Good Morning DINKS! Today we are discussing the crisis and famine in East Africa. Before you all bombard this post with nasty comments asking what the Famine in East Africa has to do with DINKS Finance let me explain how the two are linked. The less fortunate people in East Africa are dying of starvation and they need donations. Fortunately there are people in this world such as us DINKS who have the financial means to help out. There lies the link between DINKS and the Famine in East Africa. Just in case that was not clear the link between The Famine in East Africa and DINKS Finance is that Africa needs money and DINKS have money.
What is the Problem in East Africa?
East African countries such as Somalia and Ethiopia are currently facing a major drought. Approximately 11 million people are starving for food and dying of hunger. I personally don’t understand how local and international governments could let the famine situation escalate out of control, but nevertheless the United Nations recently declared famine in East Africa.
Unfortunately this is not the first time People in East Africa have been devastated by famine. In 1985 hundreds of thousands of people died because of starvation. This is when several great musical minds such as Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie came together to create the original “We Are The World” song and music video. This song features many musical talents such as Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, and Stevie Wonder. Could you eat your next meal knowing that someone in East Africa is dying of hunger?
World Vision TV commercials advertise the fact that we can feed a child for only $0.30 per day. If I can spend $100 per week on groceries and up to $5 per day on coffee and snacks then I can afford to donate $0.30 per day to help people who are less fortunate and literally starving to death.
How Can We Help People in East Africa?
I am happy to say that many different companies and communities from cell phone providers to financial institutions are accepting donations in support of East Africa. Next time you visit the pharmacy or you make an online purchase check to see if the company is accepting donations.
Many local and national charities are currently accepting donations for East Africa. We can even make our donation via PayPal.
Here are some charities that are currently supporting efforts and accepting donations for East Africa:
Kristina Tahnyak
Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.
Thanks for bringing attention to this cause, since it’s an important current event for all of us to be aware of. Here is an article related to this, and how donating to this cause will benefit anyone’s personal finances. It also has a link to the Save The Children website for easy donation.
http://blog.perkstreet.com/the-positive-effects-that-giving-can-have-on-your-finances/
Hope it helps, and thanks for sharing.
Hey Carrie,
Thank you for the information. I hope that more people take action and help out the people of East Africa.
First point: I agree that it would help to lend a hand, make a donation to the Red Cross, etc. Second point: What I don’t agree with is that this is merely & only a matter of not enough money in East Africa. I remember the famine of 1985 in East Africa – it even became part of the plot of the TV show St. Elsewhere. What came out a few years later is that much of the vast quantities of money & food sent to East Africa never got to many starving people, for several reasons having nothing to do with the amount of money or food in East Africa. One reason was that too much of the food sat on the docks b/c there weren’t railroads and/or roads to get the food to remote regions where people were starving. [Why Africa as a whole has such poor infrastructure is a whole ‘nother issue.] Another reason was b/c the local/national authorities too often refused to send food to certain parts of their own country, b/c they said the people in that part of the country were from the wrong tribe – from tribes that my family’s tribe was been enemies with for time out of mind. Almost everything in East Africa is tribal – witness the tribal-oriented killings during the riots in the relatively stable country of Kenya in 2007-08. Africa is probably the most resource-rich continent on the planet, and yet they have struggled with unimaginable poverty for centuries. What Africa needs is far more than just money, and while that’s a topic for another post, it has to do with overarching issues like worldview and values. To pre-empt those who might claim this is “blaming the victim” – no, this is saying why is it that certain parts of the world are always in need of help after disasters, and why is it that certain countries in the world are always the ones who both provide and are asked for that help? Does China (either as a government or through generous donations from countless citizens) send money to Haiti after its earthquake? Does Russia? Do oil-rich Libya or Columbia or Iraq? Hmmm?