On behalf of World Action Against Poverty, Inc. and on my own behalf, I wish to thank our volunteers and sponsors without whom all these programs we have being undertaken would not be a success.

Today there are over 100,000 abandoned and orphaned children, living in state-run, poorly equipped orphanages and children’s hospitals. Very poor parents who take their sick children to the hospital often leave them there permanently.

There are also twenty thousand or more children living on the streets. Many of the street children and teenagers will die of disease, hunger or exposure to the harsh weather.

World action Against Poverty Inc is a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to making a difference in these young lives. Not only do we feed them, but we clothe them and give them quality education for the benefit of mankind. Most of the developing countries we have visited over this few years have hard working people who spent most of their time farming or engaging in some form of trade, but they can still hardly afford on square meal a day.

We teach them to be in charge of their own feeling, beliefs and actions. We embrace everyone on the streets with a simple message no matter who you are, no matter where you are and no matter how many times you failed in the past; there is hope for their future. This simple message has had a long rippling effect on thousands of people we have helped.

Our message and mission is inspired by George Bernard Shaw:
“It’s the first duty of everyman not to be poor”. Another person made a statement “I have been rich and I’ve been poor, and rich is better”.

The only thing you can learn studying poverty is how to be poor. With a heavy heart I personally invite you to make a donation to our program because poverty is dirty, uncomfortable, degrading experience. It is a form of disease.

A great writer once wrote, “Great fortunes or comfortable means are blessing only when they are used to benefit other.

People are hungry not because of lack of availability of food, or “over” population, but because they are too poor to afford the food. Politics and economic conditions have led to poverty and dependency around the world. Addressing world hunger therefore implies addressing world poverty as well. If food production is further increased and provided to more people while the underlying causes of poverty are not addressed, hunger will still continue because people will not be able to purchase food.

In Africa the poor are not only those with a lack of money, but also people in a condition, which involves the experience of shame, powerlessness, social, religious and political exclusion. The poor are people of overdue rights. They are people who are landless, homeless, starving and exploited. They are cursed, shunned by others and condemned to live on the periphery of mainstream society. They are either unable to gain access to the good things offered by society or take part in public decisions. 

The poor in Africa are those who have inadequate access to income, resources and services; are unable to do certain tasks that are essential for fulfilling one’s human potential and carrying out one’s social responsibilities; are shunned, denigrated, blamed, patronized and ostracized by others; have little, or no opportunity to participate in decisions affecting their life; are uprooted as refugees or displaced persons; are treated as non-persons-powerless, excluded, marginalized, in effect living ‘in exile’ in their own society.

Francis Nanaba
President - World Action Against Poverty, Inc.