Poverty is something that you may not see if you are in the posh villages in first world countries.
You wake up in the morning without worrying about your next meal.
You drink your Starbucks coffee, drive to work in your SUV, and make money as if it grew on trees.
After a day at work, you come home to a family that is naïve about the existence of any sort of hardship in life.
You are shielded from ninety percent of the world out there.
Poverty exists in this world and you have to see it to believe it.
Go to a third world country and you will witness what it is like to wake up and worry about your next meal.
In the Philippines, a third world country in Southeast Asia, you will see what it is like to live in poverty.
Before you even utter a word, try to imagine what it is like to live in poverty and then pay a visit to Manila, Philippines.
When you visit the Philippines, you will see children on the streets, begging for money.
You will see families living alongside railroad tracks.
You will see that almost ninety percent of the Filipinos are living below the poverty line.
When you worry about your next meal, you are living in poverty.
When you worry about a roof over your head, you are living in poverty.
When you have to resort to desperate measures to put food on the table, you are living in poverty.
What should you do about this situation? What should you do when you have a big house, a nice car, an education that sustains your living, and people around you that care about you? Should you shy away poverty in other places and not care at all? Should you leave this responsibility up to the government? Will you allow the children living on the streets to grow up without any education? What is your moral responsibility towards a situation like this? It is time to step up and take matters into your own hands.
Poverty is a reality in the Philippines and in the world.
If you want to make a difference then you should not wait for the government to act.
You should not wait for other people to do something.
You should act yourself.
Donate, volunteer, and act now.
The power to change this world is in your hands.