Poverty Simulation Reflection

Give a brief explanation of the event (No more that 50 words)?

Participants try to earn enough to survive by making paper bags out of newspaper and home made glue. They must earn enough to pay for rent, food, sanitation, medical needs and, if they are fortunate, education. Those that cannot make it end up in the hands of a loan shark. This game throws participants into the hopelessness and intricacy of the poverty web. - Crossroads

What are some of the issues that the simulation highlighted to you. Try to make this as personal as possible (No more than 100 words).

Some of the main issues that amazed me most was the fact that we, outsiders define poverty as a state of no money but actually when you're living in poverty, its not money that defines you, obviously you'd want to earn more everyday, but that's not your main focus. Each day, everyday people in poverty don't think about their money or how much they are going to put in their will, instead, they think of how they can put their children in a good future, sometimes they do things that are inhumane, just to get that extra little bit of hope, for example, sell their body parts, or they sell themselves (prostitution).

For each issue consider where in the world they might exist, what things might have caused it, what pressures do people experience in that environment? One of these issues must exist in HK.

Issue 1 (200 words): Caged people in Hong Kong - Hong Kong is one of the wealthiest cities in all of Asia, and while some people in Hong Kong live in the peak and have a sea view of the Victoria Harbour with luxurious designs and maids to serve them, some people actually live in cages, cages designed for rabbits or mouses in the New Territories of Hong Kong. In those cages, there really is nothing blocking them from getting dangerous diseases from all the litter around them or getting severe cuts from the metal wires they call home, and yet so many people still live in those cages.  Legislator Frederick Fung said something about this matter comparing it to a science experiment he once did when he was in school, he said one science class he and his teachers did this experiment where he crammed rats in a cage, the cage was really packed and soon enough, the rats started biting each other and eating each other alive. "When living spaces are so congested, they would make people feel uneasy, desperate," and angry at the government, he said. Leung Chun-ying, the chief executive of Hong Kong pledged to provide more affordable houses in Hong Kong, which only turned out to become a huge argument amongst the locals as the prices for the houses quickly rose again. Strategic Solutions (50 words): Instead of increasing the amount of houses, I think we should directly help the people living in these situations, for example, actually buying them a house a physically bringing them to a better beginning. And "affordable" might be different to everyone, just because something is "affordable" to a lawyer, might probably be a thousand miles away from a homeless person, so the fact that the houses are "affordable" is irrelevant, some of the caged people don't even have enough money for a meal, let alone an "affordable" house. Limitations of your solution:  There of course are cons about every solution, for example, there are only so many homeless people we can bring to a sheltered home, but what about after we put them in a safe environment? How will they survive after that? How will they have money to live better afterwards?

Issue 2 (200 words): The cycle of Poverty - Some people go into poverty in the middle of their lives once they've lost their jobs, but some more unfortunate people are born into poverty, and for some people this is a never ending cycle, you get birthed into poverty and you die in poverty. It is all a matter of chance, some people get birthed to become a prince but some people's fate is not their decision. The saying "if you work hard, you'll succeed" is not true for most of the population in the world, it doesn't matter how hard you work to make paper bags, if your boss decides to rip them all apart because he//she is angry, all your hard work doesn't always pay off. While some teenagers are frustrated with their gcses, not knowing what they'll be when they grow up or how they can make a dent in the future, some teenagers are struggling with making enough paper bags to send their little brothers or sisters to the toilet or even get enough to last an hour. Some people don't just get out of poverty, they stay in it, no matter how hard they work and society tells us that people are in poverty because they are lazy, but in fact, they are more hardworking than probably a whole building added together.  Strategic Solutions (50 words): Instead of donating our money, how about we donate our intelligence? We can teach them how to do things so they can work in a much more efficient way and not get tricked. Some people living in poverty get tricked everyday, like when they go to buy their food that supposedly only costs $2, the shop keepers know that they won't be smart enough to know simple addition and subtraction so they give them back less change. Limitations of your solutions: Even if they gain a little bit of knowledge, it is going to take a lot more to get them out of poverty.

What have you learnt from this experience (100 words)?

I have learned that we are not the ones to complain about how our lives are so unfair or how we look fat or even the "bad hair days", some people are so poor they don't even have hair, they cut off all their hair just to sell to people to make wigs. Not everyone decides their fate, sometimes its just pure luck, but outsiders can also help.