Christine Reidhead: Making a Difference Across the Globe

Christine Reidhead was nominated Top 10 Inspiring Leaders to Watch!

We are in a world where there are too many bad things happening, challenges, and negative circumstances. However, with individuals like Christine Reidhead, hopeless people can wear smiles on their faces and be assured that someone has their back. When the bell of the nomination rang, it was certainly a thing of joy and celebration, yet Christine believes it is a call to make a difference.

Right from a child, Christine has always desired to help the needy and poor. She pioneered AfrikRising in fulfilment of her childhood dream, and today that dream is a nonprofit organization. One of the most amazing organizations that are making a difference in every part of Africa.

Having understood the need to stop starvation in Africa, many children die of malnutrition, starvation, and poor health. Christine believes that her organization stands a chance of turning the tides and creating solutions to this problem. Christine will love to see a world where every African child is free of disease, eats the right food at the right time, and enjoys the basic amenities of life just as their western counterpart. Christine’s greatest desire is to make a sustainable solution to problems African children face, and nothing is neither small to do or start with. She is of a strong belief that every action is worth it, and they can make a difference.

Facts and Stats about Africa Poverty from the Borgen Project

1. Africa is by far the poorest continent on the planet. 28 of the world’s poorest countries are African.
2. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to the second largest population of hungry people. The largest is in Asia.
3. Half of the African population lives in poverty. These people do not have access to basic human needs, such as nutrition, clean water, shelter and more. 47 percent of the African population is living on $1.90 or less a day.
4. Two in five African adults are illiterate. While the continent’s number of schools are increasing, the quality of learning and general attendance is still down due to local violence and gender oppression.
5. It is projected that the global poor will become more concentrated in Africa. With the population rising at such a high rate on the continent, and having such a large number of poverty-stricken countries, it becomes very difficult to prevent increasing poverty.
6. One in four people in the sub-Saharan region are malnourished. This is the highest amount of hungry people in the world.
7. The causes for African hunger are poverty, conflict, the environment and overpopulation. These causes create issues such as disease, floods, genocide and many other resulting crises that result in a lack of food and health within many communities.
8. Corruption on the continent makes it very difficult to conquer the poverty numbers. With governments confiscating donations from abroad, local militias slaughtering villagers and cultural leaders denying women the right and safety to attend school, poverty perpetuates.
9. While worldwide poverty is declining — it has been divided in half in the last 30 years — in Africa the progress has been much slower. This is largely due to the rising population and the young age of its government systems, stemming from a history of colonization.
10. Most of the perpetuation of poverty involves social issues. It is less a matter of wealth, as it is with how the wealth is distributed and shared.
11. The African governments have not existed for very long. Even in 1950, only four of the 55 African countries had independent governments. Studies state that a government requires several decades at least to stabilize.
12. The economic gap is huge and still growing. The class system contains huge gaps between the rich and poor, with little mobility due to gender inequality and corruption.
13. Those living in regions affected by violence are 50 percent more likely to become impoverished. This makes them twice as likely to be affected by hunger. Much of Africa is war-torn and experiencing conflict.
14. The average woman living in sub-Saharan Africa will give birth to 5.2 kids in her lifetime. While Africa is globally the poorest continent, it is also home to the highest birth rate. With a growing population, this is causing unemployment, disease and hunger.
15. While the decline of the number of poor in Africa is slower than the global rate, it has recently decreased. It fell from 56 percent in 1990 to 43 percent in 2012.

Resource: https://borgenproject.org/15-facts-about-poverty-in-africa/

It is a great privilege to be found helping little children who did not have the access or opportunities to choose the kind of life they desired before birth or the kind of parents they wanted. To many people, this nomination calls for celebration, and party, no doubt, Christine is honored and happy to be nominated. It is proof that her works are recognized, and her goal is achievable.  However, Christine sees this nomination as a call to making a difference. It is a better privilege to put a smile on the face of little children by providing a place to sleep, food to eat, and quality education.

Today’s world is dependent on these children, and Christine is effortlessly and consistently working to see African children grown into great adults who are both physically and mentally healthy. The essence of the existence of AfrikRising is to give hope to every child in Africa.