The images of a child's bloated belly or of a mother searching through garbage trying to find food are ones that have long haunted our world and that must be erased immediately. Hunger and malnutrition affect a vast majority of the people in the planet and many die every day from these preventable causes. It is time not to just speak out against world hunger but to do something about it. Having witnessed first hand the horrors of poverty and hunger, I feel compelled to help out the ones in need and to spread the message of giving so that one day we will see hunger and poverty as a thing of the past.

Thanks to my Hispanic heritage I have been able to gain a diligent sense of perspective about the world that not many people my age possess. I was born in Quito, Ecuador and lived there for most of my childhood. Thankfully I grew up in the good part of town and never had to face terrible hardship myself. My family was always hard working and taught me to appreciate what I had. The scenes of poverty and deficiency were inescapable though. Whether it was the beggar at the corner of the street or the shoe-shiner in the hair salon, the evidence of poverty was present at all times. I have always had a desire to help the people in need, and fortunately I have had the opportunity to do so on many occasions. I would travel to the countryside with my family and we would bring food along to feed the local children with. It was tremendously important that I thought of those children as equal to me, and my Mom and Dad made sure that I knew that. I would always play soccer with them or share my Power Rangers action figures with them just as I would with my brother or sister. To me they were not poor kids; they were just kids, as I was.

Ever since I moved to the United States, the scenes of poverty and hunger have diminished greatly. Naturally my parents wanted a better life for me and we found one here. I did bring that sense of perspective along with me though, and I always think back to the people of my country, and how their lives affected mine. My goal for the future is to become a successful graphic designer. I aspire to have a professional career in the field that I love: Art. With my success I will be able to travel back to Ecuador and truly help out the people in need. I hope to be able to build schools and hospitals where they are needed, and to educate the people there to run those facilities on their own. My goal is to allow the poor regions of Ecuador to sustain themselves by using the tools and knowledge that I provide them. Eventually poverty will no longer be an issue in my country and other countries like it.

The source of hunger in the world is poverty, and the source of poverty is ignorance and neglect. When you provide people with the tools and knowledge necessary to bring change about and maintain it, they will welcome the change with pride and will be compelled to sustain it. I have seen the will of people to better themselves and to change; they just need a push of confidence in the right direction.