URGENT: HELP to finally end the death's of 30,000 people a day

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Wednesday June 29, 2005 00:27 by Michael michaeloconnell2001 at yahoo dot com

(Please email this plea to your entire email list wherever they may be)

The below is a plea to the world to finally end poverty. Please read and pass it on by e-mail to all of your contacts.

The year 2005 is a vital year for the end of world poverty. Great momentum has been built up going back decades but accelerating with the start of the new millennium and now with a massive MakePovertyHistory campaign around the world which is going to be backed up by Geldof's Live 8 concerts right around the globe. Modern technology and huge improvements in communication have also greatly helped this momentum. The UK chair the G8 this year. Blair and in particular Gordon Brown are really committed to making real progress.

This is real momentum and right now the possibility of eliminating extreme poverty/drastically reducing it, is the best chance the human race has had to date in our whole history.

We must constantly remind ourselves that some 1 Billion people are suffering from extreme poverty. 30,000 people (mostly children) are dying every single day from extreme poverty. That is 1,200 every hour. One person every 3 seconds. Watch the below video made by some of the world's most famous people to visually emphasize this point:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/video/

These are real people. No different to you and I. They are someone's son, someone's daughter, someone's mother, someone's father - loved every bit as much as we are and wept for every bit as much as we would if we lost a loved one. They breathe the same as we do. They dream the same way as we do. They are no different to us in even the slightest way. They are not different to us, they ARE us.

With the huge growth in worldwide wealth over the past two centuries, brought upon by the Industrial Revolution in the 1800's, ALL of these deaths are COMPLETELY needless and COMPLETELY preventable.

Humanity can not let this DAILY HOLOCAUST continue any longer. The momentum to stop it is growing and growing. It must stop now. How can humanity have this on its conscious year after year after year??

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NOW WHAT CAN YOU DO???

Most humans exonerate themselves from or quietly ignore this daily holocaust. We blame it on the world's governments and say that it is completely out of our hands. But we elect these governments so we are intrinsically involved and responsible.

Most people say there is nothing they can do. Wrong. The following is a list of just "some" of the things you can do. I urge you not to be responsible in any way for the deaths of these 30,000 people a day. Do something. Even if is only very little. 2005 is the best year to date in the whole of human history to stop this holocaust. Real momentum is building. We can all see it every day. Be part of that momentum. DO SOMETHING. The dying will thank you:-

1. Firstly send this report via email to your entire e-mail list. Help spread the word. Surely this is the easiest thing one can do. Even if all your contacts do not live in Ireland, pass it on anyhow. There are things in this report that people can do no matter what country in the world they live in.

2. Some people still do not have email addresses. Print this report out and allow them to read it. Print some information out from some of the sites I have listed below and allow them to read it and make up their own minds as to what they want to do.

3. Email this to your managing director in work and ask if the email could be circulated to the company. Surely something of this magnitude of importance should be allowed to be circulated.

4. Join the MakePovertyHistory campaign. This will take all of 2 minutes and no money! Just fill in your email address and name etc. Your name will be added to a database which can help apply pressure to world leaders and you will receive updates on how the campaign is progressing and what you can do to help. Simply log onto:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/mph/userprofile/keepintouch.do

(Bono & Geldof will give you some encouragement when you get there!)

5. Buy a white band and wear it on your wrist or put it somewhere. You can buy one through Oxfam/Trocaire/Concern/Drop the Debt Coalition and other organizations. Click on the following link to find out the closest place to you:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.ie/wband.html

6. G8 leaders meet in Edinburgh for a very significant conference which, if enough pressure is applied by the public, could have a huge impact on world poverty.

There will be a large rally held in Dublin this Thursday, June 30th, starting at 6.30pm from Parnell Square. Go along for an hour after work. E-mail/texts your friends and ask them to go along. For more info. click on:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.ie/rally.html

You can download a poster for the event and put it in your local shop:-

http://www.debtireland.org/resources/poster.htm

For those in or nearer to Cork, there was a rally last Saturday, June 25th. Sorry if you did not hear about it.

7. There will be a massive rally held in Edinburgh this Saturday July 2nd just before the G8 Summit. Hundreds of thousands of people will attend. If you can, try and get there. Oxfam are organizing buses from Ireland - Click on:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.ie/news_pops/news_edin.html

These buses may already be full but ring Oxfam to find out and they may be able to help you in getting there. T:+353 (0)1 672 7662 F: +353 (0)1 672 7680 Mail communications@oxfam.ie
Drop the debt coalition can also help you to arrange flights/ferries and and may also be organizing buses. Contact Eamon Stack Tel: 01-8571828 Email: estack@debtireland.org
Most development organizations should be able to help you.

8. Write (more effective) , email or ring your local TD, the Taoiseach or the Minister for finance Brian Cowan. For a sample letter see:-

http://www.dochas.ie/Working_Groups/ODA/sample_letter.htm

To locate your local TD and ask him what he/she is doing about things go the following link to find easily:- http://www.rte.ie/news/oireachtas/ Clicking on the constituency profile is probably the easiest way to find the person. There is full contact information on this web page for very TD and Senator in Ireland. Alternatively call lo-call 1890 337889

9. Email Tony Blair:-

http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/mph/campaign.do?code=etb

10. Educate yourself on the state of poverty in the world. By just being fully aware, you are doing something HUGE. Here are just some sites. Obviously there are thousands of sites and books to learn more. A highly recommended book just published
this year is entitled "The End of Poverty" by Jeffrey Sachs (forward by Bono). He is regarded by many as the most important economist in the world and endorsed by such philanthropists/financiers as George Soros. Available in all local book stores or on Amazon:-


Here are just some websites:-

http://www.dochas.ie/time_for_action.htm
http://www.debtireland.org
(also contains links to useful websites -
http://www.debtireland.org/links/index.htm )
http://www.oxfamireland.org
www.comhlamh.org
http://www.makepovertyhistory.ie
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/
http://www.trocaire.ie/
http://www.concern.net/indexD.php
http://www.goal.ie/
www.fairtrade.ie

11. Apart from educating yourself about poverty, of course all these organizations badly need volunteers. Or even just become a member of one of the organizations. Be on an emailing list and keep yourself updated of what is going on.

12. And again of course, donations are always, always needed. Ideally become a life long donator to one or more organizations by setting up a monthly direct debit with as little (or as much) as you want per month.

13. Go through these websites and loads of others and you will find loads of other things you can do. A lot of which will take the minimum of effort on your part.

14. Last but, certainly, not least, for the more spiritually inclined. Pray. And pray hard.

So there is nothing I can do to stop 30,000 people dying a day. Come on. There is so much one could do, there is probably not enough hours in the day.

But just do something / anything!

Send this on to your entire e-mail list at least

Join the MakePovertyHistory campaign (will take 2 minutes!!)

Educate yourself

Write/email your local TD and/or Bertie Ahern

Email Tony Blair

Try to get to the rally this Thursday.

The world thanks you.