Poverty Simulation

How did it feel to be poor?

Since I have never felt poverty before, it was a really new experience. When I had to sit in that heat with nothing but newspapers, even for only 30 minutes, I was dehydrated, exhausted and desparate to get out of the heat. That is what I have felt in 30 minutes, I cannot even imagine what it wud be working like that for 10 hours.

Do you have a better understanding about poverty? What specifically did you learn from the simulation?

From doing the simulation, I definately obtained a better knowledge of poverty. Specifically, I learned that in order to consistently produce bags, the cooperation amogst the family members is essential. Also, I re-learned the importance of money. Poor people earn 1 rupee for every 10 paper bags they make when we spend them as if it is nothing.

Is poverty just about not having money? If its not, what else is involved?

Poverty isn't just about not having money. When you are in the state of poverty, people do not treat you so nicely because of their common knowledge, "Poor people are bad people". In addition to that, you have to give up your pride in order to begg for money and sell the paper bags.

Who had the most and least power in the simulation?

In the simulation, those who had the most power were the buyers and those with the least were us, the poor. In other words, money is power.

What are possible (and realistic) ways out of poverty for those like the paper bag makers and millions of others in their situation in the world today? Remember almost one billion people in the world live on less than a dollar a day.

Some possible ways to escape poverty are; get proper education from school and use that knowledge to get a job or discover a hidden talent and lead a life into that direction. For example, if you discover one day you are talented at writing stories, you could push your life into the direction of being an author.

Narrative

Hi my name is Seung Hee and I live with my parents and 2 brothers. For the 365 days of the year, our family makes paper bags in the blazing heat for 12 hours a day. We work more than other poor people do, in hope to make more money. On days, we don't sell enough paper bags and we cannot buy any food. I sometimes think of stealing food, but my parents always sad to stay on the right side of law. They also don't let me and my brothers begg out on the streets because of our pride. They say that we still have a future. Our famiy doesn't own a designated shelter so we move from places to places every night in order to find a place we can spend the night. Sometimes when we are unlucky, we wander into a spot "owned" by these bad people and they demand us to pay for the spot which we can't. I feel really bad when my parents get beat up by them. I wonder when we will be able to escape this situation...