World Poverty and Giving Back

I just got back from the grocery store a few hours ago, and I bought some sushi and some South African Chardonnay, among other things. And I felt really lucky that I could go grocery shopping and not have to worry about where the money was coming from. I am not by any means wealthy, but I do have some money. I have a nice apartment, I have a decent job that provides health and dental insurance, I have a 401(k), I have a little savings, I am not in debt (unless you count my student loans, which I don't). I have a cat, and after the recall nightmare, I am able to buy him natual cat food (ie. expensive cat food). And I am lucky, really lucky for these blessings in my life.

I have not felt sorry for myself since I did some research on world poverty. One day at work I saw a blurb on the front page of the newspaper that said something about the most expensive handbag in the world. I admit that I was curious and turned to the page with this handbag. The Louis Vuitton Patchwork handbag that costs $45,352 US dollars. And it is the ugliest creation that I have ever seen. It looks like someone dug it out of the garbage. I was immediately disgusted by how shallow and materialistic we are as a society. It is a tragic commentary on the times that the handbag is sold out. There is a waiting list a mile long, meanwhile people are starving all over the world.

But I wondered, how many people could you help with that $45,352? In India, there are 36 Billionaires, but 80% of Indians live on less than $2 per day, and India has the world's largest number of poor people. As of 2005, there were 691 US-dollar Billionaires and 8.7 million US-dollar Millionaires worldwide. But nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 per day. So how many people could you help for the price of that handbag? 22,676 people could be given $2 each. If every one of those absurdly wealthy people gave even 1% of their income to the needy of the world, would there be anyone still in need? I think this world is need of more giving, more compassion, more love towards our fellow human beings. So many people are living in conditions that we cannot even imagine. Give a liitle something today.

Here are two to start out:
www.kiva.org Kiva allows you to lend to a specfic entrepreneur in the developing world, thereby empowering them to pull themselves out of poverty (this is called microlending). Muhammad Yunus won the Noble Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work on microlending.
www.heifer.org Heifer Project International helps impoverished families worldwide become more self-reliant through the gift of livestock and training in their care.

Giving is not only the right thing to do, but it feels good to do it too.