I never thought I'd see the day when I'd listen to listen to Elvis. Weird, isn't it? But the again... I've seen weirder... is weirder a word? The importance is little, so onward we bravely march! Because today I want to write an article about something that I can see people finding controversial. Are you ready for this? I hope you are?
Every year, my school takes part in "Operation Christmas Child". Each class raises brings in small toys, maybe a T-Shirt or socks, a toothbrush, toothpaste, coloring crayons and coloring books and other things like that. Each class is also asked to raise $5 for shipping. Everything is loaded into the shoebox and sent to a child in a third world country. There is a very high chance that you've heard of this program. It has grown considerably in recent years.
I am actually against this program. Not only am I, but so is my entire church. Now, you're probably thinking that I'm against this because I'm selfish. The truth is, I'm not. Let me explain my reasoning behind it.
A woman at my church went to live in Central America for a year. On Christmas Day, she took all the children from her church in Central America to the headquarters to get their shoeboxes. When she arrived, she found that they didn't have enough boxes to give all the children, so they closed the gates and the children on the outside were reaching in, trying to get things from the children that had received boxes. One of the women in charge of handing out the boxes asked the woman from church, "Did your country send these?" in a way that showed that these things weren't needed here.
If this doesn't break your heart, maybe this will; because not all the children receive boxes, there are some problems. Youths that have boxes are often forced to hide the things they receive because they are bullied by other children who don't get anything.
Many of the things we send can't be used. Maybe the child doesn't understand how they work. Or maybe it's something like shampoo or toothpaste. The children who get such products in their boxes are forced to use them in a river where they bathe. This is often the same place they get their drinking water. It can't be healthy drinking water if it's full of shampoo. Do you see what I mean?
There is another girl who is a part of my church, but that I do not know personally. She was given the chance to meet the girl who received her shoebox. She flew to Africa and met this girl. She had sent a T-shirt with Barney on it, and when she got to this girl's house, she saw the shirt hanging on the clothesline. It stood out like a sore thumb. All of the shirts from the girl's family were hand-made and fine-stitched.
Just because Christmas to me means receiving gifts, does not make it so all over the world. There's more to Christmas than getting new toys. Well, for most people there is. These are North American traditions (maybe partially European), but Christmas in Central America and in places like Africa is so different! Maybe toys aren't the right things for these children....
If you'd really like to help someone in need, why not support a charity like the food bank or UNICEF? If you'd like to see a reaction personally, why not help out at a local Soup Kitchen?
I hope I've given you something to think about. Until next time, this is Giggler01.
