Developed Countries vs Underdeveloped Countries-Aide to the homeless

After reading A penny for your life A Poem by CAPOLAVORO, I gave my insight to what she was talking about and per Barleygirl, decided to go ahead and post it as a writing, and revise it as well.

  

    The following countries are within the Well developed countries; USA, Canada, UK and other countries, from within Europe and some in the Middle East.  Now within these countries, you will find in most cases a well structured source of government, policies and laws, for its abiding citizens, and even programs to assist those, that are in need of financial means, and or other type of help.

  There are programs offered by the government as well as Non Profit Organizations, that tend to target, areas within a city and or county, in which, families, and or children, are at risk of losing their homes, or facing other trials, that might have them losing a home, car, and or job and needing to sell everything they own, in order to get through.  Each situation differs from one family to the next, yet, in some cases, if such family has other family around willing to step in and help them, that tends to keep them, off the streets and the parents have a more probable chance of getting a new job too.

  For those, that end up on their own, with or without kids, and have no support system in place, they tend to have a much harder time, getting back up on their two feet.  And for people as these, the government have established well funded programs that offer housing, food, clothing, Medicaid and the such, to help them get to where they need to be.  Most churches, no matter what the based religion is, also, have programs offered to their congregation and anyone that lives in proximity to that church.

 And such programs that are in place, have proved to be very useful, yet as most know, there will always be the type of human being, that tends to abuse the help, and or even cheat their way into a program, by kidnapping or fostering kids or adults that give them the chance to get help from the government.  And its just a reality that we must accept.

  Now, outside of the countries, I have mentioned above the rest of the countries, are what we consider, Third World Countries, and or Underdeveloped countries, that do not have a clear government in place, or have a communist party in place, have high poverty levels as well as violence, cannot afford to have such programs due to lack of proper funding or embezzling of money, and are in a current state of civil war, and or simply do not have any means, of helping families out. Russia, and some Asian countries, as well as Central America and South America, with the exception of a few.  Others bases on religion can or cannot be helped, and are rejected if for one reason or the other, they change their beliefs.  

  Also, even if there might be some type of law and policies in place, it does not necessarily mean that all are following this.  Plus, in those countries, in which, the rich tend to have the upper hand within society those in Middle class and lower, tend to be seen as nothing else, but mere pests.

   Now if we look back to when man begin settling and expanding into all nations and such, during before and after the biblical period, if you believe in such thing, or simply when we begin to exist, if you believe in evolution. I am not going to argue this point. But if we look back into history, it seems, that the poor have pretty much been part of many societies, and depending on the culture and or background, of each country, there were different reasons, as to why they were so. And beggars even existed during the period of Jesus.

 

 

    So, there are street children, and families, that someway or the other end up being born, on the streets or migrating to the streets. This in itself is another topic. In countries that are well developed and such, have a better chance to offer, shelter, and or housing arrangements, in order to assist those, that either have lost their jobs, and or a house or car, due to financial issues, and are needing a place to work on getting back onto their feet, verses going straight to the streets.

   In the case of the U.S, we see shelters and lodgings for such, in most state and within each county. Social Services plays a major part in this, aside from screening people that are looking to getting Food stamps and Medicaid, and or the EBT Card, that allows them to buy clothes and medicines.

   Sadly, in third world countries, that are severely under developed, it is rare, for them to have shelters or lodgings to get people off the streets. And in some cases, what the government does, is collect the people from the street, and put them in jail, and the children are exposed to criminals and end up being raped repeatedly and abused and nothing can be done to prevent this, as they are moved from jail to jail, mixed with real delinquent teens or adults that have no care about them.
So what ends up happening in these countries, is that the people are already suffering due to the government taking up finances for other things, and do not invest in the people, so farmers and such, end up putting up their children, for sale, mainly, girls, or look for rich, older men, to take over their daughters to raise, and get them off their own back. In other cases, they can band together, and decide to take back what they think should be theirs, and try to rob from banks or government officials and even though the action in itself is wrong, for them its the only means for survival. In other instances, they send their children out to the streets to beg and once the day ends, the children have to go and give the money to their fathers whom take the money and do not even offer the children food or drink and they are beaten if they even try to ask for a cup of water.

      Now, in the USA, and perhaps even the UK, I could see, there being programs and such, to assist those facing difficulties that do not allow them to have their own home, car, and or even clothes. So they screen families, and set up certain standards into what and whom they would accept into the program, and how they would help each one.  And yes, I even saw a video posted about two weeks ago, of a woman, begging on a highway, and someone found out, that she would park her car, daily at a McDonald near the street. When approached, the woman acted mad and angry, of being harassed, as she was videoed. And she tried getting help. As they asked her why she was begging, she blurted that she had a discapacity, but never stated if physical or mental. I am not sure but I think she has been arrested on charges of soliciting, and tricking people into believing she was homeless. So I know some people that actually are better off than those that do live on the streets, if and when they simply do not want to have a regular job, go and dress themselves up and or just make a sign and go off to a place where they are not well known and ask for money.  And it sucks, cause, the ones that would be in more dire need for some type of help, lose that chance do to others.
      

      Now, I must say, that I know in most cases, kids, and adults, tend to use the money they collect, when they can, to buy more drugs and or liquor, and not food or medication. I have seen them, and my dad has given money to a guy and saw him go straight to the liquor store for a drink.

Yet others do it because they are threatened to either be killed or be targeted by gangs and or drug lords for not doing as they say. And its happened.
The non profit organizations, that go and build homes and or shelters within these third world countries, have to go through the government to get permission and then lay out for whom they are building the shelters or homes. In most cases, they target children and infants. A few offer help for entire families, but even then the resources are limited, so then they have to find ways to get some income.

      Now, in regards to missionaries, from religious organizations, these go and find out first, what needs to be done, and then inform their local church, so the pastor, or clergy can inform the board of directors, and they then ask the congregation to help put money towards the needs of that missionary and mention the project they are working on. In most places, they are not allowed to go out and beg on the streets but in the third world countries, this is not really taken as anything, so they are free to move from bus to bus or simply pick a place to ask for help.

And people, if touched give and if not they do not.

    The reason I decided to even approach all this, aside from my passion to help others, which is all good, mainly its because, I myself, have been with nothing, and was considered homeless for over a year and a half.

    Back in 2013, when, I lost my steady income and could no longer pay car insurance for my 1995 Toyota Camry and then could not find anyone that would be willing to rent a room to me and my daughter who at that time was 12 years old, and a cousin that tried taking me in, did so without telling her landlady and lied to me. So the landlady came by and asked who I was and she was like, your cousin never said a thing, get out of here today, right now! Believe me, between 2012'-2013, my world was upside down, and I do admit that the church I was attending at that time, would help with paying for my gas, and or letting me go every Wednesday and get food from the pantry they had for the poor and clothing. I was approved for Food Stamps, and Medicaid, which was a huge blessing. Now in regards to the Food stamp, I really did not use it much, while moving around, and was limited to what I could store in my car... And once I got to my cousins place, I had moved 10 times already, and had to let go of furniture and our beds and even clothes so I could fit everything in my car.

    At times, we would try and sleep in the car, and I never could. It was a daunting experience in itself. I was so ashamed and full of guilt, and the few relatives around me, did not want to help me even....so the first time I approached a homeless shelter, we were turned away, cause they had no room. And someone payed us a whole week stay at a little motel. It was not the best place, but it was better than sleeping inside the car. My daughter would stay in the room, during her summer break, waiting for me to get home from work, and I hated leaving her there...So when the landlady kicked us out that time, around, I went to the school and told the counselor, the situation and thank God they directed me to the same shelter, and I was again told we have no room and as we were about to go, the lady said, Wait, let me check again, and just at that moment a room had been cleared and that same day we moved into this shelter and stayed there for 3 months and a half. 

    Now, I admit the shelter was not bad, in the sense of structure but it was small. They got fund from churches and other organizations that would show up weekly to see how we were being treated and salvation army would send in clothes once a month, and you would have to fight to grab anything at all.  I never begged on the streets, but after I lost my job, I thought what if, yet never did. I went around from church to church asking for help, and even doing that, I would feel so ashamed and so vulnerable and hated myself for doing so. Yet, God was with us during this time, and would always lead me to someone whom would either buy us a meal, or take us shopping for clothes.

   Even than it was hard, to have people shun you in public, for have a Food stamp card, and worse was when the balance was not enough for what I would want to get, and would go through the items, and remove that which, we could live without and only keep the basics.  Milk, eggs, bread, sugar, salt and butter.  And I must confess that whenever this happened, tears would fall freely, from my face, and people would look away from us. My daughter, would be ashamed and angry too.

    Other times, God would touch the person behind us, who would offer to pay the whole thing, and eventually I would say, yes, and than I would still be crying, more from humbleness if anything. We came through this time, with Gods helping hand. It was definitely not easy to do, and even now, my dad sees me as a low life, just cause I ended up going on government help, and he and my mom never had to do that.  He feels ashamed and angry towards me, more so for putting my child through this time, thinking that I did it out of laziness, and he sees it as bad.  And in the end, I am not going to let that keep me down, because I have become a much better person, after living in flesh, the sense of homelessness and not owning a damn thing.  And I am not ashamed of this phase in life. I believe God let me go through this, to teach me a valuable lesson in regards to blessings, and what I should truly appreciate vs my wants and desires.
   So, going back to the main theme,  the shelters that do exist, have rules and some are basic, we adults must get a job and keep the job, to stay at the shelter longer than a month. If we do not find a job in a months time we get kicked out.  Children from 0-14 years of age are not allowed to be alone at anytime, and if the parent is not at the shelter when they get there from school, they can send the kids off to Foster or Social Services if they deem it so. From my experience, Shelters should be made more adaptable to the needs of everyone, and for those that sadly are addicted to drugs and alcohol, they should have centers in which they can go, and not just be taken off these but get the support needed to get a decent job, that can cover their basic needs month to month.
Now in regards to the children we see on the streets, some of them are actually victims of human trafficking that have been taken from their homes and moved place to place so they can forget everything from their past, and when someone tries to rescue these kids, the ones that have them, take them away, and are constantly on the move. 

   For well developed countries, they could do more to improve the programs, and also, if local businesses, and or fast food chains, could be more opened to giving out more flexible schedules, these people would be able to work in these establishments, thing is with fast food franchises, they need you to be opened 12 to 24 hours a day, and get your schedule changed without any notice, and this puts parents on a bind, cause schools have a time in which kids need to be picked up. So then we must look for childcare services and that is expensive too. If you are lucky to find a Boys and Girls Club, in your area, they can take in the child for free and or paying a minimal charge. 

   Yet they also have a time limit as in how late the child can remain with them.
I never was able to find a home to rent or even an apartment as everything in Fairfax and Prince William County was very expensive...and eventually lost my car when I got pulled over for a broken tail light, as my license had been suspended for not being able to pay the uninsured fee.
   Change is attainable, and I agree on what you have stated for the most part, yet, the reality in other parts of the world is one, in which, they depend on missionaries and such to get some minimal help but even that is not enough at times. For the developed countries, people do have more of a chance to get some help and more, and sadly some do get lazy and decide to no longer work, but others as myself, in spite of the help given, never gave up and would move from job to job, in order to get some type of income and use it on my daughter, even if it meant, that I would not eat a day or two. Outside of that I understand what you are getting at, yet sometimes other circumstances make it harder on some than others.

   So, after all this, I am working on a futre project, that involves aiding teenage girls that have suffered any type of abuse, or live on the streets and are willing to give life a second chance. Plus I want to set up a bakery, of my own, in which I would hire, troubled teens, to work under my supervision and selling my delicious apple pies, and cheesecakes plus yummy cookies, that over the years, I have perfected.  After that I would work on some type of housing project, to offer these girls a safe place to have a roof over their heads as well.

  That is just for starters, and in the end, sadly this world, is breaking in so many ways, and in order to stop all this hatred and bitterness, we should come together, and work on helping out those that are in a worst place than ours, and do as little as providing them a genuine smile, could make someones day.

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

People who have never known hunger. Hard to make understand. I saw the starvation in Africa in the nineties. Made me have concern for my world. This world must learn. Every life had value on all four corners of our world. A powerful and worthwhile write my friend.
Coyote

[barleygirl]

I have to admit, your writing is a little bumpy, but the important thing about a true-life essay like this is the way you are being so amazingly heartfelt & honest, sharing the way you see this, using lots of specific everyday examples, & then sharing your own experience with homelessness. I agree that when a person goes from doing fairly well to then being struck by unavoidable catastrophe, it feels like the down-and-out person has a disease & people move away as if poverty is contagious. It's a sad spontaneous reaction that I've gotten many many times becuz I'm disabled & can't work, even tho I worked from age 11 to my mid-50's, often working two jobs, & volunteering, etc. All that previous hard work doesn't matter. I'm an outcast (amongst many I knew all my life) becuz now I'm poor & my life is broken. I also love the way you show how being poor in the US is still NOTHING LIKE being poor in an undeveloped country. We don't know how good we have it & you show this with good real life details. It's very sad that our country seems to be taken over by those who don't give a damn about the needy. I applaud you for having the courage to write this & be so open about everything, despite those who will criticize. Your voice is an important part of showing & hopefully changing things, little bit by bit (((HUGS)))