Poverty and wealth

It has rained a lot here in Prague, but that's nothing compared to the terrible floods in Pakistan.  About one fifth of that nation is under water with some 20 million people now homeless.  Aid organisations are now worried that water born diseases will cause widespread epidemics.

Why is it so often the poorest countries on earth that all-too-commonly are victims of the worst natural disasters?  It is the most impoverished people who are suffering.  They lived in very basic conditions before the flood, most without electricity or running water.  Now they have lost everything.

Live, 24-hour television news enables us to see people's suffering from the comfort of our own living rooms.  It highlights the unacceptable gap between rich and poor.  I hope you will grow up in a world which succeeds in eradicating poverty.


Grandpa Jonathan
Prague