Tikumu’s letter

Press, 15 November 1977, Page 18

Tikumu’s letter

Dear Children, Recently I saw a picture of some African children who live in Chad. They were walking through their village and they had spindly arms and legs and hollow faces. They looked frail and hungry. In this part of West Africa, I am told, the chances are that a person will not live to be more than 35 years old. And, if he is sick, he may die when he is even younger, because there are very few doctors and nurses.

There are many countries in the world like Chad. More than half of the world’s population is not properly fed, and men, women, and children feel hungry all the time. These people live in poor or under-developed countries, and yet it is in these areas that the world’s population is growing most rapidly. One way we can help

hungry and sick people Is to support the United Nations. This family of great and small countries has organisations whichwork hard in places like Chad to improve living standards, There is a big gap between rich nations like New Zealand where everyone eats well and has a comfortable home, and poor nations like Chad or India where each day a family must struggle to find sufficient food and avoid diseaseOne of the main aims of the United Nations is to lessen this gap between the rich and the poor. It hopes that countries will exist together peacefully, and that they will care for one another and share the resources of the world. We should think about some of the problems we must solve if we want people everywhere to be happy. Tikumu