international day of poverty eradication

october 17th is 'world day to overcome extreme poverty'. the premise, according to the UN, is to get people to think about how they can help fight against poverty and also join local events. i joined the 'stand up against poverty' campaign yesterday. it was a global project trying to set a world record for the most people standing up (literally) against poverty (can't imagine it's a large category but was a fun way of getting the message out). a small crew came out where i was but there were huge demonstrations happening across the globe. infact, some cities are holding the event today (16th). so check out the stand up against poverty website to see if any events are happening where you are TODAY!! http://standagainstpoverty.org/node/5757

i do think about poverty sometimes. i often complain how 'poor' i am, how bad my wages are, how i can't afford a lot of things i want. WANT. it's the key word here. everyone reading this has all of the basic necessities of life. we are not poor. i need to stop and remind myself that i am very rich compared to most people on the planet. but what's the best solution? donations? buying fair trade products? should money even be such a large factor? aren't the real problems access to food, clean water, shelter, 'education' and medicine?