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POVERTY-STRICKEN HUMANITY
written by Jeanne Canales
It’s so easy for us to define poverty. Ways are within reach like consulting Mr. Webster or browse Google,
Answers.com, Wikipedia, and any other search engine that we know of. Although, for those who live a life of
extreme poverty can hardly come up with a substantial definition of what they feel and encounter as they
struggle to survive in their day to day existence. It is never enough to know the full meaning of poverty unless
we ourselves get the painful taste of it.
When we speak of poverty, we automatically equate it with many conditions like hunger, suffering and sorrow.
Food, potable water, and shelter are at the top of our list of basic needs to survive, however, many of us are
denied of these. Current news and yearly statistics undeniably tells us how many hungry mouths are there in
this world. It has always been out in the open in ages now. Races, continents, countries, ethnicity, and
specific locations have been identified to particularly show where people are living below the poverty lines.
Reasons for such occurrence may vary from place to place, but the bottom line is, they all have poor living
conditions. It is indeed true that we have recognized the long term agony of millions of poor people around
the globe. In spite of that, permanent solutions were never been discovered. Isn’t it quite ironic that we
have achieved the height of technological, medical, and industrial advancement but this perennial problem has
never been resolved? If only the whole world focus and go hand in hand on finding ways and means to
combat absolute poverty. One day, success will be on the way. The efforts of non-government agencies and
international associations were not sufficient to fully address this. The scope is too big. There is a need for
an effective answer to the cry of the needy. The question is what would that be? This is what we need to
work out and achieve. Nowadays, most of us care about various things like the financial crisis of several
countries affecting the global economy. The headline is on economic recessions of rich nations while the
bigger issue of more destitute people are set aside.
We believe that all of us have the right to live. Yes, it’s true. More so, we have the right to enjoy a decent
life regardless of the color of our skin. It’s not enough to determine the characters of the poor. There is a
higher goal than that that is to find out how they could be free from the verge of starvation. It is quite fair to
let them feel even just a little comfort of what rich people are enjoying. Poverty makes people powerless but
it’s not a dead end. There is a promising life for those who toil, hope and dream.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What is the meaning of poverty?
2. Is poverty a world issue that requires immediate attention? Why or why not?
3. Do you think there is a permanent solution to poverty?
4. What are the effects of poverty to individuals, society, and the world?
5. How can impoverished people get away from poor life?