Hunger and Hope ... a reflection

IM JOINING A GREAT CAUSE TODAY which unite bloggers to contribute on a pressing issue that every nation is battling to solve. For decades, hunger is haunting everyone especially those people in developing countries where poverty is prevalent. Fortunately, Im one of the lucky individuals that have access to the basic needs: food, shelter, clothing, education and health, but some are not. My only contribution for this cause is to share this video clip that will remind us that everyone, one way or another, could share in solving this global problem, maybe driven by any unpredictable circumstances.

On the other hand, I also collected some quotations from prominent individuals, writers/poets and politicians (courtesy of poemhunter.com) that shared their views about hunger, hope and poverty.

There's no sauce in the world like hunger.
[Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616), Spanish author. Teresa Panza (Sancho's wife), in Don Quixote, pt. 2, ch. 5 (1615), trans. by P. Motteux. This well-worn proverb was attributed to Socrates by Cicero in De Finibus, bk. 2, sct. 90.]

The only remedy against hunger is reasonable birth control.
[Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990), Swiss dramatist, novelist, essayist. Trans. by Gerhard P. Knapp (1995). Portrait of a Planet (1971).]

Poverty is obsolete and hunger is abolished—
[Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (1836-1911), British parodist, librettist. Utopia Unlimited. . . Oxford Book of Satirical Verse, The. Geoffrey Grigson, comp. (1980) Oxford UniversityPress.]

When Christ said: "I was hungry and you fed me," he didn't mean only the hunger for bread and for food; he also meant the hunger to be loved. Jesus himself experienced this loneliness. He came amongst his own and his own received him not, and it hurt him then and it has kept on hurting him. The same hunger, the same loneliness, the same having no one to be accepted by and to be loved and wanted by. Every human being in that case resembles Christ in his loneliness; and that is the hardest part, that's real hunger.
[Mother Teresa (b. 1910), Albanian-born Roman Catholic missionary in India. "Imitation of Christ," A Gift for God (1975).]

Poverty and Hunger

A short film that depicts the reality of life. It reminds me of my parttime work in one of the biggest food chains in the world. I work until closing time of the store and there is always leftovers of chicken! Sometimes I would ask the manager if I could eat some before I left the store or in some extent I brought it home to eat them next the day. As part of the policy, staff are not allowed to bring them home because these stuff will be checked by the area manager following day as part of the inventory and for health/safety reason. Anyway, Im sharing this true story captured briefly in a film. I dont want to elaborate but you can contemplate what this film is all about. Maybe to some extent, there might be exaggeration from the reaction of people being filmed, but Im sure the message is real that poverty is the root cause of hunger. Personally, I will give my own title for this clip: Chicken Recycling!

Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who lives on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.
Director: Ferdinand Dimadura Genre: Drama Produced In: 2005 Location: Philippines

Blog Action Day: Poverty and the Internet

JOINING BLOGSPOT/BLOGGER'S annual blog action day is a privilege where I could share my time in a small, simple and different way thru my website. The theme is a pressing issue and much more requires attention than war or anything else. It is beyond war between guns and missiles, or armies and extremists but it is a war against hunger and deprivation from basic needs in life.

Awareness and access to information is instrumental in reducing or alleviating POVERTY around the world. Worldwide web (www) or the internet is a powerful tool to disseminate information and assistance for society that needs urgent attention. Access to right organisations and individuals are vital to properly address the problem and somehow facilitate immediate action with avaiable resources. Thus, combating and alleviating poverty is a big challenge particularly for a developing nation to ensuring every citizen has direct and sustainable access to basic services, especially food, shelter and education.

Utilising google and yahoo search engines, there are numerous interesting links that discuss POVERTY. From various press releases to private and public initiatives/programmes, from images to videos, and of course from blogs to blogs! There is so much information on-line that provides the spectrum of POVERTY. As my simple gesture of my contribution on blog action day is to highlights some of them and briefly reflects each of these links.

Defining Poverty. Wikipedia defines poverty as "deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens". It is interesting to note that access to "clean and potable" drinking water and "better" jobs are other aspects to be addressed in poverty alleviation.

Causes of Poverty. The site has relevant posts and links that explains the main causes of poverty, including shocking facts and figures to show the extent of this global problem. Poverty is being tagged with politics, corruption, degradation of the environment, ethics, and land ownerships.

Spectrum of Poverty. Poverty is a worldwide threat which this site explains the range or gamut of it: hunger and diseases (AIDS, TB, diarrhea, and measles). According to UN, almost 25,000 people die every day of hunger or hunger-related causes which brings to a ratio of 1 person = every three and a half seconds, and mostly children die.

Speaking of children, there were three tragic events happened last year in my home country, the Philippines when two young boys and a girl (in different locations) decided to end up their lives due to poverty. It was really sad to hear their stories which inspired one of my Multiply contacts/friends to write his own reflection. It is worth reading it and I do believe that Roland sincerely voiced his concern about the role of the youths of today and how poverty affects their hopes and dreams becomes a reality.

Roland's, ROPE OR HOPE reminds us of the challenges that poverty brings to the next generation, and as he finally says, "Imagine if the youth of today are living with all their hopes...if they are reached out and are all groomed to be the next generation of leaders ... if such imagination comes to reality... I couldn’t even imagine how perfect the future of our nation would be!

So many images flooded in the internet which vividly show the extent of the damage that poverty brings to the people and community, and will continue to affect more lives in the years to come if this is not given utmost attention especially by our current world leaders. Some of these revealing faces of poverty posted in Flickr on Global Poverty (Note: The images below were taken from CARF's photostream)



Finally, I do love videos and thru Youtube, I was able to browse some of the interesting clips that convey that Poverty is in Motion!


(Note: This is the link for last year's Blogger's Action Day)