We spent the day in Kruger National Park in search of the “Big 5.” We saw them all except the leopard.
These days are always relaxing and a little adventurous, especially for the boys. But whenever I come close natures fiercest predators, I am quickly reminded of the predators of children living in extreme poverty.
Here are the Big 5 killers of kids around the world.
- Acute respiratory infections (like pneumonia)
- Diarrhea
- Newborn disorders
- Malaria
- Malnutrition
The term “Big 5” originally came from African game hunters, and refers to the most
difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot.
However, the top child killers are all preventable and treatable. They are not difficult to find, hunt, and kill. We’ve all but wiped them out in the U.S.
We never hear about these killers because U.S. kids don’t often die of diarrhea…and almost never from malaria or malnutrition.
But there are billions of children who are stalked by these killers every day of their lives. And they cannot fight them on their own.
It costs about a $300 to feed a child 3 meals a day for a full year, and it costs only $10 to buy and install a malaria net. Clean water? Clean water wells can cost over $10,000, but provide clean water for a very long time for a whole lot of people. Clean water means no diarrhea.
What do we lack? We lack the will. We lack the enthusiasm.
Like I mentioned yesterday, hundreds of thousands of soccer fans have come to South Africa to cheer madly for teams from other countries. What if we bottled that enthusiasm and focused it on feeding children, preventing disease, and delivering clean water?
Let’s go hunt some child-killers today.
Later I am going to post on a place called Mpaka. A HopeChest CarePoint in Swaziland that has experienced transformation because a group of people got together and cared for kids. It’s a living picture of how we can eliminate poverty and restore wholeness to orphans.
If you want to journey with us, I’d encourage you to download our Beyond the Game Devotional. Want to come back to South Africa with HopeChest? Visit our Pastor Vision Trip page.
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