McCaskey graduate honored as Hungarian Red Cross Volunteer of the Year

(English translation of speech delivered by Richard Field at national meeting of Hungarian Red Cross, Saturday, May 8^th, on the occasion of being named 2009 Volunteer of the Year.)

2010 is this European Year for fighting poverty and social exclusion, and I understand that next year is to be the European Year for Volunteerism. The European Union might have simply declared 2010 and 2011 the years of the International Red Cross, as fighting poverty and social exclusion, and volunteerism is what the Red Cross is all about.

The American House Foundation is pleased to support the Hungarian Red Cross in its mission to combat poverty and hunger in Hungary.  For my part I intend to do what I can to persuade companies active in Hungary to do the same. The reason is simple: we have seen a dramatic rise in the level of poverty and homelessness in Hungary over the past eighteen months.

The working poor have been very hard hit by the economic recession as well as by recent cut backs in government spending on social welfare programs. I was shocked to learn that a number of local governments had discontinued funding of elementary school lunch programs despite such programs being mandated by Hungarian law.  I was also shocked to learn that as of January 1st of this year the national government effectively reduced by one third the amount of state aid to poor families by limiting to one the number of adults per household that may receive state aid.

There appears to be a misunderstanding.  EU member states are supposed to be declaring war on poverty, not on the poor.

Were the US government to balance its budget by cutting welfare by a third in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression it would be front page news for months and people of all classes would be up in arms about it.  But in Hungary it goes largely unreported. This may be due to the perception that only Roma families are affected and the callous belief that the poor somehow deserve their fate

While a disproportionately high percentage of Hungary’s poor may be Roma, these days the ranks of the poor and homeless are being swollen by everyday Hungarians who are losing their jobs, their homes, and their belief in the possibility of a better future.

We can debate the literal truth of Sandor Demján’s claim that large numbers of Hungarian children are dying of hunger.  But there can be no doubt that thousands of Hungarian children are severely malnurished in a way that threatens to permanently impair their ability to learn and to work.  I met a six year old boy in Jászalsószentgyörgy the other week who wasn’t much heavier than my two-year-old son.  And he was one of a number of children in that particular neighborhood which appeared to be physically stunted as a result of chronic malnutrition.

I sincerely hope the next government will take immediate and decisive steps to address this problem.  However, more important than what the government does is what we do as a society.  If more Hungarians were to follow your selfless example then the plight of Hungary’s poor could be improved dramatically, and the Hungarians would be a happier people for it.  Because as all of you are aware, helping those less fortunate helps us better appreciate what we have and less desirous of what we do not have.

I congratulate all of you on the occasion of International Red Cross day and offer you my personal thanks and respect for all the wonderful work you do.