Are You Aware of the Problems Around the World?
Hundreds of people march along the streets, protesting in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Almost every person has a flame stick in their hand as anger grows over them. The smell of smoke fills the air, and angry citizens demand justice. Fuel shortages and spiraling food prices have them so fired up that they're banging on the parliament door.
Meanwhile in Switzerland, many of us are worried about how we look in social media posts, while people in Sri Lanka are homeless, hungry and tired. The Sri Lankan government has given hardships to all 22 million people in Sri Lanka by creating so many harsh laws, but what's even more atrocious is that nobody knows about these spiraling problems. I surveyed 90 middle school ZIS students, asking them if they knew about the crisis. Only eight people knew what was going on.
Do you Know about the Economy Crisis in Sri Lanka?
How did Sri Lanka even get to this point? It all started with tax cuts, money creation and COVID-19 impacts in 2019. The Easter bombing that year made it all even worse. These problems caused complete chaos in Sri Lanka for months. Then, in 2022, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made the policy to shift to organic or biological farming. Farmers were no longer able to use traditional methods of agriculture as they were forced into following this law. As a result, this decision was a bomb for the Sri Lankan economy. This law also resulted in farmers protesting because organic and biological farming is expensive. The government had already made so many tax cuts and this law didn’t make it any better. Soon enough, more than half of the country was protesting for unfair decisions.
Now for more than 6 months, people in Sri Lanka have suffered from significant money loss and unemployment. Power cuts and fuel shortages have also caused them a lot of trouble. All these drawbacks have made many Sri Lankans angry, and a lot hopeless. "Even after working about 14 to 16 hours a day, we still can't make enough money to support our families," Nissanka Gunewardena said. Nissanka is currently working as a rickshaw driver and is going through hardship working in Sri Lanka. Now, in deprivation, he's barely making it through this economic disaster. It's very upsetting that very few people worldwide are trying to help and that even fewer are aware of it.
It's not only Sri Lanka. People don't know about the multiple killings and massacres in Colombia, COVID issues in China, Venezuela facing a massive humanitarian emergency, and the water losses in Lebanon.
This is important because the news affects us too! If you didn't know about climate change, you wouldn't know what hit you when you felt those heat waves. Just like that, even small news matters. Learning about the different news around the world can also help you connect with and understand people. For example, when I found out about people suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic, I definitely connected with them from the three times I've gotten COVID before. Experiencing the events others have experienced could help you empathize with them and even help them. Lastly, news can also be a great source of learning. There are so many people around the world who find listening, reading and watching the news so interesting. Almost like a book!
Instead of spending hours texting, reading a meaningful article can be way more productive! Social media also has much to offer about the news, and podcasts are fun to listen to. There are many ways to be aware on the internet itself. Reading an informative book is a great start!
So this is why small problems around the world can't be left unnoticed. Being aware is the first step to making a change.
