WELCOME NUMBER 7 BILLION

It happened, or at least we think it did, on October 31st. The 7 billionth one of us was born. On the one hand we might manage. There seems to be lots of space and the birth rate has nearly been reduced to half of what it was in 1970. Farm production has seen enormous increases in per acre food production, increases that, over a decade, are measured to 100% fold increases. But the problem is that the UN is reporting that we will reach 10 billion souls by the end of this century.  Three parts of the world, China, much of it, most of India, and the greater part of Sub-Sahara Africa are expected to see major increases in the number of tourists from the States. But this will have to be carefully controlled tourism because of some rather untidy facts. Half of the world lives on about $2.00 per day. Shortly, the UN promises we will reach another milestone. The number of chronically hungry people will reach 1 billion. This will happen in our lifetime. One thing that we can do is to try to make certain that some portion of the money we spend in China, India, and Africa is earmarked for those who need it the most. The best travel companies like Abercrombie & Kent and Micato Safaris having been giving back for years, funding hunger projects, supporting schools etc. When traveling in the Third World it is OK to ask “but where does the money go?” Welcome # 7 billion. We hope we get it right.