By: Gabrielle Cecala
Life is a wonderful thing that many of us take for granted. To be able to smell, hear, feel, taste and see is so amazing. The senses by themselves are completely & utterly beautiful ! Many people are born with disabilities and are not able to to do some or if any of these things. Some people live in absolute poverty and are not able to smell a home cooked meal, let alone eat one. Now-A-Days, We often take food, friends, love and life all for granted. There are children in the world that will never get to experience a hearty meal nor a real hug from someone who truly loves them. I know that we all have our problems, but there are others that have it so much more worse than we do.
Poverty stricken families are not only in 3rd world countries, but also here were we live. We pass by homeless people every day. Do you ignore their cries for change or do you give to those in need? In order to become a group or a culture, one must start it and others must follow. I speak about the homeless and hungry people because I have helped those people. When I was younger, a few years back actually, I volunteered for 3 years at Methodist Hospital just so I can help those who are less fortunate than I am. There are people in those hospital beds that are left there to die and have no one to talk to nor visit them. I didn't know any of them , but I still cared for them as if they were my own family. I know what it is like to not have anyone and it is a terrible, miserable feeling. I have been starving with no food in my kitchen. I have seen my mother steal cat food just to feed our animals. I have been there and done that. To those of you that laugh at that, shame on you. To those of you that understand where I am coming from and what it is like to be at the lowest of low, follow with me. We don't need to give millions of dollars to charity in order to make a change. A penny can go a long way. Pennies amount to dollars. It seems as if now a days the norm is to not give to the homeless. It saddens me to see this type of behavior from people who I know and also whom I don't. Although "it's a recession" is a popular reason for not giving, through my eyes it's just a poor excuse to not give to those who need money more than we do. Next time you see someone in need, give a little .. I promise that good deed will come back to you 10 times greater.
I agree with everything you said about poverty not being in only 3rd world countries only. I am from Jamaica and it's not a 3rd world country, but there is alot of poverty there. I volunteer alot but its so hard because i can't help everybody that needs the help. I was also surprised when i moved here because there is so much poverty here, and when your not from this country and you hear about things America you only hear the good stuff and none of the bad.
ReplyDeleteEvery night i am coming home from work i see homeless people sleeping in the subway and i feel bad because they are on the cold concrete floor sleeping, and i think how did they get to that point in their lives. When i see stuff like that it just make me work harder for everything that i have.
I'm glad that you understand my post and actually have consideration for those people who are on the streets sleeping. Others just walk by without any emotion. I noticed that when I see someone homeless I feel terrible, for days after.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this post, I remembered my country's bad situation; there is poverty everywhere in Morocco and many homeless people exacetly like here. Yet, in the US I believe that there are many organization which fight homelessness.
ReplyDeleteI see everyday homeless people around streets, I feel sympathy for their situtaion; but the problem is that I can't do anything for them but sharing their feelings.
I love this post! I find it so funny that this is what someone wrote about because I
ReplyDeletewas just talking to my mother about this. My mother is a full time paralegal and also a full time real estate agent. She works all day and practically all night. She constantly talks about how tired and overwhelmed her schedule makes her feel. As much as I love and respect my mother, lately all she has been doing is complaining about her jobs and all the work she has been doing. I've been trying to remind her that although she is overwhelmed, she has two full time good paying jobs, while there are so many people who are struggling to find even one. She has the means to provide for her family and even treat herself to spa days and all times of other things that those people on unemployment or welfare wouldn't even dare to imagine because they barely have enough to eat. I feel like we need to stop and be thankful for all of the things that we have, no matter how much or how little. We may have it bad, but someone else has it a million times worse. Even someone who goes from homeless shelter to homeless shelter, their are people who won't make it to the homeless shelters and will die from hunger on the street.
-Ashley Rivera
I agree with this post and believe more light needs to be shed on it. poverty is every where half my family are from hati so i understand. I mainly give my time to kids and teenagers less fortunate then most but as a society we need to tackle poverty here just as much as we try to do it in other countries. I don't disagree with helping other countries but if you cant help home how can you help others? people look down at people in shelters and sleeping on the streets but i know a few that are hard workers when they actually get the help they need and their a lot more grateful for the things they get then we are ...
ReplyDeleteNice blog! It's so true that we pass homeless people everyday and we ignore them. A lot of people believe that it's there fault that they are in such position and should just get up and get a job(easier said then done). Imagine how hard it is right now to find a job and you have a degree so what's the chances of an homeless person getting one. I always try to put myself in the next's person shoes because you never know what tomorrow may bring; that can be you one day sitting at the corner asking for some change.
ReplyDeletei appreciate all the love that this post got. I just want people to realize that during the holidays while we're inside our homes, warm, stuffing or faces and happy with our family, their are people on the streets that having nothing to live for and no where to go on holidays where you should all come together as one. family or not.
ReplyDelete