I am back home in Germany for the summer. My mom and I were walking downtown of the little town that we live in, trying to find a card for a high school graduate when we were stopped on the street by a college aged girl in a light blue t-shirt. She was working for a campaign for UNICEF and of course, it had to do with starving children. All of us know about how many children around the world starve because their families have no access to or no money for food. It's such a wide known issue that we have become desensitized to it and often times forget and do not consider helping in any way. However, this girl and her team where there to make a difference and to remind people that the problem certainly still exists and that it has such an easy fix.
First, the UNICEF girl had a measuring tape with her that is used to measure a child's arm circumference to determine whether it is normal weight, underweight, or severely underweight. That measuring tape barely fit around my index and middle finger. Take a moment and look at two of your fingers. That's not much is it? No. But it is how big the upper arms of malnourished and severely underweight children are. It's basically just their bones. Only when you really think about it and someone is there to show you how bad the situation for these children is, do you realize that something needs to be done. Luckily, UNICEF is not just out there to make privileged people sad, shocked, and feel somewhat helpless but they obviously have a way to help. This is where the peanuts from my title come into play in the form of Plumpy'Nut. Plumpy'Nut is a high-energy peanut-based paste that also includes skimmed milk powder, sugar, vegetable fat, and vitamins and minerals. Each package has a whopping 500 calories and with three packages a day, a malnourished and underweight child can recover and begin to gain weight. It does not need to be cooked or refrigerated, and even stays fresh after opening. What's even better about it is that it is produced in countries with some of the highest rates of malnutrition in the world! That means that local farmers are receiving money and also that the product is readily and quickly available when it is needed.
Here is an infographic that I found:
Amazing, right? I was so impressed by this incredibly easy solution that is helping children survive! Of course, when Ronja, the UNICEF girl that I was talking to, took out an iPad and told me about how even I as a college student could help feed children around the world, I knew that I had to sign up for a monthly donation. UNICEF offers monthly (tax-deductible) donations that even fit your college budget! You can start with as low as $5 a month and when you think about it, that's one Starbucks drink or not even one trip to Chipotle. I think most of us would be able to sacrifice $5 a month, and not spend it on something that we do not need anyways and help save lives instead. I mean, how badass does that sound? I, as a broke college student, save lives every month and you can too! Instead of just learning about such things in our classes at our private liberal arts colleges, we can actually go out there and do something to make a change in the world. It's what we all wrote in our college essays and I think it's time that we actually do something. So please consider donating. I could not find the exact same link for the US but they also have a monthly donation program where your money helps in so much more ways and directly where it is needed.
According to the German UNICEF page, it takes only 38€ (appr. $42)) a month to feed one child. That's about 45ct (USD) for one peanut package. It really isn't much. How much could you buy with 45ct that would benefit you more than it would benefit a starving child? - Think about it the next time you're hungry and simply open your fridge and grab a bite to eat. I will leave you with these links:
US link: https://www.unicefusa.org/donate/give-monthly-end-...
Buy gift card for someone you love and help them feed 15 malnourished children for 5 days with this package (USA): https://inspiredgifts.unicefusa.org/gifts/therapeu...
For all the Canadians out there: https://secure.unicef.ca/ea-action/action?ea.clien...
And in case anyone from Germany is reading this: https://www.unicef.de/spenden/jetzt-spenden?purpos...
Look at this happy little Plumpy'Nut eating baby. Isn't it cute? (I am trying really hard to convince you here)
