Perspective: 120,000 children have only one month to live

[nichomachus]

May I respectively suggest that those who advocated sending flowers to Ted Kennedy, please send money to these kids instead.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/05/20/ethiopia.children/index.html">"We have nothing to feed our children" -- Tens of thousands are starving

EGU VILLAGE, Ethiopia (CNN) -- A year of drought and soaring food prices has threatened the lives of tens of thousands of Ethiopian children.

"We have nothing to feed our children," said Egu's village elder. "We are losing our children day by day."

Ethiopia's Health Ministry, along with UNICEF, monitors the health of thousands of children here, but the number of areas they have been able to regularly visit has been cut in half this year.

The small rains that normally allow Ethiopian farmers to plant a second crop each year did not come this year, adding to an already critical food shortage.

"It's an open crisis, and there are more people than we expected, than the government expected, who need additional food," said Bjorn Ljungqvist, head of UNICEF Ethiopia.

There is a crucial shortfall in the supply of therapeutic foods used to treat children with severe acute malnutrition, the UNICEF official said.

The UN's children's agency is appealing for $10 million to pay for emergency needs of more than 7 million children under 5 as well as pregnant and nursing mothers in 325 drought-affected districts.

The World Food Programme supplies the emergency food for UNICEF, but rising food prices mean it could not guarantee aid for all the areas in need.

"Unless you get immediate assistance the risk is, you fall into severe malnutrition and eventually death, so unless our supporters come in immediately for this, we fear that is what is going to happen in the country," said Jakob Mikkelse, the program's nutrition and education chief.

Egu is a village UNICEF is no longer able to visit on a regular basis.

"If we were not here, those children who we had found now with severe acute malnutrition would have died at home," UNICEF Emergency Nutrition Project Officer Samson Dessie said.

UNICEF estimates that 6 million Ethiopian children under the age of 5 are at risk and that more than 120,000 have only about a month to live.

[kdmorris]

1. K & R

Ted Kennedy has tons of money and will get the best health care available to him. While it's sad that he's got something this horrible, his life is NOT more valuable than the people who are starving to death across the world.

[uppityperson]

2. Indeed. Donate in his name if you wish, but do something like this for him.

thank you. He would be very much happier to have this than flowers I think.

[bobbolink]

3. "....sending flowers to Ted Kennedy, please send money to these kids instead."

Absolutely!!!

Thank you for a great dose of perspective!

Great idea!

:applause:

[Delphinus]

4. Thank you for putting this into perspective.

I think Sen. Kennedy would appreciate our doing this.

[shireen]

5. a tragedy, but I'm also pissed of at many of these relief organizations.

They have their share of overpaid CEOs, and it's a major turn-off.

American Red Cross CEO salary, 2006: $500,000
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3277

UNICEF US President salary, 2006: $429,135
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4617

Save the Children, president salary, 2006: $310,603
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4438


The only international relief organization that I regularly donate to is Doctors without Borders, because their CEO compensation is very reasonable.
Doctors without Borders, Exec. Dir. salary, 2005: $104,850
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=3628

Other international groups that I would donate to are Mercy Corps, and there are some smaller groups with low overheads but I don't remember the names right now.

Frankly, I don't know who to trust. There's a lot of need out there, but I also work hard to earn whatever money I get, and refuse to see some fraction, however small, go to some overpaid CEO.

[nashville_brook]

6. how's that hairshirt working out fer ya?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mainegreen]

8. Does this mean Ethiopia also ran out of money to constantly attack neighboring countries?

We should still send aid to Ethiopia, but it always pisses me off to see countries spending money on the military and not on food.