Week 2, Blog #4: Global Poverty

One similarity that stood out in the video, Through a Child's Eyes: Views of Global Poverty, was that children view the contrast between being rich and poor much in the same way. Another Similarity is they all believe in a higher deity. All long for a good education, leading to a good job to bring them out of the grasp of poverty.  They do not wish to win the lottery or a new car like so many privileged children in America. In America poverty seems to be focused more on what you can't have, than what you can.

Many children are born into poverty, this is true in in both the U.S. and third world countries.  Even though poverty in the U.S is far different than poverty in third world countries.  In the U.S. most impoverished families still have clean running water and toilets, NOT the case in the depictions of the children in India, Cairo, Romania and Cambodia for example.  The major factors of poverty is lack of work or poor wages.  Both of which can be rooted back to lack of an education or lack of funding for education.

A rather disturbing statement made by Florin (Romania) was that the rich people have money but don't want to give, yet the poor people don't have money but do want to give.  This is an example of why we have extreme classes of lifestyles.  

Finally, the issues that have been prevalent in Africa and other third world countries is that of absent parents and orphanism.  With death and disease shortening the lifespan of many citizens in nations so poor that health care is absent for most all of a person's life, many children are orphaned at a very young age and cared for by family members, adoptive families and step-parents.  As the article points out, many children do not receive the opportunity for higher education in such circumstances due less social connection between the children and caretakers, economic circumstances preventing education and school readiness (Paxson, 493).

Works Cited:

Case, A., Paxson, C., & Ableidinger, J. (2004). Orphans in Africa: Parental death, poverty, and school enrollment. Demography, 41(3), 483-508.

Guiness, Martin."Through a Child's Eyes: Views of Global Poverty" 2006. Online video clip. Arizona Universities Library Consortium. FMG Video On Demand. Accessed on 15 July 2010. http://digital.films.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/play/3K645E