Poor across the Ocean As I strolled through the streets of India, the home of my high school, I witnessed people wallowing in their poverty. I saw children fumbling in the sewage. I saw mothers begging near the road. The rivers within the city were black and stagnant with trash and sewage. My sheltered eyes could hardly keep back their rivers. I died a little inside and cried out – How? I was horrified and shocked by the conditions in which these people lived. I heard stories from the inhabitants of the village near my high school in India, of people biking tens of miles just to sell fabric in the market to feed their family. I felt ashamed that my biggest problems are concentrated on talking to girls, playing sports, and finding Lebanese
…show more content…
Of the 1.2 billion people who live in the country 24.6% of them survive on 1.25 dollars a day, which is portioned out to pay for food, housing, clothing, education and health care. Oddly enough, this group of people is considered to be middle class. The other half of the population is divided between the filthy rich and the filthy poor, where some families make $30,000 a month and others make $30. This massive gap in wealth is a culmination of corruption and a lack of education. It is common place that many politicians, police, and workers are bribed to turn a blind eye and keep crooked leaders in power. Unfortunately, this cultural acceptance of immoral business and political practices creates a helplessness that provides no justice to the needs of the people. Who do you turn to when your leaders are the very people suppressing you? The Police? They work for the government! However, I believe that the lack of education is the most significant stump that prevents families from improving their way of life. It is found that only 55% the poor are able get past even junior high. The inability of children to progress through school and their obligation to work on the streets creates a cycle of poverty that consumes entire generations of people. In turn, they eventually fall into holes that their parents struggled to overcome. Most of the kids who grow up in a poor home end up performing the same manual labor their fathers did and inheriting the card board and sheet metal shacks that their fathers built. It is gloomy to see that such a curse would continue from father to
Of the 1.2 billion people who live in the country 24.6% of them survive on 1.25 dollars a day, which is portioned out to pay for food, housing, clothing, education and health care. Oddly enough, this group of people is considered to be middle class. The other half of the population is divided between the filthy rich and the filthy poor, where some families make $30,000 a month and others make $30. This massive gap in wealth is a culmination of corruption and a lack of education. It is common place that many politicians, police, and workers are bribed to turn a blind eye and keep crooked leaders in power. Unfortunately, this cultural acceptance of immoral business and political practices creates a helplessness that provides no justice to the needs of the people. Who do you turn to when your leaders are the very people suppressing you? The Police? They work for the government! However, I believe that the lack of education is the most significant stump that prevents families from improving their way of life. It is found that only 55% the poor are able get past even junior high. The inability of children to progress through school and their obligation to work on the streets creates a cycle of poverty that consumes entire generations of people. In turn, they eventually fall into holes that their parents struggled to overcome. Most of the kids who grow up in a poor home end up performing the same manual labor their fathers did and inheriting the card board and sheet metal shacks that their fathers built. It is gloomy to see that such a curse would continue from father to