The effects of poverty not only tell the story of the poorest of the poor but also brackets the outer layer of what you can consider poor. As there are a lot of vulnerable groups of people in the community, you may even ask why there are no changes in their life even after years.
Let me share with you a bit of my story, and I hope you understand that not everyone has the same privileges.
A Brief Discussion On My Thoughts About Poverty
I was still two when my parents separated. I saw how my mother struggled, taking care of other people’s laundry, strolling around the neighbourhood for her delicious food and doing manicure services. I can say that we all felt the effects of poverty because, at that time, we struggled for income that would support all our needs. We can’t even afford to drink clean water or buy healthy food because the price is one that our family cannot afford.
The effects of poverty will shake your whole self, your point of view, and eventually your dreams—because you cannot rely on others to improve the stability of your life. When you want to change your situation, you have to make huge sacrifices, and in my case, I sacrificed my youth to focus on doing what an adult does; doing part-time jobs at a food stall, selling food at my university, etc.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for my drive to keep on pursuing my dreams, I wonder where I would be now. But think about it. How about those people that can’t afford to relive and chase their dreams? What happens to them? When reality slaps you, you’ll realise there’s so much to do but so little to have.
I was thankful that there are organisations that made it their purpose to help the poor, the children and families that suffer educational inequality, and the stray pets that have no homes. You see beauty in the dirt and life in their eyes after the subtle thoughts of dying.
Have I Escaped The Effects Of Poverty?
No, I haven’t. We’re still counting on our food to suffice for the following days. I am still on the brink of anxiety thinking about where we will live once the place we’re staying at gets sold. Despite having a job, it wasn’t that simple for me to escape poverty–and that’s more of a reason why I need to keep going forward.
Keep saving money and learn day by day! I also wish that, when I have my wallet so thick that it’s about to burst, I can start my charity to save the poor in Singapore at the poverty line.
To graduate from my dream university and to have to hold my diploma and medal is one reward I can give myself and my family. But the most important thing to provide them is stability in life, where we will not worry about the continuously increasing prices for survival.
I hope you visit The Best Of You, learn about their advocacies, and be part of something great. Remember that being privileged means you have the chance to change a person or even a group of people’s lives and help them escape the grief and tiring effects of poverty.