What is the first thing you think about when someone says ‘Africa’? Maybe the comedy hit, Madagascar or the Disney legend, Tarzan. However, not many think about the incredible amount of poverty that Africa is home to. According to one study, seventy-five percent of the world’s poorest countries reside in Africa. That is just one statistic out of the hundreds that are true about this continent's poor economy. If we educated ourselves and those around us about these issues, we would be able to help more productively. In this essay, we will discuss Africa’s lack of clean water, lack of food, and lack of health to help raise our awareness of the need so we can support more precisely. By identifying the three leading causes to poverty in Africa,…show more content… Water isn’t something we really tend to think about in America, but for many families in Africa, it’s all they can think about. In fact, for 358 million people in Africa, it’s what they do from morning until dusk; they try to find water. Many children can’t go to school because it takes all day to get water for their families. Unfortunately, the water these poor children finally do bring back, ends up endangering themselves and their families with various diseases that often times lead to death. It’s a vicious cycle: if the children don’t get water for their homes they die of dehydration, but if they do get the water their families may eventually die due to diseases, anyway. If Africa had more clean water wells, the lack of water would lessen significantly, there wouldn’t be such a high percentage of deaths related to water diseases, and more children in Africa would have the chance to go to…show more content… However, in Africa where so many people are sick and dying, having the hope of being able to heal through medicine or a doctor’s skill, sounds wonderful, but unfortunately it's not. There are a lot of clinics and hospitals in Africa that can be more damaging to their patients than helpful. Because of the lack of funding, clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals are often shorthanded and become a breeding center for germs and diseases. The equipment used for different surgeries, procedures, and testings are many times infected and they don’t always perform correctly; some equipment that can save lives can’t be used because it’s broken and they are unable to replace it. Hospitals should be a place of safety and joy; not a morgue for the living. If the funding was boosted, the clinics could hire more staff, buy essential medicines and equipment, and redeem Africa in the name of
