Wealth disparity has been an increasing phenomena in our society today. Between the gap of those who can afford their needs and wants, and those who cannot fend for themselves, who roam the streets without food or shelter. We are here to document and give awareness to these less fortunate and open our eyes to the realities in this world today.
Seeing this picture makes my heart feel pain as if that someone is squeezing it until it's broken into pieces. It's just so heart breaking that I can stop from asking questions like "Why are there children wandering on streets, sleeping at the corner and begging for foo and money?", "Where are their parents?", "What's the government doing?", "What's the use of DSWD?" Moreover, I can't stop from thinking that life is really so unfair. We all know that children are our hope for the future so we really need to provide them their basic needs such as food, shelter and education. But instead of living in a cozy bed in a clean and warm room, they are lying on the streets with just a cardboard as their bed. Who are we going to blame? The government? The parents? Or the children themselves? For me, both the government and the parents are to be blame. They're the one who has the capabilities to protect these children and they're the ones who know best the needs of these children in order to have a good quality of life. But what are they doing? Why is it that the number of children wandering on the streets are increasing instead of decreasing? Endless questions will keep on popping in my mind about these case and the answers are still yet to be discovered. If only the government and the citizens will just help each other, there will be no case like what the picture depicts will be encountered in the future.
At first it didn't occur to me how tragic the sight is -- It didn't occur to me, that the carton sheets belong to that person in need of shelter, of clothing and of warm bed. Social inequalities and poverty have been inevitably rampant in our society. Some people woke up just look for coins on the street for them to be called subsistence survivors, some may be live just to play or some may be live just to love and be loved. What’s yours? This picture made me realize how important it is to find hope, no matter how dark the night is in our lives. And that HOPE encompasses the participation of oneself, family and government.
It's a sad but true reality. The question is who will the Filipinos blame for this? Partly the bad governance. for how many years Philippines had and still has incapable, selfish and corrupt leaders. And partly the Filipino people who continuously believe that their responsibility to the government/country ends after the indelible ink tainted their finger nails. Folks, this is partnership of the people and the government, unless we are united we will continue to see many of these pictures in the near future.
Words are not enough to describe this picture. For the child, it does not matter for him if he does not have a comfy pillow or a large blanket. As long as he has his carton for his bed, he can go through the night while exposed to the bitter cold. Worst case scenario: A heavy rainfall. Where then will the child take shelter? Pictures like these crush our hearts, make us reflect on certain things and appreciate the things that we have. It challenges us whether we have really lived a moral life. Blaming the government nor giving the kind our feelings of pity will not help him get through the night. What then are we supposed to do? The answer is quite obvious that most of us cannot see it: if you can help, then do it. We may be living a morally flawed life but we always have the choice whether to help them or not.
Poverty has always been an issue in developing countries like the Philippines. Our leaders are trying to reduce the cases of hunger especially among children and deliver basic needs to marginalized poor section of the population. However, throughout the years we see little change despite their efforts. We see children in the streets begging for few cents instead of going to school. We see children working whole day and night instead of playing in school grounds. We see children sleeping in the streets in a cold starry night instead in a comfy warm bed. The goverment has to do something, and common Filipino like you and me can do something too..... "ok. Nice." ��
Irresponsible parents bringing these children into this world...panganak ng panganak even though they have no means to feed them sufficiently and to send them to school. Sarap na sarap sa paggawa ng bata. "Bahala na ang Dios" attitude.
Life is just too hard for this kid yet his instincts tells him to survive no matter what. We don't have to pity him, pity is for the weak, not for him for he is strong. Even though he lives that way, sleeping in the streets with just a carton but still he faces life with a ray of hope in mind thinking someday, i will get through this. Poverty is not the issue here, it's the irresponsible people who keeps doing this and that just for their own sake. In addition, the lack of knowledge of many lower class in family planning is one cause of this phenomena. Even a poor family can raise a child if things are set to their basic needs and priority. So people who are just talking about the government that they lack this and that,they need to do this and that, are just the same as those sitting pretty officials. Accept the fact that this is reality. As of now, there is no cure for this sickness of ours that we keep on talking some good stuffs yet we don't even do something about it.
I am a part of the middle class, which can be considered fortunate, depending on your perspective. But certainly for this person in the picture, I am fortunate. Looking through the lenses of poverty can you see how lucky you are and makes you not want to take for granted the privileges that you have, and use these privileges to help people like this kid to at least have a proper place to stay in. You can see the great differences between the rich and the poor in the Philippines.
I think I’ve had enough of this, blaming the government but is there anyone else who has the means to help them. I want to take matters to my own hands, if only I could. If I only I had enough resources. These situations do not call us to be reminded of the flaws of the government, but to act, it takes more than compassion to make a change, we have to have a personal commitment to raise the status of the poor and marginalized. I myself, am guilty of ignoring begging street children. I mean, I’d like to help but I’m too afraid that they might use the money to buy rubber cement (or whatever else is there). I know that the buying of the rubber cement is already beyond extent of my conscience but I still blame myself for giving them the money to buy it. This is just very exasperating.
One day, I was walking on the same road where that person is exactly situated. Suddenly, one question pops out and asked me, 'why?'
That was a very easy question yet needs millions of brains before we can answer. The government, I assume has enough budget to process housing projects to those people cuddling everynight to the cold air of the sidewalk. But has never started a profound result until today. Still a lot of them suffer from the freezing breeze of the night and of the unhealthy environment they are currently in. Poverty has it when they are unable to live in a decent house, cannot eat the complete meal everyday and of course cannot sleep well everynight. Well, definitely, our government has the biggest role on this matter, but I can see nothing but lots of problems adding each other.
The government can prioritize this and make it really really quick, so in the future, we won't be seeing people sleeping any where. And this could also be a start of a better Philippines.
We often busy ourselves chasing our dreams and living life to the fullest. Turning the images of that perfect-little-world we make in our heads into reality, little by little. Sadly, we become too engrossed in the pursuit of our goals that we sometimes, forget about the people around us. Particularly, those people who unlike us may never have the luxury to dream. Those who are too occupied and distraught searching for that next meal to eat. In this case, a corner to sleep. Seeing the image above reminded me of that bitter truth. It reminded me that I do not exist solely for myself. And that we all have social responsibilities to attend to.
i hope this picture will serve as an eye-opener to all of us. the next time we complain about our "little" problems in life, let's think of some people who cannot even afford to eat three times a week, the people who stay up all day and night in streets trying to beg for small amount of money, and the ones who do not have a place to call "home". we are preoccupied with the thought of having a lavish lifestyle that we fail to realize that others do not even have access to the basic necessities we sometimes just ignore because of our focus to acquire some "wants" in life. there's no problem big enough that we cannot solve, if we just learn to open our hearts and minds in helping out the people who need it the most.
Wealth disparity. From the phrase itself, there is unequal distribution of wealth. The tendency of people is to become greedy, they would want more and more. What they have is not always enough. They're not contented of what they have. A lesson that we must learn is life is to "be contented of what we have." Don't consume ourselves with greed because it may not lead us to true happiness in life. Regarding the picture, these children in the streets don't have the proper guidance. It's the job of DSWD to assess these children. NGOs, LGUs, etc can help these children, send them to school, inculcate good values and morals. Teach them to become a responsible individual so that in the future, they can have a descent job and live a fulfilling life. As to the parents of these children in the streets or poor adult individuals, they also need to be educated. I don't encourage people to feed them everyday, give them money everyday, pay their debts, etc. but I encourage people to just educate them, lead them to the right path. Manganad nya ni sila gud. I-rugby palang na nila or i-sugal or mahimong spoiled brats.
Everyday, I question myself why I can't have a more convenient life. My mind wanders to a vista of leisure. What I,and most of us, fail to conceive is that our beds are warmer( or colder on hot summer nights with our air condition on full blast). We have a variety of food, prepared as we please. We get to purchase things we dont require. We have items that wont help us grow as a person because we are so engulfed by them. All these we fail to appreciate. We long for more. But there are many who yearn for less. Much less. All they pray for is a roof above their heads. A place to bathe. Food to fill their growling stomachs. To see their fingernails without the grime. They can not help but smile when a piece of bread is laid on their hands while we complain because it is not enough. while we are getting fatter,they are growing weary thin. I hope someday they will be taken under the cloak of our government. They will be given the opportunity to live a life beyond restrain, shackled by their disability-of being poor
It's the corrupt people running the government and those parents and other citizens who sold their votes to those cunning and greedy (financial or power) politicians!
This picture makes me feel sad and guilty about this picture because of the struggles that he and us encountered most and we always blame the government for being slowly to do good manners in our society.
This photo is so heart breaking. It makes me realize how lucky and blessed I am and be contented of what I have in life. Even though I can't provide them a direct help, they are always in my prayers. But when I have a chance or the resources to help them, I will help them.
This is sad, but so very true not only in the Philippines, but in many part of the world Government may have a play on the poverty, but I think we need to face our own faults, people need to realize that if you are incapable of fending for yourself, then you should do everything to make sure not to bring another , I am just saying and even more sad that you'll see people that are way more than capable of lending a hand yet, those who has much less are the one that are more generous and willing to help
I think such wealth disparity is more pronounced in free market capitalism and less so in socialism where government subsidies are more active in helping their citizens. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of this unequal distribution of wealth for so many years since growing up in the 1960s … not only in the Philippines and other developing countries but also here in the United States where people are seeing the diminishing number of people in the “middle class” and widening gap between the rich and the poor. I think there are so many factors the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer: the corrupt government, the irresponsible citizens themselves with a fatalistic attitude who sell their votes to the cunning politicians , lack of discipline among the people who are dishonest and even "nanglalamang sa kapwa tao" , the greedy rich who wants to retain and increase their wealth at the expense of other people, etc. etc. etc.
Vicious cycle-parents who did not get the best opportunities to begin with -ie formal higher learning ergo nil job opportunities. Then they have children who have had the same exact situation as them growing up; what's the chances?. Unless one has that overpowering drive to break free from this sad cycle; it will go on and on. The drive of one to succeed matched with moral and financial support of one or a group will greatly improve the situation such as this. The picture above is still a more fortunate depiction of what is really more commonly seen all over the country. At least the surroundings is cleaner . The real deal out there is much sadder and painful to watch. The billions of $$$$ pocketed by few greedy ones could've been used to educate the youth of today for free and thus helping them break the cycle of poverty. Human Kindness is one of the requirements to uplift the unfortunate sector of the society- Easier said than done.
Heart breaking. Just so heart breaking :-(, i mean no child deserves to live like this..but heres my 2 cents on this.
1. The media should stop giving out stupid standards on how a person should look like in order to be acceptable. ( we don't need gluta!) dark or light skin.
2. Poor farmers should be able to sell crops and products at a half of what it is being sold for at yhe market by the rich businessmen. And should be priced decent and affordable to the poor.
3. Sex education and more sex education as early as grade six. When these young ladies starts to have their periods. Give out contraceptives free. Specially at poverty stricken places. The streets if possible.
4. Free higher education for those new grads who are poor. Labor should be readily available and acceptable at universities in exchange for knowledge and education. 5. The poor should open their eyes to the world, find a way to get out of the situation. Stop making innocent children, only to be brought up less humanly. It's crazy! So painful to see.
Seeing the bright light, the optimism of this child amuses me. It is because if I were in his shoes I would probably be frustrated in my situation. But nevertheless the child seems to be contented of what he has and that’s happiness, it is how you appreciate and content you are with what you have. But contrasting to that, I would really appreciate it if he’d dream something that would improve his life. Yes, he's very poor but it's not his fault why he's like that. Only it'll become his fault if he dies poor. Going to school or probably have an informal education or whatever means for him to learn, he should take it. That’s why I really suggest that the government should have learning centers that is free for those street children and not only this calls for the government but also to those who can afford and has a heart to help them learn how to read, write and etc., that would be a great help for them.
Seeing this picture makes my heart feel pain as if that someone is squeezing it until it's broken into pieces. It's just so heart breaking that I can stop from asking questions like "Why are there children wandering on streets, sleeping at the corner and begging for foo and money?", "Where are their parents?", "What's the government doing?", "What's the use of DSWD?" Moreover, I can't stop from thinking that life is really so unfair. We all know that children are our hope for the future so we really need to provide them their basic needs such as food, shelter and education. But instead of living in a cozy bed in a clean and warm room, they are lying on the streets with just a cardboard as their bed. Who are we going to blame? The government? The parents? Or the children themselves? For me, both the government and the parents are to be blame. They're the one who has the capabilities to protect these children and they're the ones who know best the needs of these children in order to have a good quality of life. But what are they doing? Why is it that the number of children wandering on the streets are increasing instead of decreasing? Endless questions will keep on popping in my mind about these case and the answers are still yet to be discovered. If only the government and the citizens will just help each other, there will be no case like what the picture depicts will be encountered in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe children are the innocent victims. :-(
DeleteAt first it didn't occur to me how tragic the sight is -- It didn't occur to me, that the carton sheets belong to that person in need of shelter, of clothing and of warm bed. Social inequalities and poverty have been inevitably rampant in our society. Some people woke up just look for coins on the street for them to be called subsistence survivors, some may be live just to play or some may be live just to love and be loved. What’s yours? This picture made me realize how important it is to find hope, no matter how dark the night is in our lives. And that HOPE encompasses the participation of oneself, family and government.
ReplyDeleteIt's a sad but true reality. The question is who will the Filipinos blame for this? Partly the bad governance. for how many years Philippines had and still has incapable, selfish and corrupt leaders. And partly the Filipino people who continuously believe that their responsibility to the government/country ends after the indelible ink tainted their finger nails. Folks, this is partnership of the people and the government, unless we are united we will continue to see many of these pictures in the near future.
ReplyDeleteWords are not enough to describe this picture. For the child, it does not matter for him if he does not have a comfy pillow or a large blanket. As long as he has his carton for his bed, he can go through the night while exposed to the bitter cold. Worst case scenario: A heavy rainfall. Where then will the child take shelter? Pictures like these crush our hearts, make us reflect on certain things and appreciate the things that we have. It challenges us whether we have really lived a moral life. Blaming the government nor giving the kind our feelings of pity will not help him get through the night. What then are we supposed to do? The answer is quite obvious that most of us cannot see it: if you can help, then do it. We may be living a morally flawed life but we always have the choice whether to help them or not.
ReplyDeletePoverty has always been an issue in developing countries like the Philippines. Our leaders are trying to reduce the cases of hunger especially among children and deliver basic needs to marginalized poor section of the population. However, throughout the years we see little change despite their efforts. We see children in the streets begging for few cents instead of going to school. We see children working whole day and night instead of playing in school grounds. We see children sleeping in the streets in a cold starry night instead in a comfy warm bed. The goverment has to do something, and common Filipino like you and me can do something too..... "ok. Nice." ��
ReplyDeleteIrresponsible parents bringing these children into this world...panganak ng panganak even though they have no means to feed them sufficiently and to send them to school. Sarap na sarap sa paggawa ng bata. "Bahala na ang Dios" attitude.
DeleteLife is just too hard for this kid yet his instincts tells him to survive no matter what. We don't have to pity him, pity is for the weak, not for him for he is strong. Even though he lives that way, sleeping in the streets with just a carton but still he faces life with a ray of hope in mind thinking someday, i will get through this. Poverty is not the issue here, it's the irresponsible people who keeps doing this and that just for their own sake. In addition, the lack of knowledge of many lower class in family planning is one cause of this phenomena. Even a poor family can raise a child if things are set to their basic needs and priority. So people who are just talking about the government that they lack this and that,they need to do this and that, are just the same as those sitting pretty officials. Accept the fact that this is reality. As of now, there is no cure for this sickness of ours that we keep on talking some good stuffs yet we don't even do something about it.
ReplyDeleteI am a part of the middle class, which can be considered fortunate, depending on your perspective. But certainly for this person in the picture, I am fortunate. Looking through the lenses of poverty can you see how lucky you are and makes you not want to take for granted the privileges that you have, and use these privileges to help people like this kid to at least have a proper place to stay in. You can see the great differences between the rich and the poor in the Philippines.
ReplyDeleteI think I’ve had enough of this, blaming the government but is there anyone else who has the means to help them. I want to take matters to my own hands, if only I could. If I only I had enough resources. These situations do not call us to be reminded of the flaws of the government, but to act, it takes more than compassion to make a change, we have to have a personal commitment to raise the status of the poor and marginalized. I myself, am guilty of ignoring begging street children. I mean, I’d like to help but I’m too afraid that they might use the money to buy rubber cement (or whatever else is there). I know that the buying of the rubber cement is already beyond extent of my conscience but I still blame myself for giving them the money to buy it. This is just very exasperating.
ReplyDeleteOne day, I was walking on the same road where that person is exactly situated. Suddenly, one question pops out and asked me, 'why?'
ReplyDeleteThat was a very easy question yet needs millions of brains before we can answer. The government, I assume has enough budget to process housing projects to those people cuddling everynight to the cold air of the sidewalk. But has never started a profound result until today. Still a lot of them suffer from the freezing breeze of the night and of the unhealthy environment they are currently in. Poverty has it when they are unable to live in a decent house, cannot eat the complete meal everyday and of course cannot sleep well everynight. Well, definitely, our government has the biggest role on this matter, but I can see nothing but lots of problems adding each other.
The government can prioritize this and make it really really quick, so in the future, we won't be seeing people sleeping any where. And this could also be a start of a better Philippines.
We often busy ourselves chasing our dreams and living life to the fullest. Turning the images of that perfect-little-world we make in our heads into reality, little by little. Sadly, we become too engrossed in the pursuit of our goals that we sometimes, forget about the people around us. Particularly, those people who unlike us may never have the luxury to dream. Those who are too occupied and distraught searching for that next meal to eat. In this case, a corner to sleep. Seeing the image above reminded me of that bitter truth. It reminded me that I do not exist solely for myself. And that we all have social responsibilities to attend to.
ReplyDeletei hope this picture will serve as an eye-opener to all of us. the next time we complain about our "little" problems in life, let's think of some people who cannot even afford to eat three times a week, the people who stay up all day and night in streets trying to beg for small amount of money, and the ones who do not have a place to call "home". we are preoccupied with the thought of having a lavish lifestyle that we fail to realize that others do not even have access to the basic necessities we sometimes just ignore because of our focus to acquire some "wants" in life. there's no problem big enough that we cannot solve, if we just learn to open our hearts and minds in helping out the people who need it the most.
ReplyDeleteWealth disparity. From the phrase itself, there is unequal distribution of wealth. The tendency of people is to become greedy, they would want more and more. What they have is not always enough. They're not contented of what they have. A lesson that we must learn is life is to "be contented of what we have." Don't consume ourselves with greed because it may not lead us to true happiness in life.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the picture, these children in the streets don't have the proper guidance. It's the job of DSWD to assess these children. NGOs, LGUs, etc can help these children, send them to school, inculcate good values and morals. Teach them to become a responsible individual so that in the future, they can have a descent job and live a fulfilling life.
As to the parents of these children in the streets or poor adult individuals, they also need to be educated. I don't encourage people to feed them everyday, give them money everyday, pay their debts, etc. but I encourage people to just educate them, lead them to the right path. Manganad nya ni sila gud. I-rugby palang na nila or i-sugal or mahimong spoiled brats.
Everyday, I question myself why I can't have a more convenient life. My mind wanders to a vista of leisure. What I,and most of us, fail to conceive is that our beds are warmer( or colder on hot summer nights with our air condition on full blast). We have a variety of food, prepared as we please. We get to purchase things we dont require. We have items that wont help us grow as a person because we are so engulfed by them. All these we fail to appreciate. We long for more. But there are many who yearn for less. Much less. All they pray for is a roof above their heads. A place to bathe. Food to fill their growling stomachs. To see their fingernails without the grime. They can not help but smile when a piece of bread is laid on their hands while we complain because it is not enough. while we are getting fatter,they are growing weary thin. I hope someday they will be taken under the cloak of our government. They will be given the opportunity to live a life beyond restrain, shackled by their disability-of being poor
ReplyDeleteIt's not the government, it's the parents.
ReplyDeleteIt's the corrupt people running the government and those parents and other citizens who sold their votes to those cunning and greedy (financial or power) politicians!
DeleteThis picture makes me feel sad and guilty about this picture because of the struggles that he and us encountered most and we always blame the government for being slowly to do good manners in our society.
ReplyDeleteThis photo is so heart breaking. It makes me realize how lucky and blessed I am and be contented of what I have in life. Even though I can't provide them a direct help, they are always in my prayers. But when I have a chance or the resources to help them, I will help them.
ReplyDeleteThis is sad, but so very true not only in the Philippines, but in many part of the world
ReplyDeleteGovernment may have a play on the poverty, but I think we need to face our own faults, people need to realize that if you are incapable of fending for yourself, then you should do everything to make sure not to bring another , I am just saying
and even more sad that you'll see people that are way more than capable of lending a hand yet, those who has much less are the one that are more generous and willing to help
I think such wealth disparity is more pronounced in free market capitalism and less so in socialism where government subsidies are more active in helping their citizens. Unfortunately, I hear a lot of this unequal distribution of wealth for so many years since growing up in the 1960s … not only in the Philippines and other developing countries but also here in the United States where people are seeing the diminishing number of people in the “middle class” and widening gap between the rich and the poor. I think there are so many factors the rich are getting richer and the poor getting poorer: the corrupt government, the irresponsible citizens themselves with a fatalistic attitude who sell their votes to the cunning politicians , lack of discipline among the people who are dishonest and even "nanglalamang sa kapwa tao" , the greedy rich who wants to retain and increase their wealth at the expense of other people, etc. etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteVicious cycle-parents who did not get the best opportunities to begin with -ie formal higher learning ergo nil job opportunities. Then they have children who have had the same exact situation as them growing up; what's the chances?. Unless one has that overpowering drive to break free from this sad cycle; it will go on and on. The drive of one to succeed matched with moral and financial support of one or a group will greatly improve the situation such as this. The picture above is still a more fortunate depiction of what is really more commonly seen all over the country. At least the surroundings is cleaner . The real deal out there is much sadder and painful to watch. The billions of $$$$ pocketed by few greedy ones could've been used to educate the youth of today for free and thus helping them break the cycle of poverty. Human Kindness is one of the requirements to uplift the unfortunate sector of the society-
ReplyDeleteEasier said than done.
Equity over Equality
ReplyDeleteHeart breaking. Just so heart breaking :-(, i mean no child deserves to live like this..but heres my 2 cents on this.
ReplyDelete1. The media should stop giving out stupid standards on how a person should look like in order to be acceptable. ( we don't need gluta!) dark or light skin.
2. Poor farmers should be able to sell crops and products at a half of what it is being sold for at yhe market by the rich businessmen. And should be priced decent and affordable to the poor.
3. Sex education and more sex education as early as grade six. When these young ladies starts to have their periods. Give out contraceptives free. Specially at poverty stricken places. The streets if possible.
4. Free higher education for those new grads who are poor. Labor should be readily available and acceptable at universities in exchange for knowledge and education.
5. The poor should open their eyes to the world, find a way to get out of the situation. Stop making innocent children, only to be brought up less humanly. It's crazy! So painful to see.
Seeing the bright light, the optimism of this child amuses me. It is because if I were in his shoes I would probably be frustrated in my situation. But nevertheless the child seems to be contented of what he has and that’s happiness, it is how you appreciate and content you are with what you have. But contrasting to that, I would really appreciate it if he’d dream something that would improve his life. Yes, he's very poor but it's not his fault why he's like that. Only it'll become his fault if he dies poor. Going to school or probably have an informal education or whatever means for him to learn, he should take it. That’s why I really suggest that the government should have learning centers that is free for those street children and not only this calls for the government but also to those who can afford and has a heart to help them learn how to read, write and etc., that would be a great help for them.
ReplyDelete