How exciting, a live-action version of The Jungle Book! A young orphaned boy is raised by a pack of wolves in the jungle. Along his journey to manhood he meets a few pals in the animal kingdom… some friendly, and not-so-friendly. The trailer features Balloo humming a favorite song from the cartoon… “The Bare Necessities.”
This got me thinking… What are the bare necessities of life? It seems like everyone has a different idea of what really is a necessity. Let’s explore necessity in this week’s edition of the Weekend Word and see if we can’t find some common ground.
ne·ces·si·ty
nəˈsesədē/
noun
1. the fact of being required or indispensable.
2. an indispensable thing.
A necessity is something or someone that is required or indispensible, presumably for something else to occur. This leaves a lot of room for debate. How many times do you hear your children say “but I NEED this curling iron, or that game.” Is it really a necessity? There are perceived necessities and real necessities.
Perceived necessities are things that we think we “need,” but in all actuality, we could really live without. For example, we need shelter, but we don’t necessarily need a mansion for survival. Yet, to a celebrity trying to “keep up with the Kardashians,” not only is a mansion a necessity, but several of them are. A teenage girl just “can’t live” without her hair or makeup products. To her, they are vital to her happiness, but she could live without them. Cars are even a subjective need. In today’s society it is harder to travel to and from work, school, etc. without a car – especially if you live miles away from your destination. However, with public transit, bikes and good old fashioned walking – it’s not a bare necessity.
So what is a bare necessity? As humans, we share a few basic biological necessities such as food, water, air, energy, rest and shelter. The list of real necessities varies from there. Culturally, we’ve grown accustomed to seeing clothes as a necessity, although they are not necessarily a requirement for sustaining life (unless you live in a cold/harsh weather environment). For those who are living with an illness, certain medicines may be a necessity to sustaining life.
Imagine if you had to live without these basic necessities? What would you do if you were homeless on the street, no job/money, no access to food or shelter, possibly torn and ratty clothing or no clothing at all? What lengths would you go to in order to get these basic necessities? As hard as homeless people have it in a first world country like the U.S., those in third world countries where people have even less to share with each other have it worse.
In a country like Uganda where the lower to middle class struggles with poverty issues like disease, sanitation control, food insecurity, etc. the general population has less to give out of the goodness of their heart, so simple panhandling may not often be enough. Orphaned children, like those who often end up at our school, often find they can’t get access to basic necessities by simply asking for help because so many others don’t have the means to give back for nothing in return. All alone, they end up having to barter services, often resorting to performing services at a much lower rate than the norm, or resorting prostitution in order to gain access to the bare necessities.
Just like Mowgli’s animal friends helped provide him with the “bare necessities,” we’re doing the same for these orphaned children in Uganda. We believe so passionately in what we do because nobody should have to put themselves at risk or go without the basic necessities such as food, water at shelter. At our schools, orphans who previously lived on the street are not only given access to these basic necessities, they’re also given a second chance and a hand up to eventually provide for themselves.
Next time you find yourself, or perhaps your child, upset about not having or losing a perceived necessity, be thankful for the bare necessities you do have. And consider providing the same opportunities to another child in need by donating here: https://hope4hearts.org/support-us/. In fact, you could even purchase one of our handmade necklaces and wear it as a reminder to be thankful for of all that you do have.
With Love,
Cristen
