Just a picture of a cute kid standing in a corn field in rural Tanzania. Right? Look closer. See his distended belly? The child is malnourished while surrounded by plenty. Poultry, goats, and pigs are being raised in the immediate area, as well as guinea pigs that many families grow for protein. Vegetable gardens, like the corn patch in the picture, are common. So what’s the problem? Parasites are my guess. Clean drinking water and general hygiene are missing. Although there is plenty of food, intestinal parasites cause malnutrition and general poor health.
The little boy in the photo above now sits with his young friend on the side of a dirt track. This child is even worse off as evidenced by his hair loss. In fact, he seems to be too weak to play with his friend.
I don’t have answers. This is an extremely impoverished area of rural Tanzania, but clean drinking water is not magic and should be available to everyone. Although, on the other hand, local culture and politics seem to complicate everything.
Click here for my previous post on this subject
We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already.
___ J.K. Rowling