Posts

, , , ,

The Remedy for Hunger Pain

Remedy for Hunger Pain
Today, people wear masks. These masks hide people’s faces and protect them from a disease they cannot see, but not all masks are visible. Some masks are invisible. One of these masks is glue and some use it to silence the stomach’s growl. In many developing countries, teenagers use glue as an inhalant drug to quell the cries of their stomach, a remedy for hunger pain. Unfortunately, there is little statistical data readily available on this topic, making any hope of reform nearly impossible. However, research from the National Institute of Health (NIH) has made the effects of sniffing glue evident.

According to NIH, inhalants can cause the following damage to the brain: distorted speech, poor bodily coordination, euphoria and dizziness. The brain is not the only part of the body that sniffing glue negatively affects. Long-term use can result in damage to the liver, kidney and bone marrow. Loss of physical coordination and delayed behavioral development can also occur.

A Prevalent Issue

Kimberly Solórzano, who works at a Honduran orphan care center, spoke with The Borgen Project about how sniffing glue impacts the long-term health of children and adolescents. Solórzano said, “They are just sniffing glue, and that is very common among teens coming out of these kinds of shack communities. They are sniffing glue to stay warm and to feel full when they’re hungry…just kind of becoming oblivious to the world around them due to their addiction.” Solórzano made The Borgen Project aware that many children who find themselves addicted to inhalants are uneducated about the long-term effects.

Unfortunately, this is an issue that touches all four corners of the world. In Kenya, estimates determine that 250,000 children sniff glue. In Nepal, a research study found that 88.46% of street children sniff glue and 89.13% were unaware of the effects of the inhalant. These alarmingly high statistics seem to hide the good news. However, there is hope for reform.

Educational Reform

Hope is spelled “education.” Through proper education on the effects of inhalant use and methods for combating food shortages and world hunger, there is hope for drastic change. One organization that fights for educational reform in the area of global hunger is Bread for the World. Bread for the World focuses on sustainable progress, which it defines as “progress that is intended to be, and is capable of being, enduring- depends on addressing all of the issues in an interconnected manner.” Education on various food storage methods echoes sustainable progress. Specifically, Bread takes time to teach farmers in India how to properly contain vegetables, like corn.

Another goal of Bread is to witness the Sustainable Development Goals come to life. Bread states that “Universal secondary education, which is included in the Sustainable Development Goals, would no doubt lead to swifter progress in ending hunger and malnutrition.” Through secondary education for all, the remedy for hunger pain would no longer be inhalants but nutritious food. Education is key and Bread is fully aware of this fact.

Thankfully, Bread is one of many United States nonprofits working to end global hunger. Together, these organizations make a lasting impact by bringing educational and congressional reform on the topic of global hunger, provide nutritious food as a remedy for hunger pain and create a lasting impact from generation to generation.

– Chatham Kennedy
Photo: Flickr

, ,

Key Organizations Fighting World Hunger

World Hunger
Over 815 million people suffer from hunger worldwide. The majority of these millions plagued by hunger come from lower income countries. Hunger and poverty are inextricably linked together in a cycle, poverty causing hunger through a lack of sufficient means, and hunger causing poverty due to high food prices and malnourishment, which affects performance in schools and in the workplace. Thus, in order to address hunger at any level, poverty must also be considered. There are a number of key organizations fighting world hunger as well as looking into its underlying factors.

Underlying Factors in World Hunger

In addition to stemming from poverty, world hunger can be the result of conflicts, climate change and economic and political issues that are seemingly unrelated. Long-term conflicts can interfere with food and agriculture production and also make humanitarian assistance very difficult. A poor economy can drive up prices, making food insecurity and hunger more prevalent. Natural disasters can decimate countries, leading to severe, temporary hunger; for example, El Nino is said to have been responsible for hunger in 20 million cases. Global climate change has also affected crop production as flooding or drought can destroy crops, which can lead to food insecurity.

In 2016, it was estimated that 10.7 percent of the world’s population faced chronic undernourishment.  This can lead to long-lasting physical and mental health impairments. Hungry people are 2.9 times more likely to have health issues. Over 3 million children die per year as a result of a hunger-induced illness such as stunting, vitamin deficiencies, and growth restriction (for babies and fetuses). There are also many diseases that can lead to death in which hunger is an underlying condition, and malnutrition magnifies the effects of all diseases including measles and malaria. Hunger can also exacerbate mental health issues; children who are hungry are four times more likely to need professional counseling.

Key Organizations Fighting World Hunger

In order to fight world hunger, there must be more education that inspires understanding and leads to action. A multitude of organizations exists to assist those experiencing food insecurity. The most influential organizations are those that address root issues rather than just addressing band-aid issues.

  1. Bread for the World addresses world hunger by lobbying world leaders to attack underlying causes, preaching that “we need to do more than just giving people a meal a day.”
  2. Results is another group that also uses education and lobbying as a tool to end world hunger through highly-trained advocacy volunteers.
  3. The Food Research and Action Center is a hub for an anti-hunger network of individuals and agencies seeking to improve public policies surrounding hunger and malnutrition in the U.S.
  4. Action Against Hunger eliminates hunger through detection and prevention measures as well as provides aid in treating malnutrition.
  5. The Hunger Project is committed to sustainable ways to end world hunger, empowering people to be self-reliant in the long run.
  6. Heifer International donates livestock to create long-term agricultural solutions and provide training in farming techniques.

These are but a few of the innovative organizations dedicated to helping the world’s hungry. The U.S., for example, assists in hunger reduction by providing emergency food aid, supporting long-term developmental agriculture programs and assisting with organizations in trying to achieve global food security.

In order to help reduce world hunger, it is important to support research and policy and give to dynamic organizations. When looking at where to donate, keep in mind creative initiatives, the desire to address the root causes of hunger and programs that promote self-sufficiency and sustainability in the long term.

– Jessie Serody
Photo: Flickr

, , , ,

Six Lesser Known Organizations Addressing Poverty

Lesser Known Organizations Addressing PovertyMany U.S.-based organizations work hard to reduce poverty internationally. Not all of them have the same name recognition or notoriety, but they are all engaging in equally important and effective work. From nonprofits to research organizations, these are just some of the lesser known organizations addressing poverty in developing nations.

Lesser Known Organizations Addressing Poverty

  1. Africare
    Africare, one of the largest African-American led organizations with an almost entirely African-American staff, focuses on community-driven development in Africa. Working with the tools of community engagement, local public-private partnerships, locally driven behavior change and capacity building, Africare seeks to improve economic development, nutrition, water and sanitation and women’s and youth empowerment. Since Africare’s founding, it has provided more than $1 billion in assistance to people across Africa.
  2. The Hunger Project
    Operating for 40 years, The Hunger Project develops women-centered, grassroots strategies to help individuals out of poverty and hunger. Working in more than 16,000 communities internationally, The Hunger Project promotes self-reliant, community-led development, and partnerships with local governments to create sustainable change in communities facing poverty. Working in 12 countries and reaching 17 million people, The Hunger Project is creating community-led development for many, representing one of many lesser known organizations addressing poverty.
  3. Trickle Up
    Trickle Up, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization seeks to help people rise out of poverty internationally, focusing on those who are disproportionately affected – refugees, individuals with disabilities, women, indigenous populations and people in rural areas. The organization uses a program called Graduation, which involves a step by step process to lift individuals out of poverty. Recipients are given a small grant to start a business and paired with other local people to create a savings group. From there, individuals are coached and taught skills to build their business, confidence and livelihoods. With 250,000 participants and more than 1 million lives impacted, this nonprofit is generating great change.
  4. The Earth Institute
    Based out of Columbia University in New York City, The Earth Institute is a group of researchers, policy experts, scientists, economists and students all seeking to guide policy towards sustainability worldwide. It works domestically and internationally on a wide variety of topics, including climate, urbanization, water and energy, but also helping individuals out of poverty. By working on sustainable and efficient policy, such as preventing flooding in developing nations, The Earth Institute creates policy that improves the quality of life of individuals worldwide.
  5. Innovations for Poverty Action
    Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) is one of the lesser known organizations addressing poverty through dedicated evaluations of current programs designed to help impoverished populations and providing evidence showing which approaches work and which do not. IPA identified a gap in the data available and created a mission to fill it. It works closely with governments, for-profit companies, nonprofits and civil society to create evidence-based programs to help poor individuals out of poverty. The work is evaluation focused but provides a body of evidence that can be drawn upon for program design and development.
  6. Bread For The World
    Bread For The World is a Christian nonprofit that works in a bipartisan way to urge policymakers to pass policies focused on food security that improve the lives of those living in poverty both domestically and abroad. Working at the policy level, Bread For The World provides individuals with advocacy tools to help them write letters, email or call members of Congress to promote poverty reducing policy. Since its inception in 1974, Bread For The World has successfully funded foreign aid and domestic policy to reduce poverty worldwide.

The field of international development is vast, and with many different organizations trying to address poverty internationally, it can be hard to know where to look to see what is being done. In addition to the many large organizations working internationally, we cannot forget about lesser-known organizations addressing poverty in developing nations.

– Katherine Kirker

Photo: Flickr

, , ,

NGO Disappointed with 2015 House Budget Proposal

2015 House Budget Cuts
In its recently released April 2014 newsletter, Bread for the World voiced its “deep disappointment” for the 2015 fiscal year House budget proposal. This proposal, introduced by Representative Paul Ryan, makes deep cuts to programs that help poor and hungry people in the United States and abroad.

The budget proposal cuts over $5 trillion over 10 years and calls for many changes to low-income programs. These policy changes will kick an estimated four million people out of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps, program. The changes to SNAP are significant, as assistance will now come in the form of a federal block loan and will not be able to increase should need arise. Negative impacts also reach Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and low-income tax credits.

The House’s proposal also cuts the International Affairs budget by 11 percent. Decreases to the International Affairs budget are detrimental to the success of food aid and other humanitarian efforts and undermine U.S. ability to fight poverty in the world’s poorest countries. The proposal also moves the Millennium Challenge Corporation to the position of lead agency for foreign development assistance, diminishing USAID’s role in ending global hunger.

Although many agree that federal spending is out of control, David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, believes that pulling funding for programs that support the most vulnerable is clearly a poor reallocation of resources. “Fiscal responsibility means not sacrificing our commitment to reducing hunger and poverty for the sake of reducing a deficit that vulnerable people did not create,” Beckmann states. “Lawmakers must stop violating the basic principle to protect ‘the least of these’ in budget decisions, which Congress has adhered to in all major budget agreements over the past 30 years.”

– Madisson Barnett

Sources: Bread for the World, Bipartisan Policy Center
Photo: PennLive

, , , , ,

Bread for the World: The Faith to End Hunger

Bread_For_The_Word
Bread for the World, a Washington D.C. based nonprofit organization, is urging government leaders and communities of faith to end hunger.

Every day, around 16,000 children die from hunger related causes. 1.5 billion people live in extreme poverty in developing nations around the world, but developed nations are not exempt from the problem of hunger – nearly 15 percent of those living in the U.S. have struggled with food insecurity at some point in their life.

Motivated by the belief that ordinary people can do “plenty” to end global hunger, Bread for the World seeks to empower U.S. citizens to voice their support of hunger-fighting policies to their elected representatives. A bipartisan “collective Christian voice,” their network includes thousands of individuals, churches and denominations – therefore creating an impact that reaches far beyond their local communities.

After analyzing policy, Bread for the World creates strategies to move toward their ultimate goal – to end hunger at home and abroad. The movements they create within churches, campuses and other organizations help build political commitment to overcome poverty. Bread for the World accomplishes their work with integrity, earning a four star Charity Navigator rating and spending an impressive 82.9 percent of their budget on deliverable programs and services.

Bread for the World Institute, the educational wing of Bread for the World, exists to conduct extensive research on food policy and provide information to Bread for the World’s advocacy network. Their studies empower constituents with information to ultimately change the politics of hunger.

For 2014, Bread for the World is focusing its efforts on reforming U.S. food aid, calling for the economically powerful U.S. government to use their resources more efficiently and effectively. Bread for the World estimates that with improvements and changes, 17 million more people could benefit from food aid each year without any additional costs to taxpayers.

Find more information and extensive educational materials, visit www.bread.org.

– Madisson Barnett

Sources: Bread For the World, Charity Navigator
Photo: Food Tank