One life.

Porridge and water.

That's the first meal I had access to at dinnertime today, along with 20 million children in Africa who have been left orphaned by AIDS.

The difference between them and me is that right afterward, I got to pile in a car with a few friends and my debit card and squash my hunger with a juicy Wendy's cheeseburger and french fries. Those kids aren't that lucky.

Ironically, my roommate and I were absolutely starving when we went to "poverty meal" and all we could think of was how hungry we were and how desperately we wished we could get something to eat beforehand so we didn't have to eat what they would be serving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_2GAEzJL6I<---- then, as we were eating our 'meal,' they showed this video. Take a minute and check it out.

Suddenly, I felt so guilty for complaining so much about my hunger when I knew full well that as soon as I got out of there I would have a multitude of food options waiting for me. For those 20 million orphans, that simple meal that we so wanted to avoid is all they have to sustain them for an entire day. In a world where there's a McDonalds around every corner and the majority of our population struggles with obesity, I doubt any of us could comprehend that. I wonder if anyone in America could survive a week living like they do.

drink in these statistics:

Many African women walk six miles every day for water. Average North Americans walk six miles every month.

North American teens spend an average of $101 per week. $101 will send two african children to school for a year.

Every day, Americans spend 1 billion dollars dining out. Every night, 799 million people go to sleep hungry.

Average life expectancy in North America: 77; in Zambia: 35.

In some countries, 1 out of every four people is infected with AIDS.

Eye-opening, isn't it? I don't know about you, but facts like that make me desperately want to go out and do something. There are kids under 10 in Africa being denied a childhood because they are forced to raise themselves. Imagine what they would do for just a small piece of what we have available to us every single day. The thing is, we have the ability to give it to them. It's just a matter of shifting the focus off of our own lives for a minute and thinking globally. We get so caught up in all the unnecessary trappings of life--the newest fashions, the fanciest cars, the latest technologies--while there are countries around the world who lack the most basic necessities. Something about that doesn't make sense to me.

I've noticed lately how quick we have been to rally around Haiti and make sure they have the funds to rebuild their destroyed country, and I applaud America for that, but Haiti is not the only country out there that needs what we have to offer. America has the power and resources to make a huge difference in the world. I firmly believe that.

So tell me, when are we going to make it happen?