by emma | Feb 17, 2006 | School
Tomorrow night is my school formal (prom, whatever you want to call it). First off, I am not going. I’ve got no interest in it, never really was a big one for dressing up and all that.
I dont get it though – whats the point in spending a small fortune on one night, if you’re going to get so drunk you wont remember any of it? I mean, the ticket costs £30 each to start with… then you’ve got a dress, I know a girl who bought a dress at £250! Then theres the handbag, the jewellery, the limo, the drinks, the taxi home…. Blah Blah Blah. Why would you spend so much on one evening, if you wont remember it?
Oh well. Here’s hoping (no, praying) that everyone who does go, will have a fantastic evening, that everyone will remain safe, and that above all, God will be glorified. It’s funny, a friend prayed that today, and it got me thinking… How can God be glorified in the formal? I’m still working that one out… and please dont take that as me saying He cant, becuase i FULLY believe He can, I’m just not sure what it looks like right now.
So, God, be glorified in the formal.
by emma | Feb 15, 2006 | School
What a great word! I’ve noticed that my blogging has been a bit sparodic recently, and to be honest, I’m not quite sure why. Have I just not had anything to say? Unlikely, because when have I ever been lost for words for very long?
I’ve been dosing about doing random things. Went to Queens University Belfast yesterday for a open day for students with offers for the mathematics department, and was very pleasantly suprised that it was actually pretty interesting! Got chatting to one of the lectures after the official presentations, and it was pretty interesting. It’s nice to sometimes just be able to talk about things your passionate about with someone who shares a similar passion. I mean, I’m a geek. No need to beat around the bush, I love maths and I love messing about with computers. I’m a geek. I’m happy with that! So sometimes it’s nice to talk about maths for ages with other people who don’t feel like running a mile!
Hmm is this one of those times? When I go on about my love of geeky things, and you dont really a) understand or b) care?!
Replies on a postcard…. I mean, the comments section!
by emma | Feb 9, 2006 | Africa
Recently God has been breaking my heart over Africa, and laying it heavy on my heart. Some statistics about Africa for you (courtesy of National Geographic)…
- Percentage of worlds total landmass: 20
- Population: 900 million, 14% world total
- Number of languages spoken: over 2000
- Number of democratic governments: 19, of a total of 53 nations
- Average income: 50% of Africans live on less than $1 a day
- Average life expectancy: 46 in sub-Saharan Africa, 67 in North Africa.
- Infant mortality rates: 102 per 1000 in sub-Saharan Africa, 33 per 1000 in North Africa.
- Most common cause of death: AIDS
And you know, I just cant understand it. The following stats about HIV/AIDS break my heart…
- Number of people worldwide with HIV: 40 million
- Number in sub-Saharan Africa: 26 million
- Number of people in sub-Saharan Africa contracting HIV daily: 8,500
- Number dying of AIDS daily: 6,300
- Number South Africans needing ARV drugs to prevent progression of illness & death: 983,000
- Number receiving medication: 117,00
- Annual cost of three-drug, generic ARV regimen per patient in Africa: $650
- Cost per patient for ARV drugs in the US: $10,000
How can there be such pain and suffering caused by a PREVENTABLE disease? How can it cost so much more to provide treatment for the same disease in the US (and probably the UK and Ireland too, I dont know the stats), than it costs in Africa? If we cut down the costs here, couldnt we treat many more Africans? How can we let them die like this?? I dont understand it at all. I have to do something. I’m searching for some way to contribute to this great continent.
by emma | Feb 7, 2006 | Everything Else
Been off school sick today… man it sucks! I hate being off sick. Lay all day, and watched some pathetic daytime TV… man who puts this stuff on TV?? So as you can possibly imagine, I am suitably bored.
by emma | Feb 2, 2006 | Africa, Faith
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the world and problems in it. Hmm… thats a very wide-sweeping statement, let me refine it. I’ve been thinking a lot about poverty, and about the problems in the African continent particularly. And I’ve been challenged, humbled and heartbroken at it. I want to make a difference. How can I change the world?
A friend recently passed on a comment to me that her brother made, about how we cant change the world, but we can change the life of one person or one family, and in that way we’re changing their world. I liked that thought. The needs are so vast, so far beyond comprehension, that I often feel overwhelmed by it. ‘God, how can I make a difference, I’m just one person.’
So I hereby pledge, I will attempt to be the change I want to see in the world.
I dislike apathy. Millions of people die every day because people like you and me do nothing. Therefore, I will live passionately, be passionate for the people living and dying in poverty.
Anger wells inside me thinking about the crippling amount of debt that Third World nations suffer to repay, to us, to First World developed nations. Therefore, I will give generously, and I will give often.
The statistics are overwhelming…
30,000 children die every day due to poverty
(malnutrition, lack of clean water… preventable)
800,000 people live in one particular slum in Narobi
(half the population of Northern Ireland)
The same number of people who died in the tsunami,
die every two weeks in Africa due to HIV/AIDS.
I must fight for them. I must love them. I must be passionate. I must give.
Will you join me?
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