Hope for slums: Small actions change lives.

http://oslantis.com/projects/hope-for-slums-3/

One of the things we forget to be thankful for is the blessing of living in a comfortable house. If you are reading this, there is a strong possibility that you have access to a decent house and many amenities that are not accessible to millions of people in the world. Last thursday was Thanksgiving and we were supposed to be thankful for every blessing in our lives. Were you thankful for not having to worry about poor living conditions?

In the world, 863 million people live in slums and this number is expected to rise to 2 billion by 2030. For those who are not common with slums, they are “heavily populated urban areas characterized by substandard housing and squalor.” People living in slums lack some of the basic needs to live decently and are exposed to diseases that can be avoided if we decide to act. We love complaining but we rarely think about a way to change things and improve other people’s lives. Sometimes we believe that we are not strong or powerful enough to make a difference. Well, we need to understand that small actions can make a difference.

One of my friend told me about her team project to solve one of the world’s biggest issues. One person can make a change but a village can have a bigger impact. Therefore, they are working to create a challenge that brings people together to improve the lives of slums inhabitants. Their objective is to gather on one hand people who want the problem to be solved and on the other one, people who have creative ideas that can help solving it. One of the things I like about their idea is that they are looking for projects that take into account the culture and social foundations of the slums communities. They want ideas that involve working with the people who will be affected by the change instead of imposing a pseudo solution that will not be useful to the communities. If you want to learn more about their project, be inspired and make a change, you can follow the blog Hope for slums and you also have the opportunity to make a donation for the crowdfunding here.

Will you be the one continuously complaining about not being able to make a big change or will you start with smaller actions to make a difference?

Links:
http://oslantis.com/projects/hope-for-slums-3/
http://claudiapfaffenlehn.wix.com/hopeforslums