Kelly Gee-1

K. Gee
January 28, 2016
Paulson 8H Core B
Advocacy Speech
Child Hunger in South America
When it comes to having a central nervous system, and the ability to feel pain, hunger and
thirst, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy.
- Ingrid Newkirk
Many people don't understand the dangers of child hunger. Children in South America
live through harsh times hoping that they would be able to survive. Half of the world is able to
spend money on food, but the other half struggle. As I thought about this issue, I began to
wonder, Why are children facing these circumstances if half the world is able to spend money
on food? and Why is South America one of many countries suffering from hunger? I believe
that we should investigate ways to stop child hunger in South America.
South America is located on the Western Hemisphere and is just below North America.
Surprisingly, more than half a million people in South America are living in poverty and the rate
of families in poverty are increasing by 70%, which is a lot of people compared to other places
around the world (South America: HUNGER.) It turns out that families living in poverty have
no way of living a better life in South America. This is significant because families who live in
poverty will continue to be in poverty generation after generation (Hunger Carousel.) In fact,
families living in poverty get a minimum wage of one dollar a day, which results into not having
enough money to buy food (South America: CHILD HUNGER.) As a result, children begin to
starve and are fighting for their life to survive.

Kelly Gee-2
Even more importantly, nearly of child deaths are due to child hunger (Hunger
Statistics.) Children will get Severe Acute Malnutrition if they are not given enough food.
Over 13 million children who are under the age of five get Severe Acute Malnutrition (Result
Filters.) This is significant because usually, children do not face these types of problems. There
are two types of Severe Acute Malnutrition a child could get (Poverty Facts and Statistics by
WHES.) The two types of Acute Malnutrition are Marasmus and Kwashiorkor (Poverty Facts
and Statistics by WHES.) Marasmus is when a person looks very elderly and like a skeleton
(Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES.) Kwashiorkor is when parts of the body swell up,
causing severe cramping and pain (Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES.) A child is not
having enough food if his or hers arm circumference is less than twelve centimeters (South
America: HUNGER.)
There are many ways we can help stop the hunger in South America. One way is to get a
reasonable portion of food you know you can eat so none would go to waste. By saving the 1.3
billion tonnes of food that is wasted every year, more than 50% of the children in South America
who are in hunger could benefit from that (Food Waste Facts, South America: HUNGER.)
There is also a program called Bolsa Familia where you give money to families that need it in
South America (South America: HUNGER.) The Bolsa Familia program helps support
families in poverty with their education and health ("Social Protection.) This program was
created to meet a goal in which there would be zero hunger in South America (Social
Protection.)
No matter where you are in the world, people in your country are suffering from hunger. I
believe that we are able to help save millions of children who are in hunger. Even just doing a
little deed to help stop the hunger would benefit all these millions of people who need it. Help
make a difference by helping to stop the hunger!

Kelly Gee-3

Works Cited
"2015 World Hunger and Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES." 2015 World Hunger
and Poverty Facts and Statistics by WHES. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Food Waste Facts." World Environment Day -. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Jan. 2016.
"Hunger and World Poverty." Hunger and World Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Hunger Statistics | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting Hunger
Worldwide." Hunger Statistics | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of
Medicine, n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Social Protection." ILO. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"South America: HUNGER." South America: HUNGER. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Trapped on the Hunger Carousel: Generation After Generation." - Springer. N.p., n.d.
Web. 21 Jan. 2016.
"Who Are the Hungry? | WFP | United Nations World Food Programme - Fighting
Hunger Worldwide." Who Are the Hungry? | WFP | United Nations World Food
Programme - Fighting Hunger Worldwide. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Jan. 2016.