Helping Worldwide

As an American speaking to other people who may be American or in other more advantaged countries, this might seem like a crazy question. “Everyone is born in a hospital,” you might say, “unless some emergency keeps them from getting there on time.”

It all depends on when and where we are talking about. Although I was not born in a hut, I was almost born in a barn on Christmas Eve in 1938 while my mother was there helping my father with some things on the farm where we lived in Tennessee. We did not have electricity, indoor plumbing, or a telephone. However, it was possible to get a physician from about ten miles away to come over muddy roads and arrive in our house in the middle of the night to deliver me. Virtually everyone in our area back then lived in similar circumstances. Now, nearly 100% of the babies around there and throughout the U.S. are born in a hospital.

Another thing that impresses me is the huge improvement around there and elsewhere in the U.S. in maternal and infant mortality rates since 1900. In walking through cemeteries near where I was born, I have seen many old grave markers with evidence of that.

You might think that all of this is past, but unfortunately that is not the case. Huts are still common places for births in many developing areas. Millions of babies are still being born under circumstances much worse than mine. The United Nations reported that in 2012, there were 6.6 million children under age five who died. That’s a big improvement compared to a decade earlier, but there is still much more to be done. Sierra Leone reported 2,000 maternal deaths per 100,000 people — about 1,200 times the rate in the U.S.

Several organizations on this HelpingWorldwide website are trying to help meet this critical need. The largest number are in “Get Involved in Medical Outreach” category. Others can be found elsewhere.

The Bible has several stories that urge help for mothers and little children. In Luke 18:16, Jesus told his disciples to let the little children come to him. It still applies now. Of course, mothers and children must first survive being born. I hope that some of the material on this website will be useful in that regard.

In most of the world’s countries, January 1 is celebrated as New Year’s Day. There may be large gatherings with parades, fireworks, or other festivities. Many people do not go to work or school. Often they think about what will be happening in the year ahead. In many Christian churches and other faith traditions, there will be emphasis on the subject.

I spend a lot of time trying to keep up with news events by watching television, reading, and using the internet. Yet I did not find any public mention (at least in the major media) indicating that yesterday was the end of a special era and that today is the beginning of another in regard to the developing world.

If you looked at the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) category of my HelpingWorldwide.org website, you may know where I am going with this story. The MDG’s was a special project that went from 2000 through 2015 “to reverse the grinding poverty, hunger and disease affecting billions of people.” Happily, much has been accomplished in that regard, but much more remains to be done.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) came out of a series of U.N. conferences and meetings seeking to deal with 17 major goals between now and 2030. The first two focus on (1) no more poverty; (2) zero hunger. There is not enough room in this blog for the others, but you can find them at www.globalgoals.org

I hope that you will take some time to learn about the Sustainable Development Goals and see what you can do to help them be realized.

Happy New Year!

Aleppo, Syria is a city with a history going back several thousand years and a legacy of culture and trade. In 2005 it had over two million people. Then a civil war broke out in 2012 (made worse by outside influences) that killed many thousands of children and adults, injured far more, and destroyed countless homes and other buildings. Both Christians and Muslims have been victims. Huge numbers are trying to escape. Especially during the past several months, television news shows have presented graphic images of the violence and its after-effects. This is among the biggest humanitarian crisis since in the past half-century.

I certainly believe in prayer, but the Bible says that faith without action is dead. My favorite Bible is called the Faith in Action Study Bible, and it is published by World Vision (described in the “General Humanitarian Organizations” category of this website) and Zondervan.

Almost always when there are major humanitarian crisis situations in the world, World Vision is there. Aleppo is among their current major areas of emphasis. To learn more about World Vision, visit their website: www.worldvision.org

If you want to do something more than watch tragic scenes on television or the internet or read about the unfortunate people in Aleppo and elsewhere, I suggest (1) that you pray for God’s guidance about what you can do and (2) find a very reputable organization where you can make a financial contribution. World Vision is among the most outstanding. Along with the direct and indirect victims, don’t forget to pray for the appropriate governmental responses and those who are trying to help in various ways. Especially at this Christmas season, remember that Jesus was a refugee when he was the same age as some of the babies who are being victimized in Aleppo right now.

Additional note: There are at least two other excellent Christian organizations that are trying to bring relief to Syria and Iraq. See World Relief (www.worldrelief.org) and Samaritan’s Purse (www.samaritan’s purse.org) Samaritan’s Purse is also looking for medical volunteers to go to Mosul, Iraq.

I have only two good friends who are totally blind. They became so at age 13 or 14, but that did not stop them from completing college and going on to get earned doctorates. One has his Ph.D. in psychology and was a licensed psychologist in private practice until he retired. The other has his doctorate in theology. It is rare to encounter blind people in the United States. However, in keeping with U.S. law, the signs at elevators and many other places include braille. Special arrangements are made at schools throughout America to meet the needs of blind students. Organizations such as the Lion’s Clubs are particularly involved in helping. In the U.S, about 22.5 million adults have some kind of visual impairments, and about 2.3% of the population are blind.

Contrast this with the developing world. According to the World Health Organization, there are over 285 million people in the world who are visually-impaired. About 90% of them are in developing countries. Some are blind because of what commonly are called neglected tropical diseases, such as river blindness (transmitted by an insect and a major concern of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter). The good news is that about 80% of blindness in developing countries can be cured.

Several organizations on my HelpingWordwide.org website are involved in that. Some send teams of medical professionals on short-term mission trips (see the “Get Involved in Medical Outreach” category of this site). I applaud each and every one of them.

I have no medical expertise and certainly am not able to determine what is best for every situation, but this is one of the best stories I have heard in a long time. Hopefully, through their efforts and those of many other people, the incidence of blindness in the next few years and decades will greatly diminish.

A Google search for the 25 most popular Christian hymns puts Amazing Grace at the top of the list. Written by former slave trader John Newton, it contains the words: “I once was blind, but now I see.” Although this might not be in the same context as the above paragraphs, I am glad that there are individuals and organizations helping blind people to see today.

Additional comment: Only one day after writing this blog, my letter carrier brought me the September 2016 issue of National Geographic Magazine with a cover story called “The End of Blindness.” It reinforces many of the above comments, and I recommend that you read it.

That was the title of an e-mail I received two days ago from an organization called packH2O in the “Clean Water / Sanitation / Food” category of my website. They continued by saying: “Why is it called World Water Day when we use water everyday? We depend on water to hydrate ourselves, produce food, and manufacture goods. It’s the most important resource we have, which is why it shouldn’t be forgotten.”

World Water Day was on Sunday, March 22. I plead guilty by saying that I forgot it. No one else with whom I was in personal contact then mentioned it either. Perhaps these words I am putting together now might help compensate for my omission.

As is our normal custom, my wife and I went to church. Then instead of going back home to eat, we ate at a restaurant. The server brought us glasses of clean water, and there was no extra charge for it. Although I ordered a salad, it seemed that the most popular dish was large hamburgers, especially with cheese. The same is true in many other restaurants.

While writing this blog, I did an internet search about the amount of water required to make a quarter-pound hamburger (which you can easily do by entering the words “water needed to make hamburger” on Google. The result was astounding: 600 gallons. One pound of beef requires 1,799 gallons. A pound of pork, chicken, and goat requires 576, 486, and 127 gallons respectively. A gallon of milk requires 887 gallons, a pound of cheese requires 600 gallons, and a pound of coffee (making about 42 six ounce cups) requires a staggering 2,500 gallons. Tea comes in at only 8 gallons per standard cup.

Without question, people in the more affluent countries use far more water per capita than those in the developing world. Moreover, whenever I need water, I simply turn on a faucet or push a button, and it comes out automatically and safe to drink.

Contrast the situation that I and virtually everyone else in the U.S. and other parts of the more fortunate world have regarding water with what is a daily challenge for more than one billion people. Yes, it is certainly true that California and some other states in the American west are going through severe droughts (which I believe are strongly related to climate change), as well as the depletion of underground reserves in many places. Yet I have yet to hear of any contemporary American women and girls having to carry water on their heads or backs for several hours and miles each day — and then frequently having no assurance that the water is safe to drink.

The Bible refers to water 727 times, and it seems to be the subject of a news story nearly every week. It has been called the new gold or the new oil because of its value. We should also think of it more often. Yes, it does deserve more than just one day.

Postscript: after writing the above, my TIME Magazine (April 6, 2015) came with this dire prediction: “40% of the world’s water needs will not be met in 2030 if current trends continue, according to a U.N. report warning of economic upheaval and new conflicts unless global policies on water change.”

As you probably know already, most of my research and writing has to do with problems in developing countries (also called third world countries). Often my American friends ask why I spend so much time regarding impoverished places outside the United States when there are problems in my home country. Sometimes I respond with the question: “Do you have to worry about whether your water is clean when it comes out of the faucet?” Until recently, no one challenged me on that.

It happens that I live near Detroit, Michigan. It has a long history as being “the motor city” because of so many cars and trucks being produced in and near it. Detroit gets its water from Lake Huron. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes and has some of the purest water on the planet. Only a minimal amount of treatment is necessary before the water is piped into individual homes.

Flint is only an hour north of me. They are also famous for building cars and trucks and being called “the vehicle city.” Like Detroit, they had a major loss of population in the past five decades. Now it is much more impoverished than its surrounding area. In what was called a temporary effort to cut costs almost two years ago, the water intake was shifted from what Detroit was providing Flint from Lake Huron to the Flint River which flows through the city. Unfortunately, the people who could have done so did not add some chemicals that would have prevented lead from leaching into the pipes that bring water from the Flint Water Treatment Plant to residents and businesses. As a result, many people, especially babies and young children, got sick. The consequences of lead poisoning is extremely serious and can last a lifetime with possible brain damage. Almost no one questions the fact that the effort to save some dollars in the short-term have caused long-term consequences that will be very expensive to fix.

Now the story about Flint water is going all over the U.S. and many other countries. One Flint woman asked the question: “Why do we have to drink third world water?” It is not an easy one to answer.

For the short term, millions of pounds of clean bottled water has been brought to Flint. People there use it to drink, cook, and bathe. However, that is not a long-term solution. It may require spending hundreds of millions of dollars in replacing pipes and doing other upgrades (which could have been avoided for only a very tiny percentage of that cost). I do not have any expertise on the subject, but at least I am trying to do my part by collecting bottled water and helping it get to a church in Flint so that they can distribute it where needed.

The subject of clean water is mentioned many times in the Bible. It is just as vital today as it was back then.

Most people do not regard November 19 as being very important, unless they have a personal reason, such as a birthday or an anniversary, or are in a country or society that gives it special recognition. Using Google and entering November 19, I learned about several things that happened on that day: In 1794, American and English officials signed the Jay Treaty, thus resolving some major issues after the Revolutionary War that gave the U.S. independence from England. In 1850, the first life insurance policy was issued to a woman. In 1863, President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address while the Civil War was raging. In 1985, President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met for their first summit in Geneva, Switzerland. There are other examples.

A few years ago, November 19 was chosen for a completely different observance: World Toilet Day. That’s the main point of this blog.

According to a recent survey in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), “the introduction of clean water and sewage disposal is the most important medical milestone since 1840, when the BMJ was first published.” Clean water certainly is important, but lack of appropriate sanitation still kills over twice as many people at the present time.

I have referred to several organizations in the “Clean Water / Sanitation / Food” category of my website that are working to help bring appropriate sanitation to everyone on the planet. In addition, there are major efforts by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other non-profits, governmental agencies, and commercial firms working toward that goal. A Google search brings up many names.

When I was a young boy on a farm in Tennessee, we did not have indoor plumbing. Nor did anyone else around. I certainly remember the outdoor toilet. However, we were not close enough to other people to cause harm, and my parents and other adults knew how to handle the situation. Our water supply (through wells) was not affected. Now the challenge is to help developing world people who don’t have indoor plumbing and live in much closer circumstances, especially slums and cities, so that they don’t have to worry.

This is a thought to remember on November 19 and every other time you use the bathroom (if you are fortunate enough to have one). More than one billion of the world’s people do not.

Virtually everyone knows about the importance of the United Kingdom. Many people, including most of my ancestors, came from there and settled in the U.S. Back a century ago, it was the world’s leading economic power. Now it ranks number five in that regard. Its most current population is estimated at just over 65,100,000 people.

Add another approximately 200,000 people and you would have the population size of an imaginary nation that may surprise you: the estimated number of refugees worldwide at the end of 2015, according to the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. Thus, even though imaginary, it would be the 21st largest nation in the world — larger than the United Kingdom and slightly smaller than France. Over half of the refugees are children.

There are more refugees in the world right now (also known as internally displaced persons) than anytime since World War II. Every minute, 24 more people are displaced. Thus the 65.3 million figure has almost certainly increased significantly.

Over half came from these three countries (ranked in number of refugees): Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Ironically, two of the three (Syria and Somalia) are among the countries that newly-elected U.S. President Trump have ordered cannot come into the United States (unless under very extraordinary circumstances). One of his first executive orders mandated that. It was challenged in federal court at two levels, and that executive order was unanimously overturned at both. No one knows what will happen next.

Along with refugees from the above-named countries, there are many who are trying to escape violence in South Sudan and other parts of Africa, desperate people trying to escape violence in Central America by undergoing extremely dangerous circumstances in trying to come to the U.S. via Mexico, and numerous other situations.

Trump said that he wants to make American people safe against being killed by “extreme radical refugees” (a term he often interchanges with “extreme Muslim”). Yet a search on Google shows that there is only a one in a 3.64 billion chance of that happening in the U.S. Contrast that to the one in 960,000 chance of being killed by lightening.

There is an organization based in New York City called International Rescue Committee (www.rescue.org). They have some very interesting material about this subject on their website and suggestions for what you can do. I suggest that you look at it. Likewise, many of the organizations on this HelpingWorldwide website (especially in the “General Humanitarian Organizations” category) are also involved in refugee programs.

If you are an American, think of the Statue of Liberty and reflect on how it applies today. If you are a Christian, remember that Jesus and many other people in the Bible were also refugees.

Two postscripts:

(1) It was on this day in 1809 that President Abraham Lincoln was born. He is probably best known for helping end slavery in the U.S. Many of the current refugee are in situations comparable to slavery.

(2) I live within a 30 minute drive of the Canadian border. Two days ago, our local news announced that public schools in Windsor, Ontario (directly across the river from Detroit) will not allow their buses to bring children into the U.S.(including visits to the Holocaust Memorial in the community where I live) for at least the next month because they are fearful that some may be detained. I don’t think Lincoln would be happy about this situation, and I am not either.