Service Learning Blog

I chose WFP and poverty.com
WFP (World Food Program) Has a shocking statistic- one in six people are malnourished in the world. That's such a horrible statistic. It brings to life the reality of hunger in the world. WFP sets goals to eradicate this hunger in the world. Poverty.com views poverty as something that can be changed. There is enough food for people, but we fall short of distributing it all. How can we let people starve without having compassion? This site is trying to change ethnocentrically american views (that everyone can get food and water), and that some people really do need help. It's not always a populations fault if they are impoverished or starving. We need to aknowledge that people starve because of us, not them.
I liked that these sites aknowledged hunger, but i think there are more issues than food that people deal with on a day to day basis, especially in America where food is more acessible.

The type of poverty that I see in Game is lower middle class. These pre-teens live in low income or middle class families, and many receive free lunches. They are usually considered at-risk. We have a few bullies, and a few super shy people. By mixing all kinds of people from all walks of life, they can understand themselves and others better. Game is a good way of helping kids increase self esteem. Also, hanging out with these kids once a week keeps them out of trouble. Living in poverty greatly affects their day to day lives, including education. It makes education difficult, because their parents may not advocate it or think it's important. Also, at home, if their parents arent well educated, they can't help them with homework. Many end up at community college because their parents think they can't pay for private or public universities. It makes healthcare difficult because they can't pay for good medical insurance or go to the best hospitals. Living conditions are poor, if one can't pay bills, they can hardly furnish a house.

I think it is absolutely neccessary to increase awareness of poverty in Spokane. We don't neccessarily advertise "GAME" in the Spokane community. If more programs like this were readily available, we might be able to improve the lives of hundreds of teens in America. I think it is important to attempt to live in solidarity with others. I think GAME is a good program to see poverty close up, and work alongside it to help change attitudes, so GAME mentees can view the world as more friendly and accessible.

When I think about people in poverty, i think of the woman that was so poor, but gave her last two cents to the collection plate. i think if people were more willing to give of themselves, we could more easily destroy hunger and poverty. If people were willing to give services, time, and money to important causes, we could change the world.