What is poverty? How does it affect us Filipinos? According to the New Oxford Dictionary, poverty means the state of being extremely poor. To us Filipinos the word poverty is not something new, we have heard this many times before. And yet, it seems like we do not really fully understand what it truly means. To us Filipinos, what is it to us? We see kids roaming the streets barefoot, begging for alms instead of being in school. With the current hot issue in the media: the Napoles Pork Barrel scam, it has yet again opened a very delicate issue–poverty. I don’t understand why the issue of poverty has become a taboo, I believe that this should not be the case. We always say that we want out country be successful, to strive, to be like those other thriving Asian nations and yet we consider poverty as a taboo. How can we resolve this issue when were cowards and do not have the guts to face the issue. Although there has been many suggestions how we can alleviate poverty, I believe these three things stand out, we must: educate people, provide aid for them, and teach them livelihood programs.
In order to alleviate this nation from poverty, we must take somethings in action like educating them. The young ones: the importance of education and for the elders: that it is never too late for them to acquire a degree. First and foremost, some people find themselves in situations of poverty because they lack education. Education for most part is what will help you get a job. Without a proper education, you cannot obtain a respectable job that will sustain an average Filipino family. Its sad that some kids, as young as they are, has already lost hope that they can be successful and that they can rise from poverty. Some of these kids I believe does not have a drive to study because their own parents also was not able to study. And that is why, we must open collegiate courses for the elders. They must be the examples for the young ones. We must remind them and encourage them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, that they don’t have to wallow in poverty for the rest of their lives.
We must provide aid for the least of our brethren. We do not necessarily to have to give big amounts of money but these people needs our charity–not pity. Through charity events, we are recognizing that there really are less fortunate people and that we would like to help them. There are still some things that people like them cannot afford on their own, even of they have respectable jobs. Like hospital bills or for the renovation of their house that was blown away by the latest typhoon. By providing aid, these people feel that those people who can afford more are not being arrogant, instead they are sharing their blessing.
And lastly, we must teach them livelihood programs. Ways that they can actually make money in order to fully support themselves. Through this, not only are they making money and helping our economy, but they are also able to be productive. They can also provide jobs to others, especially now that there is a great surplus of unemployed people. Through this, they are also becoming good stewards of their welfare.
In summary, we need to acknowledge that there will always be poor people. And this is even biblical. But, it doesn’t mean that these people should be suffering. These people are there so that we may humble ourselves and be thankful and content of what we have. The younger generation is our hope for this nation. We must encourage them to strive for excellence. Our nation’s future relies on them. With the positive aura that we are giving off to these people about sharing our blessings and helping them and giving aid to them, we are actually getting rid of the social discrimination with the classes. We can treating each other as equals. With this new mindset, I believe that it is only then that we can fully strive as a nation.
References:
New Oxford American Dictionary 3rd edition © 2010 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
No comments:
Post a Comment