Poverty Stimulation

This evening's poverty stimulation was an interesting one and brought back some memories that have shaped my life.

I found myself in a family were I was a 56 years handicapped woman. Things were so tight that we could not manage to eat for two weeks, could not pay our mortgage (become homeless) and could not afford to pay for my medication.In a real life situation, I would have been hospitalized or dead without the medication. This is the predicament the poor go through. When Ghana went through a period of hunger during 1983, I remember seeing my mum going out of house every now and then with a plastic bag containing her clothes to be sold so she can put food on table while my dad waits to be paid accumulated salary.

My siblings and I had to take turns to skip school in order to sell ice cream. Not only does Poverty disrupt family quality time but steal the life out of people.

However from the American perspective, I believe there is hope for the poor as there are avenues for the poor to seek assistance. During the stimulation, I lost my wallet and ended up with $100 card to pay utilities and $20 cash. If it were back home, there would have been no one to talk to for assistance.

I think tonight's stimulation is an excellent experience to those of us who have not seen or experienced poverty.