War, disease, famine, and poverty plague the lives of civilians across the globe. As countries foreign to us fight these persistent battles, we sit upon our red, white, and blue throne with our greatest desires at our fingertips. 

Though the U.S. has its own problems that must be faced, some of the greatest struggles lay outside of the American borders. Poverty, hunger, violence, lack of education, and unemployment leave countries in chaos with no means to solve the issues. 

80000hours.org states, “Even someone living on the US poverty line of $11,000 per year is richer than about 85% of the world’s population. . .”

Devastated by the effects of prolonged civil war and economic turmoil, Yemen is considered to have the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. 80 percent of Yemen’s population is in need of humanitarian aid according to rescue.org. Hrw.org says there are 14 million people at risk of starvation, and government forces have blocked access to food supply and medical sources which has prolonged the civilians’ issues.  

Facing similar issues as Yemen, the Central African Republic’s civilians have been suffering in silence. Extended years of conflict and direct attacks on communities have forced over a quarter of individuals to flee their homes according to rescue.org. 

Violence also extends to volunteers working to improve conditions, which makes aiding this country challenging. Convoys bearing food and medical supplies have been directly attacked as well according to un.org. Despite the devastating lifestyle of the people residing in this country, insights.careinternational.org.uk stated it was one of the most underreported crises of 2019.

It is easy for us to be apathetic towards issues facing the rest of the world since we are not directly impacted by many of the atrocities that occur. Therefore, we don’t take it upon ourselves to learn about the people that are lacking the basic resources needed to survive.  

We should not feel guilty for indulging in the luxuries our well-developed modern world has to offer, but I do believe it is our responsibility to make sure these communities feel seen. It is hard to learn about these situations and accept the fact that many communities are suffering like this. However, it is harder to feel like there is nothing that can be done to help the issue when you are thousands of miles away. 

The easiest way to aid these communities from afar is to offer monetary assistance. If you have the means to donate to these worldwide catastrophes, visit care.org or concernusa.org.