“Charity plays a significant role in the work of the United Nations and its agencies. On this International Day, I call on people everywhere to act on the charitable impulse that resides in every human being — to start giving and to keep on giving.” – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
BY HARNOOR GILL
Grade 11 student
Christ The King Catholic Secondary
Georgetown, Ontario
THE International Day of Charity is an important day for people across the planet to appreciate the hard work charitable organizations do in order to make this world a better place. The purpose of recognizing charities is to continue the awareness on the importance of charitable work in any way, shape or form. This day was inspired by Mother Teresa’s work and the United Nations has designated September 5 of each year for recognizing charitable work worldwide.
Not only does this commemorate the amazing work of such a humble human being, but it also reflects upon the death of a dedicated individual. In her own life, Mother Teresa made it a promise to always alleviate human crisis as well as human suffering around her. It’s because of her the act of giving back to the community through charitable work has become the norm and this is what will eventually help stop the persistence of poverty across the world.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations mentions how charity plays a huge role within the organization itself. He encourages everyone in the world to act on the impulse to start giving as well as keep on giving back. The truth definitely hurts on how poverty continues to persist in all countries of the world regardless of any social, cultural or economic situation. However, it’s never too late to create change in this world for the overall decrease in poverty through the work of numerous charities in the world. All it takes is the effort of volunteering and this is essential time in giving back through charity.
I personally volunteer with World Vision and this is a charitable organization that constantly has a campaign designed to combat the poverty seen in this world. The Gift Catalogue that ran throughout the year was an opportunity for people in wealthy, developed countries to support those who didn’t have the basic necessities of life in third world countries. Items such as water wells and livestock could be paid for abroad and would help support a suffering family. This was a great initiative by World Vision Canada and I helped by raising awareness on the campaign as well as informing as many people as I could about this initiative.
Initiatives as simple as this are what help combat the biggest issues of our world and this is exactly how Mother Teresa made a difference in her community through public awareness.
So for this year’s International Day of Charity, let us all come together and tackle the bigger issues we face today such as poverty by simply giving back.
