Poverty
I grew up in a
town called Terre Haute Indiana. We are located 77 miles southwest of
Indianapolis, Indiana. Terre Haute is known as the cross roads of America
because, it is at the intersection of two major roadways: US Hwy 40 and US Hwy
41. There is a spot in our town where if you traveled from California to
Maryland and Michigan to Florida connects. This is why we are called the cross
roads of America.
The current federal poverty level is approx. $23,000.00 annually for a family
of four, low income is defined as having a family income below 200 percent of
the poverty threshold, or $45,622.00 for a family of four. (Tribune Star Sept
2012). These are statistics from today, and I grew up in Terre Haute in the
1970’s. I was born in 1966, and poverty was very much a part of my life growing
up.
I was the middle
child of three children and both of my parents worked full time jobs. We were
known as latch key kids. For those who are not familiar with this saying
Latchkey kids were children who came home from school to an empty house because
parents worked; we were also left unsupervised many times.
My family lived
in a small house which was originally a one bedroom home and basically they
built walls in between the rooms for our bedrooms. We never really had enough
to eat. When we had something put on our plate before us we were expected to
eat it. Leftovers were leftovers until there was nothing left. We (my siblings
and I) were given hand me down clothes, we rarely got new clothes. I was made
fun of for having “old clothes”. My siblings and I got used to the hand me down
clothes and not having enough food, it was part of our world. The neighborhood that I grew up in was just as
poor it really wasn’t until I started attending middle school did I realize how
poor I was. I realized through the friends I made that there was really a lot I
didn’t have growing up.
“Coping measures
reduce the impact of repeated stress. One factor is the child’s own
interpretation.” (Berger 2012) I believe this statement. I have taken what I
grew up with and brushed it off, I have become a better person for it. I am
able to relate to my families I work with and am able to have empathy for the
low income. I have taken the way I grew up and use it as an example for my
families. I show them with hard work and patience you can make a new life for
yourself.
Rural Turkey is
number one ranked lowest poverty county in the world. Rural Turkey’s has experienced
more poverty over the last ten years as in the prior years. Turkey has
experience extreme low income and very low poverty levels throughout the
county. The problems are contributed to large family sizes, twice the national
average. The adult literacy rates are far lower than the national average.
Turkey has very few doctors. There are very few women that are employed in
Turkey as well.
Turkey has a lot
of remote mountains and areas where the poor people tend to be isolated from the
rest of the nation. Turkey’s rural people are self-employed and the family is
sometimes not paid for working, they are farmers and household people who live
in these remote isolated areas. Poverty is not just something we can brush
aside. We as a whole need to work to bring everyone, worldwide, out of poverty.
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