Article May 21, 2001 Issue

Hunger at home and abroad

The problem can be solved.

By Bob Press

Some 800 Million People worldwide suffer from hunger, according to a recent statement by Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). If you look, you can see some of them in your town or city, living on the streets. Others are invisible, including some elderly living at home on limited incomes.

As a newspaper correspondent covering Africa for eight years, I traveled widely with my photographer wife, Betty. Although drought was a factor, especially in Somalia and southern Sudan, civil war was the key reason people in those places were dying of hunger. It made me sad; it made my wife both sad and mad—a point I will return to later.

What can we do about the need for sufficient food? Such a question is sometimes answered too hastily. If you're a praying person, you can reach for the Bible and read examples of God's care and provision, and maybe assure yourself that the problem of hunger can be solved. You may even say a quick prayer to that effect, but not think about it much beyond that.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

GIVING MORE THAN A CUP OF MILK