POVERTY TO MY EYES by Diego Oliva

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For sure we all seen before people begging for money on the streets, or pictures of the extreme
condition that people in third-world countries are suffering. But, have we really stopped for a
moment to think about them? Do we disgraced them us a society for who they are? And most
important, do we all understand the same as the concept of poverty? I don’t feel like we do.

As far as I’m concerned, our society looks at people in third-world countries as unfortunate
people, who don’t have basic resources, but also they are doing nothing to solve it. I don’t see
them that wretched. First of all, as the heart of the image I can see this boy who is lifting a huge
bottle, which i guess is filled up with water. This young boy might be around 11 years old and is
wearing a dirty, grey and yellow, V-necked T-shirt with what it looks like a matching filthy pair of
shorts. On the background of the picture, I see this nasty and huge pile of dry land which is all
covered up in trash. I see plastics, cans and even garbage bag. At the top left I also see a truck
with, what it seems like Arabian handwriting, so our young boy must be from an Arabic region.

In addition, what surprises me the most is how the Arabian boy is. He doesn’t look at himself as
we look at him. He sees himself fortunate for who he is, and glad for the life he is living. This
brown-skinned boy is showing a huge smile from ear to ear and that’s the most beautiful way to
affront his situation, which is not his fault. By the way he looks at the picture, he is walking
towards somewhere, probably home, from getting water for his family. He might be walking a
long distance to get that bottle filled up, because in this type of countries is not easy to get
potable water. In my believe, the outstanding understanding or innocence to his situation is his
most deeply way of saying: -“ Hey, it’s alright, we are doing fine, and we don’t need anyone to
feel pity for us”. So, should we feel bad for him? Of course we should! How many times we have
heart the phrase: “ Eat everything up on your plate, there are people starving to death who
would loved to be were you are right now”. Furthermore, our society understands what those
undeveloped countries and going through, and even feels bad for them. On the contrary, when
these kind of needed people enters our countries to start on a new life, what do we do? We
disgrace them for where they are coming from.

All in all, from my point of view, poverty is defined as the lack of basic needs, like potable water,
food and clothes due to the extreme conditions in third-world countries, which also lack of a
public healthcare system. To sum up, we should help out these countries by letting them know
we are going to be always next to them and not disgracing them because of their color, religion
or way of thinking.