Luxury

Several months ago, I was reading an article in the Economist about one of the biggest slums in Africa. It described the economy, housing, safety, infrastructure, and self-sufficiency of this slum. There was one factoid from this report that caught my attention: most of these slum-dwellers ate all their meals outside their homes. The article mentioned that they didn’t have the luxury of preparing meals at home. Most of these ‘homes’ didn’t have kitchens or bathrooms. Neither did they have enough money on hand to buy fuel (firewood, charcoal, or dried cow dung) or the ingredients for multiple meals. Local restaurants could buy ingredients and food in bulk and cook for the masses, thus reducing the cost of each meal.

I had never thought of preparing meals at home as a luxury before reading that article. I counted up the actual cost of a simple meal at my home: rice and lentils with spinach. I buy rice and lentils in bulk. For $22, I can buy the ingredients for many meals for my family. However, many people don’t have the luxury of having $22 on hand to buy in bulk or the space to store these things without rodents or insects getting into it. According to the latest statistics, almost half the world—over three billion people—live on less than $2.50 a day. http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

This got me thinking of all the other luxuries I take for granted. I have more than adequate shelter, a bathroom in my home, access to clean water, electricity, medicine, sanitation, education, and transportation. I live in a peaceful area, where I’m not likely to be gunned down or tortured before sundown. I am able to feed and take care of my child.

What can we, who live in luxury, do to help the other half of the world?