Wednesday, May 21, 2008

DO SOMETHING!! This little girl is 3 years old!!


This picture was just on the ccn.com homepage with an article about the 120,000 kids that WILL DIE by the end of the month if they do not have food. Here is what CNN wrote:

"The rangy 3-year-old weighs less than 10 pounds, or 4 kilograms. Her long limbs, weak and folded like a praying mantis, cannot carry even her slight weight. She cannot speak. She doesn't want to eat. Health officials say she is permanently stunted.

Bizunesh -- whose name, sadly, means "plentiful" -- is one of untold numbers of children hit by this year's double blow of a countrywide drought and skyrocketing global food prices that has brought famine, once again, to Ethiopia.

"She should be bigger than this," said her mother Zewdunesh Feltam, rocking the listless child. "Before there was maize, different kinds of food. But now there is nothing ... I beg for milk from my neighbors."

The U.N. children's agency said in a statement Tuesday an estimated 126,000 Ethiopian children urgently need food and medical care because of severe malnutrition -- and called the crisis "the worst since the major humanitarian crisis of 2003."

The U.N. World Food Program estimates that 2.7 million Ethiopians will need emergency food aid because of late rains -- nearly double the number who needed help last year. An additional 5 million of Ethiopia's 80 million people receive aid each year because they never have enough food, whether harvests are good or not."

This girl's picture immediately made me sick to my stomach and I started crying. It shocked me into remembering and recognizing that kids on the other side of the world are starving to death while I throw out left overs and splurge on a coffee. This little girl is the same age as my son and her mother is being forced to beg and watch her baby die. I tried to imagine myself in a similar situation and couldn't bear it. I hope that this pictures gets a similar response out of you.

The next step that I made was to go onto the UN's World Food Programe site to see how I can donate. They desperately need donations. I know that times are tight for a lot of people (ourselves included) but we are RICH! It only takes $15 US to feed 10 kids for a week. I just went on and made a donation and I want you to do it as well. Let yourself be disturbed into action. We cannot sit by and close our eyes to this. Please help.




7 comments:

Eve said...

This should not be happening! It shocked me into action so thank you for posting this.

neely said...

it is disturbing...and we all should do something. i pray that my little girl is getting the food she needs right now.

This Mama said...

I agree with Eve and Neely. I made a donation.

I'm glad you posted this.

Sadie said...

Agreed!! I just DID something, thank you for posting this!

Jodie Howerton said...

Just donated....

Betsy said...

A child should never mess with their mother when they know that she has not taken her daily drug therapy because she accidentally (yes, ACCIDENTALLY!) took an overdose of Prilosec! Marisa knew this when she called and told me to watch Oprah and the Nate Berkus home makeover in their neighborhood. Then, she asked if I had read her blog. I am 55 years old and I do not do "blogs". I have been crying ever since-crying for joy over my thankfulness that she always listens when the Lord speaks to her. I am proud. I know. Pride goes before the fall. But, I am proud of what the Lord continually does through our daughter. The best gift of all is the one given with the heart. Marisa, keep up the good work!

Love, Mom

Amy L Cheng said...

Thanks for that post, Marisa. What a great site too, it took only 2 minutes to make a donation. I'm gonna tell my friends.