Energy Crises, Drought, Floods? People Around the World Can Relate.

World Concern
Thursday, 12 April 2001

APRIL 12, 2001 - SEATTLE – This Earth Day, the Seattle-based international relief and development organization World Concern urges Americans to reach beyond their immediate crises and think globally. People around the world struggle with many of the same problems we currently face in the United States.

For instance, rolling power outages, bankrupt power companies, and high energy prices throw Californians into a state of panic, but consider the situation in Republic of Georgia, where for most of the winter, business owners and communities have had to make due with only two hours of electricity per day. And, unlike sunny southern Cal, where air conditioning creates the highest electricity demand during the summer months, Republic of Georgia depends on electricity most during their typically harsh winters.

Washington State also faces energy shortages, as drought threatens to damage the fisheries and agricultural economy in that region. The Maasai people in the Narok district of Kenya are dealing with drought, too, one of the worst in Kenya's history. Dehydration, malnutrition and the destruction of livestock, the primary source of income for these nomadic people, have become major concerns. In Washington, the governor is urging citizens to conserve electricity and to use less water. People in Africa cope with drought in a variety of ways: by eating fewer meals, relying on relief agencies like World Concern, and returning illegally to their traditional diets of wild game like giraffe and eland… desperate measures by desperate families.

This week, floods in North Dakota and Minnesota occupy US headlines. Washed out roads and threatened homes remind us of our vulnerability to a higher power. Communities in Bolivia can relate. In the high altitude plains near La Paz, houses made from adobe bricks melt away in the rain. Flooding clears the landscape of crops, homes, and farms. Food and adequate health care are scarce and relief is difficult to find when roads to outlying villages no longer exist.

All citizens of the world share the Earth, and many share similar problems. Individually, we can do little to stop global warming, environmental destruction, and poverty. But, with an attitude of service to each other, we can create solutions and work together to feed the hungry, protect our environment, and join hands across the boundary lines that separate us.

For more information, or to contact World Concern, see their website at: www.worldconcern.org