Poverty

"This child, one of the many hungry in this small village hasn't eaten in days. " The image of a boy, probably around five years old flashes across the screen, his rib bones clearly exposed under the sickly skin stretched over his thin frame.  The speaker continues-

"To let this little one go to bed tonight without food in its stomach would break your heart.  Give today.  Call the number at the bottom of the screen and donate from your heart.  A dollar a day can save a life."  The boy disappears in a split second and a new commercial starts.  What do you do?  Fast forward through the scene, calling it a scam?  Do you ignore it?  Why should you care about some kid you've never met?  The few of us that pick up our phones and dial the number, do you question your actions later?  Do you wish you could call again and take it back? Be true to yourself, we all have our own evils, and whether that evil is as obvious as selfishness, or even being too lazy to pick up you phone and punch in the numbers, and we make up excuses to fool ourselves into thinking that you are doing the right thing.  So ask yourself-  would you pick up the phone and call that number and save a life, or do you fast forward and forget you ever saw anything?

The air was thick with dust and seemed to cling to every crevice and hole in the ground.  It was sweltering and at least half the village was down at the river, licking up the very essence of water and savoring it as mud squelching in between their toes.  The dry season was coming soon, the river had already dropped quite a few feet in the last few weeks and worry was creeping into the minds of everyone.  Killing off all the crops, the dry season was a nightmare.  Not a drop of rain falls for the long three months from July to September, and without this necessary ingredient for life, the human body can only survive little over a week, but the mind falls apart much quicker.  The crazy ones go quickly, forgetting to ration their intake and then ending up drinking their three months worth of water in less than a week.  Many mothers barely get by on a gallon a week, saving theirs for their children.  More than half the villagers die. The greatest prize to the survivor is that blessed rain from the heavens to signal the beginning of another year. 

Later that night many of the villagers began to bail the river.  It usually would take months for little over a hundred people to empty a river, but these people knew what was at stake and a little less than a week later, not a drop remains.  After they finished, all the water went all go to the village's water holding compartment which was basically a giant hole in the ground covered in thick waxy leaves that helped keep the thirsty ground from drinking up their water.  Once the drought started the holding compartment was open only once a week and each family would take only it's designated ration, none more, and certainly none less.  Depending on the amount of water stored up, the rations varied from year to year.  Some years it was as little as 2 gallons a week and on good years you could binge with a full 5 gallons a week! The will to live is the only thing that kept you alive during these months. 

The once noisy happy village falls into a desolate slump.  No one dare sweats, as wasting water was the worst possible thing you could do.  Screaming at full blast through the cloudless sky, the sun was relentless.  Not only did the days reach to temperatures of at least 125 degrees, but the thirsty sun seemed to be sucking every last molecule of liquid out of the empty ground. Children did not play.  Mothers did not talk and gossip in the town.  Fathers did not go out hunting.  No one dared leave their house.  The silence was deafening and it echoed throughout the village like an angry battle cry announcing the feeling in everyone's heart and shouting it to the world.  A foreigner would most likely name the once alive and well village a ghost town and go home.  Every day seemed to get worse and worse until the weak would ones lose it and keel over.  The tough ones would cry and even the kind ones would get bloodthirsty.  No matter how many times you blink and rub your eyes this nightmare never dies until you do. 

July passes, slowly but surely and the water  holding compartment is only half full.  The people begin to worry.  August is gone in the blink of an eye, and the compartment is almost empty.  The villagers are parched, their rations have been cut in half, but the water is disappearing much faster than it should.  The wise men hold a meeting to discuss this recent problem.  The elders are in a league of their own, separated from everyone else, by their want to keep their village alive.  They have lived longer than most, and have the greatest will to survive when the going gets tough.  They are looked up upon by their followers, and everyone's dream is o one day be an elder and rule their town to be strong when they no longer have the strength. The elders solve any problem you could ever have, and although sometimes you might not like it, it keeps you alive.  The animal water rations are cut.  Keeping animals alive during the dry season is extremely difficult, as they require water and food and care to produce necessary things like milk and eggs.  No one dares argue with the elders and the animals die.   September passes. 

Imagine the joy of not seeing a single drop of rain for over three months.  What would you do when you see your first rain?  Do you dance and sing?  Do you rub your eyes and blink, wondering if you are dead?  The villagers rush out of their houses and laugh and sing and play. Every emotion that they hadn't felt for the longest time rushes back and tears of happiness mix with the rain and fall to the ground, the dry dirt now a soppy muddy mess.  The children run and jump into the mud, covering themselves head to toe with the glorious slop. Fathers hang to the side, not as soft as the mothers and the kids, but everyone of them has a grin the size of Africa stretching across their face.  The world is right again and the once empty eyes of its people fill with joy.