Photo by Meshl
“Free the child’s potential, and you will transform him into the world”
- Maria Montessori
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my daughters’ potential. The world they’ve entered seems to be constantly on the edge of crisis. The environmental, financial and political events of this past year alone have left me feeling uneasy about their future to say the least. I worry that their individual potential may be overshadowed by these larger forces.
I realize that they will have to learn to face these challenges, and many more, eventually. So I focus on teaching them some basic concepts to navigate with:
- Everything can teach us something
- Questions are important
- Everyone deserves compassion
- Believe in the power of an individual to affect change
I usually don’t pay much attention to the other factors affecting their potential. How many of us do? They eat regular meals, sleep in warm beds, receive any medical care they require and have access to formal education. They enjoy music and food from all over the world. They feel protected and loved.
They’re lucky. Of the 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 billion live in poverty. According to UNICEF, 26,500-30,000 children die each day due to poverty. They “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world.”
Blog Action Day is helping raise awareness of this crisis today. Thousands of bloggers are reaching out to a worldwide audience of millions to incite action. The internet has become the most powerful tool ever concieved to connect, share, learn, understand and unite. All this is meaningless if it just increases the divide between the connected and those most in need.
What can you do right now? Start by supporting organizations already working on the issue. A few suggestions:
- Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.
- Closer to home, Cheerful Givers is a Minnesota-based nonprofit providing toy-filled birthday gift bags to food shelves and shelters so that parents living in poverty can give their child a birthday gift.
- Change.org is a social network for people interested in a better world. They help translate interest in social change into effective action.
- The Blog Action Day site has lots more about what one person can do.
This is a problem we can solve. Together.
