I do remember being hungry a few times when my dad used our food stamps to buy beer and my mom refused to ask for help. I started hiding little Debbie cakes that my papaw would give me for these occasions. I would also make up some reason to walk down the road to my grandparents house knowing that they would ask me to stay for dinner. When I left the holler at the age of 18, I swore I would not be back and my kids would not endure life like this. Funny how I look back with fond memories and hearing Country Roads on the radio often makes me cry. Any ways, back to the topic.
I now stock up cans, clip coupons, and have money put back just in case. I also struggle with my weight as I cannot stand to see food wasted and eat more than I should with the excuse you never know when something bad is going to happen. Our church operates the main food bank in our small town and I try to volunteer there when I can, and teach me kids to help other as much as they can. I also teach for Head Start and I am the teacher with the list of all the food banks/ pantries with their contact info and criteria in our county and the surrounding counties. I cannot stand to hear of a child being hungry.
The country that I picked is Haiti, again. I know that clean water is an issue, so I am assuming that poverty is as well.
Before the earthquake of 2010, Haiti had 1.9 million people in need of food assistance. Since 2010, Haiti is now the poorest country in the world with a poverty rate of 77%. Only 50% of the country has access to clean water. "Only fifty percent of children living in Haiti are able to go to school, while 30 percent of those only progress to the fifth grade. As a result, half of Haitians are illiterate. Without a proper education, the people are unable to break free of the cycle of poverty," (The Borgen Project, 2015). This is extremely heartbreaking to me, and I wonder what is being done to help these children?
The Borgen Project list 30 ways to help with the top 3 being email congress, call congress, and donate. They list several ways that ordinary people can get involved and help which I think is awesome.
World Bank gives advice on what should be done. "To combat poverty and inequality in a sustainable way, policies should focus, alongside strong economic growth and better governance, on investing in people; boosting incomes and opportunities; and protecting the poor and vulnerable from shocks," (World Bank, n.d.). I was unable to find proof that this is being done. What I can find are small organizations usually affiliated with a church are doing what they can, but the government is not doing anything. I hope this changes soon for these children.
References
The Borgen Project. (2015). The Top 5 Facts about Poverty in Haiti. Retrieved fromhttps://borgenproject.org/top-five-facts-about-poverty-in-haiti/
The World Bank. (n.d). Investing in People to Fight Poverty in Haiti.
Kaleena,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement you can't stand to hear children that are hungry. As a head start teacher you're doing an outstanding job with the food bank, providing food for those unfortunate. Unfortunately Head Start programs that encounter are throwing away their food instead of providing local communities.
Keep it up great job
Hi Mohan, Due to the guidlines from the federal food program Head Starts and other programs have to throw out unused food. We all hate it, but I have seen programs get sued when they give the food away and someone gets sick.
DeleteKaleena
ReplyDeleteYour experience with poverty,sounds so familiar, grew up in a very close knit community a time when everyone, knew you and you knew everyone. Although I did not experience poverty personally, like you looking back, I realize that I knew many families who did. The difference being, that everyone in the neighborhood always looked out for everyone. I remember my Mom and other mothers in the neighborhood cooking large amounts of food and it was almost like a party because we would always either have friends over for meals or eating meals at the neighbors. I thought it was "country" how the women in the community would buy these 50lb bag of rice, and divide it with others, or how butchering a hog, was considered an event, everyone would participate, and every part of the hog was used, for food. We would all be so upset during the first day of school because almost everyone in the neighborhood would have on the same outfits, if not it sure seemed like it. Those days are long gone, it seems as if everyone is for themselves. I too work for Head Start and I always make sure that the children arriving after meals are served have something to eat, even if it means requesting a meal for them to be put aside as late arrival. I agree with Mohan, it saddens me to see how a program designed to help those of low SES, would rather throw away food,instead of donating it to the families we serve. As a former director for a center based site, I asked our executive director why this practice was adopted, and was told that the program did not want to be held accountable in the event someone who may become sicken from food items that was provided by the program that was not kept a proper temperatures, ets. I'm a firm believer that the things we endure, is what makes us the strongest. Another thing we share in common is the weight, I also love to eat, especially chocolates.
Thank you for sharing your story. I remember well, the bonfire celebrations after killing a hog or a cow, and yes no parts were wasted. The federal food programs that most Head Starts use requires that the unused food be thrown away. I agree, it is sad, but you never know who might sue you if they get sick.
DeleteKaleena, I know the feeling hunger is one thing I feel that can be solved in so many ways. At my school we have to throw away the food that was not used for the day instead of giving it away to a family in need or taking it to a shelter, better yet giving it to the people living on the streets. I also worked for a restaurant where they did the same thing, maybe that law could be changed because the amount of food that is being wasted daily could feed an entire village easily.
ReplyDeleteI agree.
ReplyDelete