Persuasive Essay - Think about the starving orphans in Africa.

Katelyn Vashaw-Hollon

Mrs. Frissora

Composition / Literature II

Oct. 13, 2011

            Now, we’ve all heard about the starving orphans in Africa. I’m not going to tell you that it’s just a dollar a day, because I know that adds up, same as you. I’m just asking you to think. There are little kids, infants even, who get less food in a month than we might get in a day. People out there are eating dirt, for crying out loud. Their position truly is desperate.

Think of the average American. The kids go to school, right? For the most part, people here only skip meals in order to feel good about their weight. A fair amount of us also go to college, an act almost unthinkable to Africans. We get jobs, start families, and generally have a pretty mediocre life.

Now think of African children. They are lucky if they go to school at all. Most are illiterate, have no developed skills, and basically have no future. Half of the children ages five through fourteen are estimated to be working in sweatshops, places that are abusive; have 10-20 hours a day, 7 days a week work periods; have low pay, as in less than $1.25 a day; are dangerous; include no benefits; and include similarly degrading atrocities.

And if that isn’t bad enough, a lot of the children are orphaned. These kids eat even less than the average African child because they don’t have their parents’ income to boost their own. HIV/AIDS has been going around, and it’s estimated that 10,000 children are orphaned because of this crisis. Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, no one can take them in because they, too, are going through rough times.

As you probably know already, AIDS is a disease that attacks your immune system, making it even easier to catch common illnesses, yet making them 10x more extreme. Low medical help has also been adding to amounts of those infected.

If these poor children were your own, you would certainly see and feel the need they have. Most of them don’t have someone who is compassionate towards them. How many times a day do you hug your child? Tell them they’re doing a great job? Express your love for them? It is a proven fact that children do not develop correctly without simple, familiar touches from loved ones. Some of them don’t even know what “love” is.

I’d bet you know the basic difference between good and bad, right? Being “good” is to be doing the things that are morally right, while being “bad” is just the opposite. So, what do you think helping starving orphans in Africa would be? And if you’d be being “good” while helping them, then why aren’t you doing it, because the opposite of good is bad, so if you’re not being good, then what do you think you’re being? Exactly.

By now, I’m sure you’re thinking: Well, what can I do to help them? The answer is simple. You can donate as much money as you want to or are able to. You’ll get a picture of the child you are sponsoring, and you’ll be able to contact them as much as you want. Bi-weekly or monthly updates can/will be sent to you concerning the child you are sponsoring. Your donations will make sure they have enough food, will allow them to see the very precious doctors, and go to school. You would want that for your children, wouldn’t you?