In this world, there are some people whose greed, dishonest and immoral ambitions make them heartless and they end up disregarding other people as lesser beings. They feel that the under-privileged people in the society especially the poor are so desperate and hence subject to mistreatment and abuse because no action can be taken by the poor against them.
If such individuals are left to run the government or any of its functions, they might cripple basic services, amenities or any other benefits which the under-privileged citizens enjoy.
You may have been pigeon-holed based on your social status or treated unfairly because you are deemed not fit to benefit from a public service. At times the government officials may enact policies which are regressive in nature and are passed to secure the interests of the rich while leaving you and other poor citizens to suffer.
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom”. Martin Luther King Jr.
In such a situation it is important for the citizens to have a common voice to air their grievances. This site offers a platform for the oppressed to unite and share their woes with the aim of joining hands to become strong and force the government to consider the plight of the weak.
“From the viewpoint of absolute truth, what we feel and experience in our ordinary daily life is all delusion. Of all the various delusions, the sense of discrimination between oneself and others is the worst form, as it creates nothing but unpleasant”. Dalai Lama
This site was established in 2006 and used up to 2010 by HCAP (Halifax Coalition Against Poverty) which was a direct-action, anti-poverty organization based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
It used to organize to defend the “lesser individuals” who are mistreated and discriminated upon because of their impoverishment.
HCAP used to launch campaigns against any regressive government policies enacted by the some selfish leaders and revolt against institutions that perpetuated poverty. The organization used to help poor people join hands and resist any from of oppression or discrimination.
They would voice up any concerns which was perpetrated by the rich so that they could discriminate on the poor, hence the movement was very popular in Halifax. People in poverty apt to reach the advanced stage breast cancer, among many other illnesses, and the survival rates are much lower.
The building on the left used to be located at 2420 Agricola Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and HCAP offices were located in this old building.
But that building is gone now, and where HCAP went, I currently do not know. In 2009 they moved their meetings to the public library.
People In Poverty Lack Nutrition
I am an elementary school teacher in the United States. I taught for several years in my hometown in Arizona and then moved to California. Wherever I’ve taught, I’ve noticed the correlation between poverty, poor nutrition and the weak performance of some of my students.
It is heart rending to see kids who are talented in a number of areas, unable to perform at their full potential because they aren’t getting the nutrients that their growing minds need. I have personally been able to help quite a few families living in poverty over the years. In some cases, there was a lot I could do to improve their poor nutrition when I matched my own limited resources and that of the organizations that I sometimes went to for help.
I remember one of several cases that had a positive outcome. It involved a little girl named Shirley and her family. Shirley was a little redheaded bundle of sunshine. She was eight when I first met her and she loved getting involved in the science projects I used to teach my students about things like pulleys and levers. She had an inquiring mind and I think she enjoyed pulling things apart to see how they worked.
In the first two months after I met her, I noticed that sometimes she was absent from class. There were other times when though she attended classes, her energy levels were really low. She lost a lot of weight during that time and was ill a lot of the time. I suspected that her intuition was to blame and examined her gums and nail beds discreetly. Those areas were pale, indicating a protein deficiency. She had a younger sister at the school and when I checked on her, the same signs were evident.
I decided to visit the home to give a report on how Shirley was doing and to see if I could help the family. When I got there, I discovered that their mother was out of work. She was a seamstress by training, so after praising Shirley’s efforts in class, I brought up a pressing need I had for assistance with making sock puppets for some lessons I had planned.
I informed her mother that I was low on cash and asked if they would accept what I had — vegetables, fruit and eggs from my own garden. Her mother agreed and in that way, I was able to supplement their diet with healthier food. As the children and adult in the family started getting the vitamins and minerals they needed, their health began to improve.
Shirley and her sister were more active in class. Their pallor disappeared and they were less sickly. They began to put on so much weight that their mother had to get new clothes for them from her church. Poverty and poor nutrition had resulted in nutritional deficiencies that impacted their mother’s ability to work. When she started eating better, she had more energy to look for work and was soon making enough money to improve their circumstances.
