Every 3 Seconds...

A child dies. That is 30,000 children a day that simply perish. UCD Graduate Ted Oswald is rallying student groups on campus to host a week of fund raising and awareness raising events (in Spring '07) to challenge people to care about extreme poverty. If every student gives $3 to a humanitarian/relief-based organization, then over $90,000 would be raised. Perhaps even more importantly, the world's poor would be emblazoned on students' consciences like never before, and who knows what change that could instigate! The possibilities are endless!

Check out: Give3.org. Give those 3 minutes to learn more.

The Girl in the Cafe

So this movie was recommended to me by a friend, and I would recommend it to everyone I meet in a heartbeat. So that's why I'm starting here. At first the film appears to be a quirky romantic comedy (the lead characters are SO awkward!) but it gradually pulls you into much graver territory. The plot actually centers around the G8 Summit in Reykjavik and challenges the viewers to wake up and face the stark reality that a child dies every 3 seconds from AIDS, treatable diseases or hunger. 30,000 children a day die. Statistics are easy for us to ignore. But each child that dies has a face, a family, a unique identity, gifts and talents and as much value and you or me (like the little girl below). This is a tragedy and an emergency, so what are the rich nations going to do about it? We have the power and resources to stop it. I highly recommend watching this film with some friends.