Poverty is a stressor I once dealt with as a young child. Coming from a rather small family, my parents seemed to struggle to feed, shelter, and clothe my sister and I. I can remember wishing and praying for a lot of things my peers had. My father was the only person working at the time, although, the pay was not that good, plus he had prior kids from his first marriage that he still had to support as well. My father would get side jobs on the weekend to make ends meet for the next week. I can remember using candles for lights, and sharing a pack of hotdogs for lunch, and supper.
The way I can remember coping with this stressor were to always keep the faith. My parents taught my sister and I how to pray and believe that anything is possible. They would constantly remind us that no matter what we are family, we are together, and one day we would receive a bigger Blessing.
The one country I would like to learn more about how they deal with poverty is Africa. Africa is know to be the poorest country in the world. African sell their crops to pay the interest on their foreign debt. The children are being sold as slaves just for a meal. Since Africa is so poor the rate of starvation, and disease is very high. Although Africa is the poorest country in the world, there are ways for them to make some improvement in their country. It will take lots of effort, and planning with their government. Researchers suggest that some parts of Africa has already begin to see changes such as, Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya (Wilmot, V. 2007)
Wilmot, V. (2007). World Poverty. Grimsby, Linc, DN. Retrieved from www.world-poverty.org/
I can relate to your story of living beneath our means. It a struggle and as much as parents don't want their children to see them struggling to provide, kids still notice. It is so sad about parents selling the kids in Africa. Poverty is a hard thing to deal with and it motivates me to do more.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story of struggling as a family. Poverty is hard on many families, but the strongest ones are the ones that stick together. Your parents teaching you to pray and believe was a great way to keep your family close. Poverty is a very hard aspect of life for me to simply watch happen, I always wish there is more that I can do. I hope that together as teaching professionals we can help our kids to not be hurt quite so much by poverty.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your story. I commend people who come out of their circumstances to better themselves. You did not allow your circumstances to hold you back. I can truly attest to being a praying woman with a whole lot of faith. What's so great to me about Faith is that all it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed. As soon to be educators i wish you the greatest success. God Bless
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