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Ripples

Warning: This article has mentions of child marriage which some might be uncomfortable with. Read at your own risk.

 

We all know the devastating impact that war causes.

Most, if not all of the TPS community, have seen the photos depicting crumbling cities, mushroom clouds, and the bodies of thousands of individuals that gave the ultimate price for what they believed in.

But many don’t live in war. Most never have to see the horrifying reality of our loved ones dying with nothing that can be done. Most will never see a battlefield with their own eyes and witness a dying soldier.

However, there are other consequences of war, consequences that people miss. While the media pushes the images of bloody, destructive war, many people in far-off countries are suffering from the ripples of conflict that spread throughout the war.

While we sympathize and pray for Ukraine, which needs our support and prayer, we shouldn’t forget that other countries are also paying the price of Russia’s war.

According to the United Nations, the previous number of those who were ‘food insecure’ has doubled from 135 million to 276 million since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The war is not making the number better.

Russia and Ukraine are both top producers of wheat, third and eighth respectively. With both countries at war, nearly 30% of the world’s wheat supply is disappearing. Adding in inflation, people who already faced the threat of malnutrition begin to get desperate.

While malnutrition is terrible, many people don’t realize the ripple effect that comes from the desperation of needing food.

Households affected by food insecurity are more likely to experience things like domestic violence, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

In order to feed themselves, families will take out high-interest loans that hurt their financial situation. Many pull their children from school in order to work and pay for food. Since many better-paying jobs require an education, this prevents children from breaking the cycle of poverty.

Another way to gain money for impoverished families is through dowries. Many girls are forced to marry early in order to secure a dowry, a bridal payment, for their parents. These girls are no longer allowed to go to school and are often forced to have children for their husbands.

Studies have also shown that girls and women often eat less and last. 70% of the world’s hungry are already women and girls. That number will only continue to rise as the crisis lasts. Some parents and older children will also skip meals so others can eat, keeping them from the necessary nutrients they need to work.

War affects people in different ways. Sometimes it’s physical or mental injury, like a soldier in battle. But other times, it’s a small child asking his mother why there is no lunch today. It’s a young girl forced into a new situation away from everything she knows. It’s a little boy whose dreams of being an engineer have been swept away when his family needs him to work to provide for his six siblings.

All of these are important. All cry out for action. All require prayer.

 

https://www.compassion.com/for-sponsors/stories/sponsor-enews/global-food-crisis-impacting-children.htm?referer=640753&j=842356&sfmc_sub=148252131&l=2416_HTML&u=16033165&mid=524004730&jb=132&alias=%%linkname%%&utm_source=mc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Compassion_Connection_August13_2022_212437

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wheat-production-by-country

Photo Credit: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2020/12/11/what-is-xrp-and-how-is-it-related-to-ripple/
https://www.compassion.com/Images/hungry-children-in-africa_163736_640x276.jpg

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