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This website is going to be my journal. It is going to be the place where all my thoughts, opinions and desires come into confluence. In the blog's section you'll find out more about what I mean by this.
What motivates me?
I'm a peripatetic person: I love walking around my
precious natal city Trujillo. Although many people regard it as a waste of
time, I may be physically wandering but mentally my brain is working adroitly. What do I actually
do? I study humankind, question, discuss and compare behaviours, rights, duties
and values.
These are the main questions that intrigued me during the whole year 2013 (and also steered me to decide to study economics): · How much human am I? · How much empathic are we? · How much empathic can I become? |
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More than 660,000 people perish every year, more
than one person per minute, most of them kids under the age of 5 born in
Sub-Saharan Africa, due to Malaria: a completely preventable and treatable
disease. As a matter of fact, I asked one of my medicine practitioners
classmates during a portuguese class what he knew about this malaise, and he
told me that it had been completely erradicated from our country. The gleam my
gaze described asked by itself: is there a cure? He started laughing, "Of
course there is... as long as you're treated immediately, everything should be
fine." But I asked one more question, "I suppose those medicaments
are a bit costly, aren't they?" He pronounced a number but I paid
attention to the following word: cents. Right after that moment, my
life didn't make any sense. How can we possibly live knowing there are people
dying every day, every minute? How can we even breath? Imagine saving a life
through donating US$1 to US$2 a day during the period the patient (now been
able to be named like that because of your charity) needs to follow the
program. Let's imagine you know there's someone out there in Malawi requesting
for your help, and his/her medical conditions have exacerbated (maybe due to his/her undernourished body) so he/she needs your help for a whole year with US$2 a day. That
would be a total amount of US$730. Let me ask you: how much money is a Malawian
life worth? Do you have a number in mind? Well, how much is yours?
2.3 million people died to HIV/AIDS during 2005, most of them were men and women aged between 17 and 40 years, and that's just the starting point because they indirectly transferred the responsability of rearing 5, 10, sometimes 15, orphan grandchildren to the grandmothers of the tribes who won't even be able to have a respite after a lifetime of toil.
1.2 billion people, according to the United Nations as to 2010, were in extreme poverty. This means their personal Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) was below (2005 International) US$1.25 a day. A bit more than 38 Earth years include the same amount in seconds.
1.2 billion people, according to the United Nations as to 2010, were in extreme poverty. This means their personal Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) was below (2005 International) US$1.25 a day. A bit more than 38 Earth years include the same amount in seconds.
Poliomyelitis, an illness that no longer exists in most parts of the world, still kills poor individuals because they don't have access to reliable sources of treated drinking water, so they need to supply themselves with water from the rivers where animals and themselves defecate. These living standards are deplorable and I would never wish them to any human being.
I need to stress that we are not talking about vacuous numbers, we are talking about people! Just like you and me. People with feelings, aspirations, hopes, beliefs, dreams, competencies, families and every inherent characteristic we may have, who on a daily basis have to bear the burden of hazardous and precarious circumstances. Don't you think they deserve, at least, a dignified life? I think they do. Each one and all of them, what do you think?
I need to stress that we are not talking about vacuous numbers, we are talking about people! Just like you and me. People with feelings, aspirations, hopes, beliefs, dreams, competencies, families and every inherent characteristic we may have, who on a daily basis have to bear the burden of hazardous and precarious circumstances. Don't you think they deserve, at least, a dignified life? I think they do. Each one and all of them, what do you think?