The cliché that children are the hope for the future is no longer just something we say. They are the hope and it is their future that hangs in the balance as we face the many issues in the world today. Good news is that we have a choice, these issues can be solved, but in order to do this people must be willing to act in a different way to preserve our planet and we must be willing to give back to this wonderful planet called earth.

Many teenagers from the upper strata of the society are raised in a culture of service, one that serves them, that is. Recycling and all sustainability projects require a culture of mutual sacrifice. Is it possible to change attitudes throughout a prestigious school so that individuals will regularly sacrifice for the betterment of the community? I think so.

I was opportune to be at a Global Issues Network Conference and the first shocker was that only one sect of the participants amongst over 50sects represented Nigeria and Africa at large and listening to the efforts these other sects have put into reduction of poverty in Africa one is left wondering where the privileged children in Nigeria and Africa are. Statistics reveal,One in sixAfrican children, dies before the age of five(source: Africa 2015) Between12 and 14 millionAfrican children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. (source: World Bank/UNICEF) and we seem not to be bothered.

Quick one, Is it sheer ignorance on the part of Nigerian children or lack luster attitude? Why are children from other continents and countries more interested in our well-being? Is the sensitization of these problems lacking or found wanting?

Read on and be informed.

"I know poverty because poverty was there before I was born and it has become part of life like the blood through my veins. Poverty is not going empty for a single day and getting something to eat the next day. Poverty is going empty with no hope for the future. Poverty is getting nobody to feel your pain and poverty is when your dreams go in vain because nobody is there to help you. Poverty is watching your mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters die in pain and in sorrow just because they couldn't get something to eat. Poverty is hearing your grandmothers and grandfathers cry out to death to come take them because they are tired of this world. Poverty is watching your own children and grandchildren die in your arms but there is nothing you can do. Poverty is watching your children and grandchildren share tears in their deepest sleep. Poverty is suffering from HIV/AIDS and dying a shameful death but nobody seems to care". = " Poverty is when you hide your face and wish nobody could see you just because you feel less than a human being. Poverty is when you dream of bread and fish you never see in the day light. Poverty is when people accuse you and prosecute you for no fault of yours but who is there to say some for you? Poverty is when the hopes of your fathers and grandfathers just vanish within a blink of an eye.  I know poverty and I know poverty just like I know my father's name. Poverty never sleeps. Poverty works all day and night. Poverty never takes a holiday"

(One Poor African)

Go to any village in Africa, and you will find dozens of little children playing with one another in the dust. Looking over them in the shade will be the grandmothers or other elders, ready to intervene when things get out of hand. If a child is hurt in the squabbles that inevitably arise, they run to soothing arms of their grandmothers.

But war, AIDS, famine have brought to Africa an entirely new concept, children with no family members, no blood relatives, no extended family members. No elders to care for them, they are lost and bereft in a cruel world, and no one seems to care.

Austin Gutwein at the age of eight (8) started a basketball shoot-a-thon called Hoops of Hope. By doing something as simple as shooting free throws, hoops of hope participants have raised over $950,000 which have been used to build schools, provide food, clothing, shelter e.t.c in countries in Africa

Ryan Hrelijac at age six(6) learnt that people were dying because they didn't have clean water to drink and he thought up a way to help. 12years on (2009), Ryan's Well Foundation has contributed to a total of 441 wells in 16 developing countries bringing clean water services to 583,040 people.

These are but a few of the teenagers who have realized the enormosity of the situation and have decided to make a change. A change doesn't have to come big. It can start from giving a helping hand to the lady next door, or saying a kind word to the driver. Attainment of a certain age is not a pre-requisite for making a change. You never can tell how far these things go. I believe that teenage participation is key to the attainment of any meaningful goal and are key to all developments in Africa.

Exposure to the Internet can also bring to face these issues. For an average Nigerian teenager, the internet services begin and end with FACEBOOK. Their minds have not been fine-tuned to reality. Instead of complaining why not take a step in the right path….

Quick one

Does your mother's super protection bother you?  They have no one to care for them

Did they buy you NIKE when you wanted ADIDAS? They have only one brand

Did they order you to bed early? They pray never to wake up again…

Are you still complaining?

Are you on a diet to shed weight? Do they even have food at all.?

Are you tired of playing your video games? They have stones as games.

Are you still complaining?.....

Rise up to the challenge and some day some time soon, you will be glad you did.