Feed a child, bring joy to a soul.
We could quote the authorities and present the numbers: of the 925 million that go to bed hungry every night, and of the three million children dying of hunger. We could tune in to CNN and wade in the waters of social media and have a plethora of images of deathly pale children looking at the camera, almost hopelessly. Then again, we could simply look up and out from ourselves and our virtual world and see outstretched arms, lean and darkened by want. We may slow down enough to see the dignity that has been bestowed on a child by virtue of his or her humanity stripped bare by society.
Let’s not talk about the one-percenters however – the ‘society’: it has not done us much good in times past, it will hardly be any different now. Let’s talk about you and let’s talk about me – the ninety-nine percenters, most of whom whip their heads around in search of the blameworthy, as fast as they raise pointing and accusing fingers at them. Let us talk about the handful of us doing the work every one of us should be involved in. Let us talk about the Panacea Project. Let us talk about FACI, the Feed-A-Child Initiative.
Friedrich Nietzsche put it so well when he said that what really raises one’s indignation at suffering is not suffering intrinsically but the senselessness of suffering. Thus, faced with the problem of hungry children, each person with the means and opportunity to do something is faced with a choice: to do or not to do; to go beyond feeling sorry and expressing wordy sympathies or remain in our self-righteous condemnation of the devices that cause said hunger. The Panacea project exists today because a few people decided to put their money, time and energy where their mouths and words had been for so long; and the Feed-A-Child Initiative is now underway so driven by the goodwill of many.
Much has indeed been invested in FACI. Friends have urged friends to give generously. Voluteers have come forward to render help however they can. Sponsors and partners have been called upon to do what they will with the power that has been given them. There will never come a point where any of this will be enough because the tentacles of the evil that is being combated are indeed far-reaching and insidious; but as it has been said, ‘we will start from where we are, with what we have, where we can. Ibadan is where we are and what we can do is make June 9, 2018 memorable for 500 children.
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