More Compassion News

I've mentioned before about my efforts to lose weight, although I really look at it more as changing to a healthier lifestyle. It isn't easy for someone who just loves the taste of food. There isn't much I won't eat, and my philosophy has always been if one serving is good, 3 must be better. Diet pills won't work, because I don't eat because I'm hungry, I eat because. Or just, I eat.

That is why it is so difficult for me to imagine the effects of the current global food crisis. I cannot imagine not having food in the house, readily available for me to pop into my mouth anytime I want. I don't think I have ever REALLY been hungry in my life.

I read this on Compassion's site this week: "In Bangladesh more than 90 percent of the 12,179 children we serve in 82 Compassion-assisted centers are affected. Many children are eating only at the church-based center." Folks, my newest sponsored child, Aduri, lives in Bangladesh. This is one of the reasons I chose her--the adults in her community make an AVERAGE of $22/month as day laborers. My $32.00/month, barely more than a dollar a day, is more than most of their incomes. How do you feed a family of 6 on that? In my research on Bangladesh, I found that their hunger months are July, Aug, and Sept--the months we harvest fresh vegetables and fruits from our gardens and orchards. It is so hard for me to wrap my head around this.

You can help. Sponsor one of the many children Compassion has on their waiting list. Go look at those beautiful faces. Some of them smile with hope. Most do not. Compassion chooses one child per family, so they are able to help many families in a community. I have sponsored Dalia in El Salvador since Dec. 2000, and watching her grow in the pictures she sends me, the transition to letters in her own handwriting, learning about her interests and the efforts to teach her a trade so she won't fall prey to teen pregnancy or drugs--these are personal to me. She is not just one of the nameless, faceless many who need help. She prays for me and my family. Her favorite color is pink. She loves pizza.

Aduri has just started school. She's eight years old and her favorite color is red and she wants to be a doctor. She is very thin. I wonder if she will survive. I think about her eating rationed portions at the Center with the other children. She doesn't get second, much less third, helpings. Her siblings may not be eating at all. As a mother, I cannot conceive the pain and despair her parents must be feeling.
If you don't feel you can take on a sponsorship right now, there are other ways to help. Consider contributing to their Global Food Crisis Fund. This is what your donation will provide:
• food vouchers to children and families needing immediate relief.
• seeds and agricultural tools so that families can grow their own food as well as earn extra income.
• supplemental nutrition services offered at Compassion-assisted centers around the world.

I'm going to try fasting on Wed. I don't know if I'll be able to complete the whole day.

But then, I have that option.

Aduri doesn't.