Take a cue from Oscar Tschiebwe; this Thanksgiving, help relieve global poverty.
If you are like me, you can hardly wait for Thanksgiving Day to arrive. For a few glorious days, we are suspended in nirvana eating too much food, watching too much football and, for some, shopping til they drop.
2022 has been tough in the U.S. of A. Financial struggles are affecting everyone with food, gas and mortgage rates soaring and the end of pandemic-based assistance programs. Tragedies in Uvalde, TX, Fort Myers, FL and Eastern Kentucky broke our hearts. And many unforgettable individuals left us including Madeleine Albright, Coolio, Olivia Newton John, Naomi Judd, Loretta Lynn and Queen Elizabeth. So, we need Thanksgiving, that one day of the year where we focus on our blessings.
University of Kentucky basketball player, Oscar Tschiebwe, recently implored Americans to stay thankful. He said, “God has blessed America. God has blessed a lot of people here. A lot of people in Africa are struggling. They are going through a lot.” Oscar hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is one of the poorest countries in the world.
Roughly 736 million people worldwide live in extreme poverty, and 15,000 children a day die from hunger. That’s more than double the entire U.S. population of 332 million. They need access to food, water, healthcare and education. When they receive these basic survival items, they give thanks. For them, Thanksgiving is not a holiday, it is a celebration of life!
Like Oscar Tschiebwe, the Borgen Project, a non-profit organization, believes that America is blessed as the wealthiest nation on the planet. Although many believe we give too much to foreign countries, in fact, less than 1% of our annual budget goes to foreign aid. A single government contractor receives more than all foreign aid programs combined (Borgen Project, n.d.). Since 2003, The Borgen Project has worked with U.S. congressional leaders to improve living conditions for the world’s poor and make poverty more of a central issue to our foreign policy.
As we take time out this Thanksgiving to be grateful for our blessings, I urge you to consider those 736 million people who need our help. Think about how thankful they would be to be pulled from the grips of extreme poverty. We can help them! A miniscule increase to our international affairs budget could literally save millions of lives. Now that is something to truly be thankful for! Contact your senators and representatives and tell them you support The Borgen Project’s desire to increase the international affairs budget.
Kerri O’Neill is a graduate student at the University of Kentucky working toward a Masters in Social Work.
