"Popping the Bubble"

Natalia Thompson

 

Sometimes I feel like I live in a bubble. While I know that millions of girls in the world don't have access to so many of the things that I take for granted-from quality healthcare and education to "simple" things like heat and running water-I don't  experience the realities that millions of other girls face every day. So no matter where you live or what your life is like, take this quiz to find out how much you notice about the rest of our world. You might be surprised.

 

1 Almost half of the world lives on less than
a.       $80 a day
b.      $50 a day
c.       $25 a day
d.      $2 a day

 

2 Each day, about 30,000 children worldwide
a.       Enjoy an ice cream sundae
b.      Aren't able to go to school
c.       Die due to poverty
d.      Learn a new language

 

3 Of the more than 6 billion people on Earth, 2 billion people
a.       Don't have access to electricity
b.      Can touch their tongue to their nose
c.       Live in China
d.      Have never tasted chocolate

 

4 Almost 250 million children worldwide
a.       Have been to Texas
b.      Are home-schooled
c.       Are child laborers
d.      Would rather eat their country's
national dish over pizza

 

5 There are 2.2 billion children in the world, and 1 billion of them
a.       Have taken swimming lessons
b.      Live in poverty
c.       Can expect to live past age 75
d.      Live in beautiful old houses

 

6 Every day, over 800 million people
a.       Sing in the shower
b.      Own electric guitars
c.       Go to sleep hungry
d.      Do something to fight hunger

 

Answers:

 

1 D-almost half of the world's population, or about 3 billion people, lives on less than $2 a day. Imagine trying to pay for food, shelter, water, and clothing-much less education, electricity, or health care-when $2 in the United States might only buy you a loaf of bread.

 

2 C-every day, about 30,000 children die simply because of living in poverty. That's almost 11 million children each year. And the number of children who die because of poverty is much smaller than the number of children who can't go to school each day. There are actually over 120 million children, of grade school-age alone, who don't have access to education. The majority of them are girls. There isn't any reliable data about how many children enjoy an ice cream sundae or learn a new language each day, so it's possible that there's more than one answer to this question. But it is known that $11 billion were spent on ice cream in Europe in 1998, almost twice as much as what was spent on basic education worldwide.

 

3 A-2 billion people on Earth (about every third person) don't have access to electricity. Some of us can't even imagine what it would be like to live without a refrigerator, an oven, a television, a computer, or a telephone.

 

4 C- almost 250 million children work full-time every day. Nearly 70% of child laborers work in dangerous conditions, such as in mines or quarries. Some children are as young as five when they begin working.

 

5 B-out of the 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 billion live in poverty. That's almost one in two children. Many children living in poverty have never even seen a pool-much less taken swimming lessons. And while the citizens of most countries in North America and western Europe can expect to live until age 75 or 80, the citizens in most countries in Africa have a life expectancy of under age 55.

 

6 C-800 million people in the world are hungry when they go to sleep each night. But if just as many people in the world did something to fight hunger every day, this statistic might not even exist.

 

It's easy to feel bad after reading some of these statistics. But knowledge is power-so use your new power to make life better for the lives of those you might not have noticed before.