You Are Living The American Dream

You see, I am a mother of three, and recently one of my kids was sent back home. Since families and their children have no contact with each other during the time they attend school, I had no idea of the horrors that it this institution - that is, until she spoke to me. Even if she is too young or too unheeding to truly understand what she and others went through, I’m not. For one, they were completely isolated, not only from their families and communities but also from their customs, culture, traditions, faith. The cultural genocide inherent in this institution in unreal – from its very creation to its educational system. Kids are forbidden to speak their native language in any circumstance, the language they have been immersed in and have been speaking their entire lives; a part of themselves even. Or to practice any of their spiritual traditions, which are an important part of their culture and beliefs and identity, while being forced to convert into Christianity, and being exposed to denigration of their religious practices. As well as very poorly educated, as lessons are only taught for half a day, are taught in English which is a language the vast majority of the children don’t speak, not to mention that the teachers are usually unfit to teach these children as they don’t adapt their materials so that the students can fully understand it. Not only this, but also the rest of the time was spent with vocational training, except the only training they really got was on how to run a school, not doing work that could help them in the future if they did in fact decide to become assimilated into the population like the government wishes. Although I’m not sure the “civilized society” offers much better conditions than our communities, if the schools are any indication of it. Even basic necessities such as clothing are

The face of poverty is changing in the United States. When someone mentions that a person is living in poverty, we are inclined to think of a bum living on the street, eating at shelters, and using whatever money they have for alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Usually we visualize this person as being a middle-aged male with drab clothing and a long beard. This description may have fit the average person living in poverty or on the street a few years ago, but it is no longer a correct generalization. Children are the face of poverty in 2015. These children have little chance to rise up out of the lifestyle they are born into. Many of these children are born to teenage girls. The economic states of these mothers and their lifestyles many times

As the son of impoverished Mexican immigrants, I never experienced the luxuries and everyday joys of other children my age. For instance, while other children worried about missing their favorite television shows or about what gifts they were going to receive for Christmas, I spent a majority of my time worrying about whether or not my parents would be able to put food on our table or be home in time to say goodnight. Yet, thanks to the support of my family and an unsurpassed desire to obtain a better life, I have immersed myself into my studies, in hopes that I can one day better the situation for those around me.

When I arrived in Syracuse, the Lost Boys hadn’t organized themselves. we needed a forum, I thought, a foundation, to channel our energy. With the help of others interested in such an organization, I set up the Sudanese Lost Boys Foundation of New York. … We set up the foundation to accept and disburse charitable donations. My intent was to create a funnel for money to help Lost Boys pay for college tuition, books, computers, and other things they needed to succeed in America.

In “The Singer Solution to World Poverty,” Peter Singer urges all Americans to donate any money not being used for sustenance to help children overseas. When I read this article in my AP Language and Composition class last year, I realized the duty I had as a privileged individual, to help these underserved communities. However, this was not something my friends and I could engage in-- we were all broke and didn’t even have jobs, not to mention the harrowing expense of future college tuitions haunting our dreams. But this didn’t mean we couldn’t help save children’s lives. I found three other colleagues who shared my goal of helping kids globally and we collaborated to co-found our high school’s own UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) club.

Most people from other countries think about the States as being the land of the “American Dream”. Despite being home of the “American dream”, poverty has become one of Americas most major leading problems. Poverty affects multiple groups of people throughout the United States. Child poverty specifically has grown vastly and has fostered major issues such as educational issues, behavioral problems, and generational poverty. Through the pursuit of knowledge, developing critical thinking skills among youth, creating a relatable educational experience for student, and giving students the tools to brake generational disparities, childhood poverty can be reduced.

Those fortunate enough to be able to afford an education could lead to countless opportunities of success. In the book, Outcasts United, written by Warren St. John, recounts stories of refugees living in the United States who had to leave their home country due to violence and poverty. Much like the book, Outcasts United, in class we watched a documentary film on refugee resettlement in the United States called “Lost Boys”, which showed people living in Africa who suffered from civil wars within their country such as Sudan, who than came to America for a better life and to be able to work and to get an education to help their future along with their families future. Poverty is too broad of a subject to be able to break down and try and fix it, as it is an issue not only with countries in Africa, but also in every country in the World. The fight against stopping poverty seems to be unachievable in our society today, but in both Outcasts United and “Lost Boys” the characters are able to escape their home countries in search for a better existence. Developing the necessary skills to be prosperous in life, they are able to attain an education they never could have achieved in

Twelve years ago, Esther sponsored two children in Uganda, Joseph & Brenda, while working in the Village, who were only six years old at the time, and she continues to support their education by giving them an opportunity to attend a boarding school in Uganda. Her work with the children doesn’t stop there; she also mentors them and other children in Uganda throughout the year with frequent telephone calls and text messages. She is affectionately called “Mummy Esther” by many, both young and old.

Maternal mortality, prostitution, and economic empowerment become global struggles due to lack of education and financial ability of both the country itself and individuals living in these countries. Families are following a pattern by neglecting to dedicate time, attention, and money to their children’s education. These people are living in the moment and do not

Thousands of children, in Haiti, suffer from starvation. People who are more rich and have more clothes are donating those food and clothes to Haiti, helping fill the hungry and clothe the cloth-less. “The community of Lubbock should be proud to know and see the donations sent from West Texas are impacting the lives and the futures, of 1,500 children in Haiti, each and every day.” The community of Lubbock donates food to thousands of children in Haiti. Doing this allows these kids to grow up and be successful, maybe even grow up to help fight hunger in his/her community as well. Fowler describes how she seen how they

Poverty makes a huge impact on a growing child’s mental state. The feeling of never being able to have the same things as your counterparts is a difficult feeling. It makes one feel as if they are not good enough and leads to the formation of an inferiority complex. In a land far away, Artur Samarin also has to tackle similar challenges growing up in a post Soviet Ukraine. When talking about his life in Ukraine, he says that is it like the “United kingdom a thousand years ago, when they hadn’t had the industrial revolution… no opportunities, no money, to areas to realize yourself” (Riley 11).

She decided to give up the life she had in the United States to travel to Uganda, only relying on funds from her family and friends back home to help support her and her efforts. This eventually led to the development of Amazima Ministries, whose “mission was to provide food, medical care, education, and work to those in need in Uganda” (Katie Davis Speaks). Today, Davis’s ministry provides for nearly 1,600 children, some who would not even be alive today without it. One of the first children Davis’s ministry provided for was a young girl named Agnes, only nine when Davis found her. Her parents had both died from HIV, and she was left to care for her two younger sisters. She had no money and little access to food and water. Davis took Agnes under her wing and gave her the care that she so desperately needed. Agnes and her sisters are now healthy, and Agnes is a caregiver for Amazima (Davis 154). Amazima has had a huge impact on a multitude of children, and Agnes’s story is a reflection of that impact. The ministry has had the ability to completely turn children’s lives around, providing them with opportunities that they have only ever dreamed about. Davis, now twenty-one, is a mom to thirteen young Ugandan girls who do not have families that can support or provide for them. Davis admits she could never have imagined this was where her journey in Uganda would lead her, but she has kept the mindset that “one [child] is enough” (Davis 204). She did everything she could to help every child that crossed her path, regardless of the circumstances. This mindset is what has driven Amazima Ministries to become what it is now and what will continue to drive it to become something even greater in the

It is dawn in the Ugandan village. Bali awakens to the sound of her little brother stirring in his sleep. She gets up and coos in his ear little sounds of endearment hoping to lull him back into a placid slumber. Fortunately she is successful and her little brother continues his rhythmic snores, but Bali does not get to continue resting. She must collect water, stone and wood; she must prepare clean dishes and clothes. She must pound cassava root and collect fish; she must prepare food for her family. By the time she finishes, it is 3:30 in the afternoon and she is enervated. Her juvenile stature is much too frail for the amount of work expected of her, but it must be done. Though Bali is six years old and should be attending primary school, she can not because she has to survive. Not many children, especially in developing countries, have the opportunity to go to school. However just because the children are immersed with chores, does not mean it is morally correct to neglect their right to education. Limited

However, they are individuals just like any other child and they should be given the same opportunities that all children have. Poverty is a huge problem in many areas of the world. MacQueen states “poverty puts children behind from birth, and keeps them behind for life (2003).” If a child is in a household with little money, they may lack “the stable home in a safe neighbourhood, adequate nutrition, and the kind of involved parenting” that would be influential on the correct and desired development of the young child (MacQueen, 2003).

As a result of poverty and marginalization, more than 72 million children around the world remain unschooled. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most affected area with over 32 million children of primary school age remaining uneducated. Central and Eastern Asia, as well as the Pacific, are also severely affected by this problem with more than 27 million uneducated children. In addition, these regions must also resolve continuing problems of educational poverty (a child in education for less than 4 years) and extreme educational poverty (a child in education for less than 2 years) (Omwami & Keller, 2010).