We had the wonderful privilege to watch a conference on the eradication of poverty at the United Nations and listened to so many informative and inspiring speakers. The conference started off quite slowly but then got more interesting as it progressed. We heard a message from the Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, delivered by Ms. Magalis Trancoso and many other diplomats involved in poverty. I thought the best part of the conference was when a 14 year old girl spoke about her experience living in a shelter, (video attached below), because it wasn’t some aristocrat speaking on behalf of those in poverty, but a young girl who was experiencing the day to day struggles of living in a homeless shelter. She talked about her peers calling her names and she was embarrassed of where she came from. She spoke about the assumptions people made, like how they told her that her mother was a crack addict and thats why they were homeless. Another man living in a shelter spoke about the struggle of having a family and constantly being labeled as an unfit parent because of his financial situation and being passed over for a position that he was qualified because of where he lived. These people shared first-hand experiences and this was incredible.
More than 1.2 billion people are living in extreme poverty and “the world is too wealthy to have hunger and poverty” like that said H.E. Mr. Der Kongda. When we think of poverty we think of 3rd world countries, and although this is true, poverty is a wildly present issue in America today. People are forced to live off approximately $539 a month, and this is completely unrealistic if one wants to put food on the table. I believe that when a child is born into poverty, it leaves them very little opportunity in life, and sets them up to fail in this world.
This conference really gave me a different perspective on what poverty and homelessness looks like. When I think of homeless I think of someone who is unclean, living on the streets, begging for money, when really homelessness is a condition. A hopefully temporary condition of life where you are between jobs or between homes, and don’t have anywhere to go. It showed me the many faces of poverty and how it is important to understand that the condition of poverty is so different for every individual and you can’t assume anything.
