Blog Action Day: Being Poor.....

Being poor is not a choice. Some says, it's probably fate. Some are destined to it and some are not. Lucky for those who were born on a silver platter; those who were sons and daughters of rich men; those who were offspring of business tycoons; those who were heirs and heiress of wealthy men. Given two options: to be rich or to become poor? Who would want to choose the latter one? As a matter of fact, "nobody" wants to become poor but sometimes destiny calls for it.

More often than not, those who were born poor are far from being successful. Why? Though, not all, but most of the poor cannot afford to have a good education unless, of course, one should strive hard to attain it by being a scholar or apply for a part-time job or as a working student just to have a degree in education and then one can be accessible to have a good job in the future.

But there are few who were striving hard on whatever their endeavors are in order to improve the quality of life but still stuck in poverty. Who would be blamed? Some blame it to the government officials for they are only concern on their political careers. Others blame it to the poor people themselves.

What about you? Do you have stories to tell about poverty? Then, share it!

Blog Action Day: Preferential Option of the Poor

Many Filipinos today are tempted to see very little hope for our country. With all the corruption, violence, poverty and natural calamities besetting our people, we cannot blame them if they do not view the Philippines in very optimistic terms. Many innocent children die in starvation. In many places, young girls are constantly in danger of being brutally raped and killed. All these happened because of poverty. Who do you think are responsible? What is the church's response about all these things?

The church's response to poverty is its proclaimed preferential option for the poor. It is a choice to commit oneself to opposing the injustice, exploitation, oppression, and marginalization of the least, last, and lonely members of our communities. It is a christian commitment to help transform our society into one in which human dignity and the rights of all are truly respected. This is an option that can be chosen by both the rich and the poor. The rich are called to enter into the lives of the poor reaching out in fraternal unity with them. This may require the rich to sacrifice some of the privileges and luxuries in favor of the less fortunate. The poor, on the other hand, are called to be in solidarity with other underprivileged people rather than neglect them, or worse take advantage of them, and unite with the rich ad the powerful. (For example, the rich should give just wages to the poor; the poor should give an honest day's work and create local structures which can help raise their quality of life). The option for the poor means to recognize this social reality, and consequently to focus on decisions that will benefit those who are led by the rich leaders.

But love for the poor surely does not mean despising the rich. This commitment is preferential, not exclusive. The church teaches that we must give more attention to the poor, because, unlike the rich who have many advantages in life, the poor are deprived of so many things. Think of the possible benefit we all get if the poor are better educated and well-guided during election times. The educated poor would not be so easily misled and manipulated by unscrupulous politician and we would have the chance of electing leaders in our government who are truly concerned for the good of all.

Poverty is dehumanizing. The preferential option for the poor is a commitment to work against poverty. It upholds the human dignity of all individuals.

Poverty in the Philippines

Poverty is seen and defined in many ways. But when we speak of the poor, we almost always mean those who suffer from economic impoverishment. This involves of even the basic needs to sustain life. This is the kind of poverty that is the most prevalent in the Philippines. It is also the cause of other forms such as ow self-esteem, powerlessness and discrimination. we know that the poor have a quiet ability to survive. They know how to make do the little that they have in order to get by. However, since they focus only on their survival, it is hard for them to attend to their other needs like heath and education- the things that can help them develop or improve their skills and upift the kind of living that they have.

Filipinos have different opinions as to hat the real problem is.Some blame it tp the government on its faulty economic policies and its corrupt leaders.Others blme it to the poor people themselves. Poor people are not lazy but the real problem is that no matter how hard they they work, they remain stuck in poverty. Why? Because most work at jobs with low wages, sometimes even below the minimum wage, or are unable to look for jobs to begin with because of lack of necessary skills and educational attainment. Even before they apply for a job, thay are already at the osing end because thay do not have suficient background likequality education or access to resources ike available iexpensive transportation that are needed to enable them to compete with many other filipinos seeking empoyment.

Between the industrious poor and the lazy rich, the lazy rich often has a better chance to get ahead in life as ar as opportunity is concerned.

another thing is, the poor arepoor because of the number of children in the family. So, the more mouths the poor family has to feed, the more they wil have to keep all members well-feed, clothed and sheltered.

So, what is our response to the continous problem of poverty our country is facing?

pOvErTy, not starvation

One of the problems that beset our country today is Poverty. Poverty and hunger are marked with shame. True enough, a poor man is often ashamed and feels humiliated. Government and even international organizations tend to help and initiate projects aimed at providing food for the starving people. From time to time they send some rice or corn here and there.

The real problem is that hunger is connected with terrible living conditions, lack of basic education. aggression, lack of family ties and even unproductive. What we see on TV-masses of people receiving help in a remote areas-does not show the real problem.

We cannot deny the fact that our country is in the state of poverty by just looking at our environment, there is a rice shortage and so some people tend to steal and even kill people just to save their families from starvation.

With a little bit of goodwill and with today's technology, hunger can be limited. But how can we alleviate poverty? What did the government do?

Ask it yourself........