Name: BJ
How did it feel to be poor?
People have always said that poor people always have had to face only the worst circumstances. After the simulation, I understood right away what they have meant. Sitting on a dirty roadside and making paper bags for merely half an hour was bad enough for me, so I really can't imagine how the poor endure 10 hours of this. To me, being poor was obviously exhausting and pretty ridiculuous because of how much we had to suffer.
Do you have a better understanding about poverty? What specifically did you learn from the simulation?
After using some weird, sticky substance for glue instead of simply buying a bottle of Elmers? Sure, I now have a better understanding about poverty -_-". After the simulation, I specifically learned that it was not that easy to escape poverty than I thought it would be, from the fact that a large amount of poor people in India merely make paper bags for a living, which is never enough to supply a whole family.
Is poverty just about not having money? If its not, what else is involved?
It is about not having enough education and oppurtinities to escape poverty. It is about not being happy about who you are and not affording enough to care about your health. If poverty was just about not having money, then it is easy as breathing to escape poverty.
What are possible (and realistic) ways out of poverty for those like the paper bag makers and millions of others in their situation in the world today? Remember almost one billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day.
Try to look into yourself and see what you can do. Seek a specific talent that you are good at, and then use that talent on a job that can change your life forever.
Narrative
Hi, my name is BJ, and I live with my parents and 3 siblings in a crammed shack, working day and night 365 days a year in order for my family to survive. We rarely go to schools, and we try to help each other when we're sick to save hospital fees. I feel very hopeless because I was only 1 digit shy of winning a lottery in a show that I saw on television at the construction site. Our wealth is not improving at all, and we are trying to minimize our food supply as much as possible to stop the decrease. I wonder when my family will ever get out of this mess....
