preview

What Does Poverty Mean To Me Research Paper

Decent Essays

To me, poverty is not just lacking monetary means. To me, poverty is a place. It is a place where children arrive at school with empty stomachs. It is a place where aspirations are pushed to the curb with the weekly trash. It is a place where families are trapped in a vicious cycle. You cannot find this place at any single point on the map, but at many points all over the globe. Living in one of these communities opened my eyes to the needs and wants of humans more than ever before.

Jose was a father of three children: Mauricio, who was 16, Valeria, who was 12, and Jose Chico, who was 9. Valeria and Jose Chico were born with severe learning disabilities. Both kids were held back in school two or three times, and were still not making progress …show more content…

I worked with Jose to help him write up a resume and apply for new jobs. I brought groceries to stock their empty cupboards. I helped the young ones with their homework and encouraged Mauricio to talk about his feelings instead of lashing out at everyone. For a short while it seemed like things were improving for Jose’s family. But it was not long until these small victories were overshadowed by falling grades, bad job interviews, and heated arguments. I started to understand that no matter how much I wanted a better life for this family, I did not have the ability to move them out of …show more content…

A year past and I had not received news about Jose or his children. I decided to return to this place I called poverty to find out what had happened to them. A different family lived in their small house; they had no insight about to where the previous owners had moved. I asked around the neighborhood and received a few different plausible stories about Jose’s family, but the bottom line was that they were gone. Whether or not I will ever see them again, my experience with this poor family has made me realize what it is humans really need and what is important to

Get Access