Is anyone else bothered by the starving baby adverts on at dinner time?
Usually they are aired just as I wipe my last piece of garlic bread in my carbonara sauce.
I then dont know whether to turn away, switch channels or feel sick.
Oxfam has (of late) been quite a controversial charity. Many wealthy celebs have moved away from it as it no longer uses as much of its funding to provide contraceptive choices to the poor families who cant afford (monetarily or physically) to have more babies.
Obviously when I see a starving baby I want to reach out and rescue it - but is that really an option?
Should the parents have considered that they cannot provide for another child and until they can they should look after themselves and the family they already have rather than bring another child into the world?
I have 4 children and when I discovered I was expecting Honey I was joyful and devastated all in the same moment. We hadnt budgetted for another child, our home wasnt big enough, or our car. We both worked full-time (I worked nights as we couldnt afford childcare) and we felt our family was complete.
After a very stressful couple of weeks we came to terms with being a four-child family and knuckled down and got on with it. We couldnt afford foreign holidays or trips to the zoo but we had a week at the coast most years and kept an eye out for special offers so that our children did not feel they were missing out. We welcomed Honey into our lives and felt blessed to have her.
As my parents would say: We cut our clothes to suit our cloth.
We were lucky to be able to manage. We lived in a country that supported families with child benefit and working child credit. We had a choice.
The parents in the third world have a choice, but they are not educated to think like we do, they believe that their children are their wealth - what a mis-conception (no pun intended) that is!
If I truly felt that we as a nation could wave a magic wand and irradicate child poverty and starvation then I would dig deep and send all I could to this worthy cause.
I dont actually believe that sending money to Oxfam will achieve that aim.
So, until a 'cure' is found could they please stop airing these distressing adverts at meal times?
I work hard and when I get home I want to enjoy a meal with MM without feeling like I dont deserve it.
I dont object when Children In Need asks for support - I can see what the money is going to and the good it does. I know when the programme will be aired and I can choose when to watch it.
I have a friend who goes to the Third World with a group and they use their skills, building, plumbing etc to help individual villages to help themselves. I would rather support them - and all without being made to feel guilty of a crime I didnt commit.
3 comments:
As someone who is (currently) the sole benefactor of a school in Ghana (through my fund-raising I must say), I know what you mean. However, there is such abundance and gluttony in the Western world that I also think any reminder of the "other half" is a good reminder. The fact that it airs at dinner time should serve to remind us how truly lucky we are to have been born into a country that gives us the education and the ability both to avoid having too many children (or try to), and the ability to feed them.
In the countries you speak of, children, while in practical terms, a burden, are literally seen as a blessing. This is in part because they will support their parents as the parents age. More children means more chance of not starving to death when old.
And unfortunately, for the poor souls that literally starve to death, contraception is a "nice to have" (if they even know about it), and not even thought of as an urgent need.
And yes, if you are moved to help these people, there are many smaller charities out here who put 99% of their donations straight to work. Just do your homework.
Thanks for your comment. As I said I do appreciate that there are people out there whose efforts do make a difference - my main objection is to the massive Oxfam campaign.
Having just read Paul Theroux book on his latest visit to Africa going back to places he lived in 25 years ago. I have decided my charity money will only go towards things like
installing simple manual water pumps
loaning a woman a goat/bicycle etc
rather than charities that dole out food. Harsh I know but unfortunately Africa needs to relearn how to fend for itself and not survive on handouts. Too many generations of Africans have been born accepting charity that it is now what they expect and demand as their right.
Read the book it explains it all so much better.
from memory the title was something like Dark Star Planet?
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