuts and try to wash it out with water, it is not going to help because the water is unsafe and full of bacteria. If all of the rich people in the world donate $10, it would be equal to seven weeks of work in a developing country. That could make a huge difference in so many lives.

It is hard to find people who think poverty is a good thing, but there are people who see it as a little problem because it does not impact them personally. Poverty is a complex issue with many challenges that come with it. Sadly, it will never end. There will always be a country facing poverty. We can make an impact though by educating people about the general topic of poverty. When we do this, it helps people realize all the issues related to poverty. It also can help people think of ways to solve the problem. The rich may not realize that poverty is a such a big problem if they have everything they need and more and are not exposed to the challenges so many others face. So why would they donate? They should donate because the world would be a better place; some people could have what they need. There would be less deaths and less starving children. Keep this in mind, if you make a difference in one person’s life, you will be a hero forever. It is also one more person with a better life, all because of you.

Poverty is one of the biggest problems facing our world. There are so many ways that poverty can impact a community. It can take lives and leave so many people sick. People are forced to eat food that we would consider inedible. Now that you know all about poverty and its problems, go make a difference. Every person counts!