Africa's True Treasure

Africa is a continent of great contrast. There is unimaginable beauty in its sweeping landscapes and soft, golden air.. and heartrending poverty evidenced by round-bellied youngsters on roadsides who stoically wait with hand outstretched to each passer-by who might offer sustenance of one sort or another.

Those children whose families can afford uniforms and fees fare better, and are able to attend school. They exit their modest dwellings, white shirts impeccable and heads high, to walk long distances on dusty roads to their classrooms.

Many clutch containers: their first job of the day is to collect the kerosene needed to fuel lamps and cooking stoves.
They eye us curiously as we pass by in our safari trucks, and so often offer a smile that's wider than the sky.

That smile is what I wish for every child, the simple joy of a day with enough to eat, and the chance to build a better life through education. While such things are a given for most children in North America, this is not the case in Sub-Saharan Africa. I've written previously of how AIDS/HIV, corruption and war are crippling families and depriving children of a future.

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It is estimated that fifteen million orphans in Africa struggle daily to get by without parents or support systems.

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Fifteen million...

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These beautiful children are the true treasures of the African continent. I never tire of looking at their eager faces...the expectation of children everywhere that the world will bring them joy and fulfillment.

We must make this a world that offers every child that hope.

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I am not brilliant..I do not know how to stop the government corruption that keeps aid money from getting to the needy..or
how to help forgotten orphans in far-flung villages who have lost their parents and
grandparents to AIDS and poverty..but I know I must do something.
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I went to Africa as a tourist after years of
dreaming I might. I saw beauty that left me breathles, and fell in love with its many joys..but nothing touched my heart so deeply as its children.

Children are our future. Whether here or on the other side of the world, they are our greatest treasure and our richest resource.

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My hope is that every child's face may shine with health and the anticipation of good things to come, no matter where they happen to live.

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Surely that's not too much to ask...is it?
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