NSTP

Malnutrition and Poverty

Here in the Philippines, there are many people who are poor. Many

people don’t have enough money to feed themselves 3 times a day even if

they work their ‘asses’ off. Here in the Philippines, you can tell who is rich

and who is poor by just looking at them. The distinction is so obvious but so

usual for us Filipinos that we don’t wonder about it. Well, at least not every

day. I’m not sure about the statistics – it’s just so you’ll get my point. About

60- 70 percent of the Filipinos are poor. One of the reasons is because there

are only 40 percent of the Filipinos who are part of the labor force. And that

is because about 55 percent are children and 5 percent are elderly. Another

reason is because of the education. About 70 percent of the kids drop out of

school. Many don’t even finish high school or just go up to high school.

Here in manila, all you have to do is drive or walk out in the well

traveled streets and you’ll see people begging. If you drive around Edsa or

Roxas blvd. or anywhere else, you can see house stacks. They don’t look

pretty. They look messy and dirty. And they crowd each other up. But many

people live in these cardboard things which can barely be called a house.

You can see many people sleeping on the streets as well. I wonder where

they take a bath or if they take a bath at all. Maybe they take a bath in the

rain.

In the video, they showed many malnourished kids. They also showed

big families with not enough money or food. If parents can’t even afford to
feed their kids properly, how do you expect them to send them to school?

This results to poor education. Poor education results to fewer opportunities

in life. And so the cycle continues. Malnutrition means weaker immunity. In

the video, they showed a woman who had TB because of weak immunity and

because of malnutrition. The videos showed many situations like these. It

showed situations of malnutrition, sickness, poverty, and small wages.

Although I did not wish for the unhappiness of these people, somehow

I’ve indirectly caused their misfortune – generally speaking. I guess – you can

consider me part of the middle class here in the Philippines. If you can afford

to eat 3 meals a day including ‘merienda’, then you are considered middle

class. I think middle class are also the professionals. If you can afford to buy

50 meals 3 times a day EVERYDAY of McDonalds then you are considered

elite. Remember, a big mac is about 125 pesos. However, if you can’t even

afford to feed yourself 3 meals a day then you are under the poverty line or

are in the poverty line. Being me, I’m better-off than others. That means I

take many things for granted. Sometimes I throw away food. Also

sometimes, I don’t finish the food on my plate. But I give the leftovers to my

dog so it’s not that bad.

I am indirectly the cause because I don’t do something about the

government. I buy things that makes companies think of using their money

for advertisements and their products when they could be using it for charity

work or making the product for the consumers – not for the profit. Right now,

I can only think of food. Some examples are the fast food restaurants like
McDonalds and Starbucks. Well yeah, Starbucks’ products are imported… but

still! Another cause is I am part of a system where not everything is equally

distributed. One is our money and two is the resources. Well yeah, money is

earned and we buy resources. – Just trying to make a point here. Another is I

haven’t registered so that I could vote which could be a deciding vote for the

next president. The president could help change our, the Philippine’s,

situation for the better. Why do we let the congressmen nominate the

candidates? It’s hard to tell who is corrupt. Another is I don’t purposely make

an effort to help anyone leave poverty and stay out of poverty. I am one of

those Filipinos who do not do anything. Sure, I donate money to the church

and when there is a program for stuff like this in school – I help out. I guess I

am one of those Filipinos who can’t even see beyond the end of their nose. I

feel sad when I see someone begging or suffering but I pass them by without

doing anything. Not doing anything is just as bad as doing something hurtful

to them. Another cause is I am ignorant in many things. I don’t know what I

am ignorant about. I just know I don’t know everything.

Just because I know I am an indirect cause doesn’t mean I can change

that easily. I have to be honest. I know that changing yourself is also

changing the world

but…………………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………………… you’re just going to have

to guess why. :P