Up with People Cast A 2008 Blog

15 May 2008

People in Poverty May 13th, 2008

Posted by Up With People under: Plano-Texas .

Today we had a presentation on poverty. Sometimes it is difficult to fully realize the situations people live in, when you yourself come from a country that is so well off in relation to many others that are not. You know it’s out there and that it is a dead serious issue around the world, but you can’t quite grasp the reality unless you experience it yourself. I come from Northern Europe where we also do have poor people like in everywhere else but those people are only poor compared to the more prosperous folk living around them and the level of poverty is far from the levels of southern Africa and Mexico.

As our cast continued with some activities (we played a game with coins and where divided to three groups according to the results of the game) after the presentation and we were presented with an art gallery; Pictures and descriptions of real life situations where people live in survive because they have no choice and where they can only hope for a better day to come. We also had a slideshow of moments in poverty. As we watched these pictures slow music playing in the background you could tell that the whole cast was impacted with what we were seeing especially after hearing the facts of the presentation just moments earlier. People were quiet and many people looking at the pictures had their arms crossed and some had an angry look on their face others seemed determined to see through every picture and the film.

Not until that moment did I actually register the tables in the room. There where two tables with chairs and in the middle of them an empty area covered with flat cardboard boxes. The table on the left had a table cloth and silver ware, napkins and decorations. The table on the right didn’t have those and on the floor there was nothing else but cardboard. The staff told us to get into our groups from the coin activity and we were to sit accordingly. There were about 10 people in the decorated table, 18 in the plain table and the rest of the cast on the card board floor. We all knew where we sat in this class system and where quietly waiting for our dinner to start. And fair enough it started pretty soon with the first class being served by the staff members as waiters in a fancy restaurant and ignoring the other classes almost completely. The middle class had their portions set for them but they had to pass down the plates themselves. And the third class on the ground got a basin of water, a basin of rise and stacks of tiny paper cups and paper plates –not enough for everyone though. I was on that card board and by the time we had gotten our sticky rise somewhat on the plates and realized that out water was nearly undrinkable because it was so salty we had had time to observe what everyone was eating. The fancy table had salad, soup, pasta, bread and ice cream. The Middle class got rice and beans. And the poor got salt water and salty sticky half cooked cold rice. Me and my firend shared a plate and ate all the rice because we were hungry and drank the water even if it made us feel sick.

What I was thinking as we ate was, if you work all day you are bound to be very hungry and that amount with all the salt doesn’t satisfy you. I at least was very hungry to begin with and maybe coming down with a cold and I hadn’t even done any heavy labor today. From the poor food you don’t get enough micronutrients and vitamins to keep your immune system running strong and you are more liable to catch a disease or a common cold. And if you are already sick it certainly doesn’t make you that much better.

The cast discussed about the settings of the activity, our personal experiences and about the question whether or not poverty is a cycle that a person themselves can break. As it was said in the discussions a persons background sometimes affects a lot on the choices and opportunities they are given and no matter how hard they work they don’t seem to be allowed to reach their goals. I do believe that happens in the world but more strongly I believe in the protestant mindset of if you work hard enough you can achieve your goals and dreams. For all this isn’t a rule set in stone but a life philosophy that encourages people to do their best. Also, there is not only one right way to happiness and prosperity and so it does not do anyone any good if you insist on hitting your head in the same old wall time after time.

Having experienced the cramped group on the card board covered floor, eating that salty crunchy & cold sticky rice and drinking only a tiny cup of salty water (which also was the only water available for our cooking) I noticed that I started feeling like I should just accept it and deal with it from now on. Because I enjoyed the company of my comrades and didn’t have enough energy to “fight my fate” while still being so hungry. I never felt hopeless for we had each other and we all took care of each other making sure everyone got food and drink. We would join together in a birthday celebration for one of our group and sing together to keep up our spirits. It all came down to sharing and being united under the same circumstances.

My first feelings were being small and hungry in the face of the devastating fact that half the people in the world are hungry everyday. But after hearing a friend of mine describe themselves as inspired I felt a sting of shame for my own complaints, I started thinking about the experience and some of the things I’ve mentioned here. It’s not about one person feeding the world and solving the issue of hunger. Some of my cast mates have got a child or family in Africa or somewhere else in the world whose education and wellbeing they are supporting by paying a small amount of money every month. And what I came to think of is, if the world is roughly divided in half as the 2.8 billion people who are poor (they live on less than 2 dollars a day) and the rest of us who aren’t, then if on the well off side each person would take the opportunity in supporting someone else living in the poorer circumstances we could make a huge difference. That means working together all around the world, and an organization that is trustworthy and reliable as well as communication between the both ends of this link. There is no feedback more rewarding than knowing you have helped change some ones life for the better especially when for you (if you think about it) that same amount of money seems only enough for trivial things. It really is all about lending a helping hand and keeping your smarts about it. Instead of thinking about helping all the hungry children in Africa you can start by helping one. Because if we all do so there will no longer be hungry children.

 

Nina Lehvaslaiho, Finland

Intersting links:
World Vision: www.worldvision.org
Ethical Christams presents:
http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/ethical-christmas-presents/51

 

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