Poverty

Poverty is not just a matter of subsistence. Poverty encompasses the absence of opportunity to partake of the very things we take for granted: food, housing, education, training, work opportunities, and most severely, it denies the right to a fruitful life. Poverty drives individuals to extremes just so as to survive.Others lose hope, faith and will.

Despair drives parents to sell children, teenagers sell their bodies for a pittance and societies crumble incrementally under the pressure of living on nothing.

Values and norms lose meaning as the fight to live through hunger and a spot in a drain pipe for sleep out of the rain, fighting over that extra sniff of glue are all that some children learn about being disposable and invisible to the greater world

And what do we lose in the process? Human potential. We lose a child’s discovery of their own mind, a child who through play and exploration would otherwise uncover the wealth of their own talent and what they could possibly contribute to the world

As you brush off a child who begs to wash your car windows as you wait for a red light, or a kid asks to take your shopping trolley, don’t just imagine it being your own child, but see the scientist, the musician, the economist, the community leader, the teacher, whose potential dies in your looking the other way……

The choice is yours… and yours…and yours And mine! We can make poverty history if we want it to be.

There is this idea that poverty is something that born and bred in developing nations: media and commerce have created the illusion of a great divide… and it is often relegated to a developmental one.

Truth is Poverty is spawned in your own home. It starts in the mind. It grows roots in the soil of apathy and it spreads like a cancer among the backstreets of everything you and I pretend not to see. It flourishes among the garbage bags of everything we take for granted: running water, a bed, warmth, family, holidays, birthday wishes, even a simple smile which lets you know someone has SEEN you, acknowledge your existence…

Poverty is not just a matter of money. Poverty is what comes from living beyond the realm of those in need of a helping hand.

Give, so a girl can development her self confidence and become self-reliant.

Give, so a young man need not prostitute himself to foreign holiday makers,

Give, so that a man need not traffic his child for 50dollars.

Give a Damn… it goes farther than just a Dime …. And BE the difference in their lives and your own.

Poverty like illness knows no boundaries. Wealth does not protect one from it and poverty itself does not make you immune to its impact.

With the current tumbling of the world’s financial markets, the loss of billions around the world offers all of us an opportune moment of reflection. The first Wall Street Crash sent the world into an economic nightmare. These days governments rally together at the speed of light in a financial rescue mission….

And it still does not change one aspect of the status quo…

Those stuck in poverty remain stuck in the mud or rambling knee deep in disease infected refuse landfills, which is home to seagulls and homeless children: it feeds a pittance to some anonymous stricken family in the back streets of Bogota, children scramble bottles together for enough small change to kill the cold off their skin for a night.

Walk around your own city without stepping over some homeless anonymous entity and ask yourself how difficult is it to care…

Poverty Day: Take part! Care enough so there does not have to be one next year!

Create opportunities for Trade rather than Aid.

It's in our hands and hearts... if we choose to have a mind to.....

some pictures courtesy of flickr.com

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Comment by Emm Dee B. on October 17, 2008 at 10:39pm: Ank and other iPeacer's
. . .thanks for sharing this need; however, I want to know what and how do we as an Online-community (iPeace) make a difference? I can offer up prayers to the God/dess of ALL life but outside of prayer how do we make this difference that we all keep talking about-- words are not the only actions needed in this case? Let us come together and figure out what we as an Online-community may do to help in a real way--

Comment by Ravi Pratap Shahi on October 17, 2008 at 9:05pm: Hi! what an inspiring posting. I dont know whether it will be read by you but I had tears in my eyes after reading your posting and visualising the your sentiments.
I am from a country which has many paradoxes. There are 10 people in the top 50 rich people of the world from my country, and more than 60% of the population is struggling to get 2 square meal a day. Their earning is less than 1/2 USD per day. People are still dying of hunger and at the same time our public servants are demanding salaries and perks equivalent to developed countries.Our small group is trying to give the tribal population a break- and motovate them to earn their own living with dignity.
We domt need any support from any agencies, but do like to discuss and get some encouragement to carry on, as the members of the group are not rich by any standard and they are contributing some fund from money which may be essential for their family.

Comment by gülnur araman on October 17, 2008 at 8:56pm: Thank you very much for remainding me about poverty day. I'm sending light and love.

Blessing....

Comment by Haleh on October 17, 2008 at 8:08pm: Let us teach them how to look at life and how to make a dollar by shifting their consciousness instead of giving them a dollar, please :)

Comment by Dylan Cook on October 17, 2008 at 7:38pm: Thanks for reminding me about world poverty day. I will pray for those who lack...I guess we all lack somethings, but some more than others.

Comment by PAVEL on October 17, 2008 at 6:51pm: Without work , my wife too, but God gave us 5 kids, that make us forget the life problems, as they are so good and good listeners, praying for all of you every night.I am ready to work for you, if you need me.As an ex great tennis champ, I know what means hard work, believe me.Only God gave me the power to pass these 48 years till now.Be blessed , all of you !

Comment by Tine Sallyman on October 17, 2008 at 6:36pm: Thanks for reminding me.

white light over the world
Love and
blessing

Comment by Lilian Andree on October 17, 2008 at 5:27pm: Count me in! I am in the battle with you to fight poverty which is like a cancer tumor with its metastasis. The difference being, where cancer has no cure yet, ipeace holds the cure for poverty

Comment by Irit Hakim-Keller on October 17, 2008 at 4:39pm: Poverty is around us - one just have to look, and there it is.The one who has bread to eat every day in his/her life, must think of the one who hasn't and should find the way to help. Any kind of a help will do, any amount of a help might make another person satisfied and happy.

Comment by luisella valeri on October 17, 2008 at 4:32pm: We have to make civil and Human Right campaigns in every Nations we live to obtain not military cost money, not luxury cost money, not unnecessarycost money, but equally and equanimy use of money for eradication of social problems in every land (right work for everyone, school for everyone, house for everyone, food for everyone, sanity for everyone, communication for everyone, transports for every one. Remember every night and day the people now suffering is always our brothers, our sisters, our soons, our fathers, our mathers...we are just One family, the same family that leave in every part of the World!
What I do today for this with love and compassion?
With light and love

Comment by Vishwakumar on October 17, 2008 at 4:31pm: Ank, thanks for reminding the poverty day........
Its our baddest thing to celebate in tthis stupid world which was spoiled us !!!!!!!!!!!!!111

Comment by Linda on October 17, 2008 at 3:54pm: Thanks for reminding me.

Comment by iKhin Win on October 17, 2008 at 3:07pm: It's indeed very understandable for the poverty lives, and we all need to share something whatever we can with them. As a human, love and compassion are the most valuable gem in our heart to be devoloped and be kind to the unfortunate ones. Thanks for reminding.

Comment by Dominique Cloutier on October 17, 2008 at 3:06pm: Thank you so much for posting this :) I have been a member of Make Poverty History since 2005 and we need lots of people like you to campaign with us !
http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/
We have to keep on helping !

Comment by ShelleysHappiness on October 17, 2008 at 2:35pm: Making a difference, and inspiring people to open their hearts. Mother Earth is sending her messages, see the signs....

Thank you for your message, feeds the fire within, to continue to make a difference, one person at a time. Reminding individuals that they too, have a choice in life and that everyone everywhere deserves to be happy. Together we will see heaven on earth in our life time, open your hearts and dare to be the person you were born to be... Sending love and inner strength to all those who lack the faith in believing they too can make a difference, as individuals we are great, as a group we are unstoppable. Believe and get busy!!
Sincerely,
Your Canadian friend,
Shelley