To the Audience

January 14th, 2020

In many cases of poverty the government is to blame. In countries where this is proven
true, the hope of the people is diminished, they can not rely on their own government to protect
them and their rights. Corrupt governments tend to pay attention to issues that do not concern
the people. This type of government is selfish because a government should put their people
first and base any decision on what is best for the people. Countries such as the Democratic
Republic of Congo display a corrupt government and a high percentage of the population living
in poverty. Conflict can arise from a disagreement between the government and the people,
resulting in poor choices made by the government. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, for
example, violence between the government and supporters of a tribal chief resulted in many
people fleeing their homes to find safety (BBC News).
In addition, government corruption leads to severe health issues. After mainly
researching the Democratic Republic of Congo, it is clear that many people that live there fear
for their life and also for the life of their families. Their health is put at risk because of decisions
made by the government. The number of people dying because of curable diseases is
unbelievable, “43% of the population is suffering from chronic malnutrition” (BBC News).
Diseases found in these countries could all be curable when given the correct medicine.
Unfortunately, the medicines needed are not found in these countries because of their lack of
government efforts to help. Malnutrition “puts children at greater risk of dying from common
infections, increases the frequency and severity of such infections, and delays recovery”
(UNICEF). If those suffering from malnutrition had access to good healthcare and the right
medicines their chances of survival would be much greater. The sad thing is that they could
have had access if it weren’t for government corruption, “Billions of pounds that might have
supplies proper medical care have been lost to corruption in congo” (BBC News). African
countries with corrupt governments have poor medical treatment methods due to their unstable
governments and therefore, the average age of death in those countries is several years
younger than a country with a stable government. Poverty brings out the worst in people,
conflicts between different groups emerge, “Amid poverty and corruption different ethnic groups
were drawn into fighting each other” (BBC News). People have to fight for their safety because
with a corrupt government not everyone is protected. In the video there were people lined up
waiting for their food even though some knew they would not be able to claim any food because
there was not enough food.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo violence from differences between groups
prevented planting so food disappeared (BBC News). Without being able to grow their food they
have to rely on getting their food from other sources. However, the issue with this is that the
government cannot provide this much food to keep everyone fed. In the end, the government is
to blame for people going hungry since the government is unable to feed everyone. Countries
such as the United States could easily help give food to countries in need.
A corrupt government impacts many lives every single day. In order to support these
countries we need to help the people overcome their daily challenges by making life a little bit
easier for them. We should voice our opinions to our own government so that they are able to
help these countries. We can do this by writing letters to the people in our government that
actually hold power, such as the congressmen who are able to make an impact. To show our
own government that we want to help, we can start foundations to help these countries and if
they accept our help it would make a huge impact for them.

Jade Parks
jadecparks@gmail.com