By Abimbola Ologun
In Nigeria today, the cost of living has been on the rise, with inflation reaching its record high and incomes failing to keep the pace. As a result, many families find it increasingly difficult to put food on the table. With prices for basic necessities like food, clothes, house rent, even cost of cement to build a house you can call your own soaring with a thin hope of owing one.
Families are being forced to make tough decisions about what to exclude from the budgets. For some, this means going without meals for days, or cutting back on their essential needs like medicines, deciding whether to send their children to school or not, among others. Every day comes with its own struggle for survival. This is the hidden cost of poverty, one we can no longer turn a blind eye to.
Just recently, a woman with a baby strapped to her back slumped because she hasn’t put anything in her stomach for three days. That is the one that is seen, what about those that happened behind closed doors?
We could go on and on without end as to the kind of lives many people are subjected to live but that is not even the contention.
The bone of contention is what can we do to help others? What can you and I do for our next door neighbour that could make him less depressed? What can we do to alleviate the sufferings of those close to us?
One way we could help is through volunteering and donations. It is a great way to help those in need and make a difference in the community.
A man was seen distributing food to the less privilege when asked his reasons for exhibiting such gesture, he said he was simply contributing his own quota.
In his words “today is my birthday, and I volunteer to celebrate it with the less privilege. It is my own way of helping. Though, I might not have enough but I feel I should share the little I have as I believe we rise by lifting others.”
Reaching out to people with a pot of soup, making yourself available to impact knowledge into those children you see around who can’t afford to go to school, partnering with some NGOs around you to help distribute stuffs around, or even saying a word of hope and encouragement could go a long way.
Volunteering is not only good for those you are helping, but it is also good for you. It can help reduce stress, increase happiness, and give you sense of purpose.
You could also offer to give out those clothes in excess in your closet to those who are in dire need of it and by doing that you have reduced one of their financial burdens.
Visiting the hospitals to reach out to those who are sick or dying can be soul lifting. We all need people around us in our trying times. Offering to part some of their bills is also a good way of showing love.
By working together to help those in need, we can rise above the challenges of poverty and create a brighter future for all. So let’s not just talk about change, but be the change. Let’s lift others up and make a difference in our communities. Together we can make a difference and make the world a better place for everyone.
