Poverty Essay, Research Paper

“Approximately one-fifth of the worlds

population, over one billion people, earns less than one dollar a day”

(Readings on Poverty). Living in today?s society, as unpalatable as it

may be, it is succinct that homelessness, hunger, lack of work, and illiteracy

are direct effects of destituity among people today. As a result, this

causes people to struggle throughout their lives. Nectar in a Sieve, a

compelling story about a destitute family by Kamala Markandaya, illustrates

powerful examples of results from the limited options in India. After reading

this novel, and examining how poverty effects the world, I am now cognizant

about how great of an effect poverty has on millions of people today.

Homelessness, a ubiquitous problem in the

world, is a murky road to ultimate despair. There are many different reasons

for homelessness, but there are a few well-traveled paths to destitution;

Mental illness, lack of affordable housing, family breakdown, and alcoholism

are all factors. A chilling fact, from any point of view, is that small

children have become the fastest-growing sector of homelessness. “The average

homeless family includes a parent with two or three children. The average

child is six years old, the average parent twenty-seven” (Orr 29). This

may seem unreal, but in Massachusetts alone, three fourths of all homeless

people are now children and their parents.

Today, the chronically and severely mentally

ill are not proficient at coping with the stresses of this world. They

are vulnerable to eviction from their living arrangements, mostly because

of the stress of dealing with various problems such as landlord situations.

Many tend to drift away from their families and will loose all goals in

their life.

“Once the mentally ill are out on their

own, they will more than likely stop taking their medications and after

a while will lose touch with the Social Security Administration and will

no longer be able to receive their Supplemental Security Income checks”

(58).

Because of their poor judgment and disarray,

they will fail to notify anyone and could end up on the streets, where

the effects of drugs and alcohol will lead into further serious complications.

Once at this stage, they can no longer look after themselves, and the only

way of being succored from this lifestyle is from acting in a bizarre or

disruptive manner, which will lead to being taken to a jail or hospital.

“The most important thing in every man?s life is shelter, once you have

shelter, then you are able to get yourself together?” (Hope 183). It?s

necessary to get into a shelter or the result could be the downfall of

one?s life. Once in a shelter, it?s easier to develop the idea of getting

out of trouble that one has already sunk into.

Other than just looking at the mentally

ill being associated with homelessness, lack of affordable housing is also

another factor. In today?s world, everything is being replaced; out with

the old, in with the new. As senile housing units are bulldozed to the

ground, not only is the unit itself destroyed, but also the affordability

of housing. This now makes the availability of low-income housing less

and less.

Kamala Markandaya illustrates homelessness

clearly to her audience as Ruki and Nathan are thrown from their house

and village. As Ruki and Nathan walk through the city, they discover they

are not the only people who are homeless. ” ?We may yet be forced to that?

said Nathan pointing to their begging howls, ?if we do not find out son?

” (Markandaya 155). The city, crowded with mendicants, paints a perfect

example of all the homeless people; there are even homeless children. When

the worried Nathan says, “forced to that”, he too recognizes the lack of

options for them, thus they may be forced to beg. Just as there are homeless

people during the day, there are the same homeless people at night and

they too must find somewhere to sleep. Ruki and Nathan, tired and worn

out, realize this as it approaches nighttime in the city. “Well, if you

do not arrive tonight there is a temple not far from here where you can

eat and sleep” (146). An invitation to a temple to eat and sleep at is

not always something you would expect to hear from strangers. The temple

must be organized to aid the poor and homeless. If there were not many

people who were poor or homeless in the first place, there would not be

an organization to help them.

Alcoholism also contributes to homelessness.

Homeless people with complex alcohol problems face particular difficulties

in finding accommodations. Many landlords are reluctant to accept homeless

people with these problems for fear of destruction of their property. After

losing a job, loved one, or marital difficulty, many turn to alcohol to

wash away their pain.

Moving on, hunger also contributes to penury.

“Mealtime?for some it is sitting down to a small portion of the usual rice

and vegetables” (Aaseng 7). When small children are only fed a small portion

of rice at every meal, it is not enough for them to develop properly. The

reality of hunger in the world is almost too hideous to ponder. Hunger,

malnutrition, famine, and starvation, all refer to the situation in which

a person doesn?t eat enough to sustain normal life. Once this takes place,

the body cannot grow, but has to sustain its current level. This will prevent

children from growing to their full genetic potential. The resistance to

disease will be reduced and a longer recovery time from illness will occur.

Malnutrition may impair mental capacity and physical capacity. The biggest

effect is that malnutrition greatly increases mortality rates.

Throughout Nectar in a Sieve, Nathan?s

household is constantly fighting the struggle of hunger. While the entire

family is suffering at one point, Raja decides to take matters into his

own hands. As a result of stealing, Raja is killed. “One day Raja went

out as usual and did not come back. At dusk they brought his body home

slung between two men, one at the head and one at the feet.” (Markandaya

93). During this time, their family was suffering from lack of food, even

eating grass at times. This illustrates the great need for food that can

not be provided by a family. If not killed from stealing, one could just

die from the lack of nutrients. “Our last child, conceived in happiness

at a time when the river of our lives ran gently, had been taken from us?”

(105). Because of poverty, innocent Kuti was robbed of his life from the

lack of food in his family. “The strife had lasted too long and had been

too painful for me to call him back to continue it” (105). Ruki demonstrates

the harshness of starvation. She tells the readers that she would rather

her youngest son die then to plague him with the lack of food. “Each day,

35,000 children under the age of five die of starvation or preventable

infectious disease” (Readings on Poverty). This does not happen because

there is a lack of food in our world today, but because of the urban peoples’

lack of money today.

In order to provide food for a family,

there must be available work; either harvesting or buying food themselves.

In many nations, there is a great lack of work; such at the author of Nectar

in a Sieve proves.

Ruki and Nathan, as happy as they may seem,

fear for their survival when the rains come too late. As Nathan becomes

weaker and weaker, the less hope Ruki has that her family will have enough

to eat. “Ira and I did what we could; but the land is mistress to man,

not to woman: the heavy work is needed beyond her strength” (Markandaya

131). Nathan cannot work as well as he used to because of his illness,

which is an effect of malnutrition. When Ruki says, “the land is mistress

to man, not to woman” she is pointing out the fact that as much as she

can help out, it is still not enough. If Nathan were to get deathly ill,

Ruki would not be able to survive because she cannot withstand the work

needed for the fields. Ruki knows nothing other than to be a wife and write.

Nathan says, “We cannot live except by the land, for I have no other knowledge

or skill” (138). He too, recognizes the lack of work options for himself

and his family. They only way for them to survive is if Nathan works the

land, not just because that is his only skill, but also because they live

in a small village and there are not many options. Ruki and Nathan are

not the only people who realize something needs to be done to earn money.

Ira, an unmarried daughter of Ruki, realizes something must be done to

aid in this dilemma. Kuti, the youngest of Ruki?s children, is slowly starving.

Ira takes care of him as if he were the child she could not have, and protects

him as well. Ira says, “Tonight and tomorrow and every night, so long as

there is a need. I will not hunger anymore” (103). When Ira says “Tonight

and tomorrow and every night” she is saying that she will go on prostituting

for as long as it takes to help Kuti become well. Once again this proves

the lack of work in rural India. The lack of work is just another of the

many results from the limited options.

In many third world nations, there is a

great lack of literacy. “Nearly one-sixth of the 5.9 billion people in

the world cannot read or write” (Illiteracy, Infant Deaths). It?s evident

that illiteracy rates will steadily grow while we move into the next century

because only one out of every four children in the world?s poorest nations

is in school. In Nectar in a Sieve, Ruki proves the importance of the necessity

of reading skills. “?I would set myself up as a reader of letters such

as there are in most villages, and surely also in cities” (Markandaya 168).

To earn enough money for a trip to their home in the rural village, Ruki

can use her unique skills to earn more money than her husband could.

In Africa, the percentage of adults who

are literate varies greatly from country to country. From the highest of

Zimbabwe with eighty-five percent adults literate, to the lowest, Niger,

with only thirteen percent of the adults with the capability of reading.

On average, fifty-six percent of African adults are able to read.

Poverty has been a baleful factor of the

mortality rate in our world, and probably always will be. From Ruki and

Nathan we can learn that no matter how much heartache and troubles there

seem to be while living a destitute life, never lose hope, love or even

pride. One fifth of the world will struggle more than the rest of us and

yet we all will find ways to adapt and survive to the most indigent conditions.

The world?s people must have prowess in their lives to overcome all the

challenges in life. During life efforts should be put fourth to alleviate

poverty. The range of possibilities is virtually unlimited.

From everything, it?s obvious that somewhere

in the cradle of humanity, there is someone that is worse off than you

are. Children starving, cold on the streets, parents without work. Although

hard to imagine, it is true. Homelessness, hunger, lack of work and illiteracy

are all just tiny fish in a great lake of problems of poverty in the world

today. Jump in and try to help one out. It is simple a matter of will.

Works Cited

Aaseng, Nathan. Ending World Hunger. New

York: Franklin Watts, 1991.

Hope, Marjorie and James Young. The Faces

of Homelessness. Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1986.

“Illiteracy, Infant Deaths and Fertility

Rates” NCPA ? International Issues. http://www.ncpa.org/pi/internat/pd120998d.html

20 May 2000.

Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve.

New York: Penguin Group, 1982.

Orr, Lisa, ed. The Homeless: Opposing Viewpoints.

San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1990.

“Readings on Poverty, Hunger, and Economic

development” Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism. http://www.faculty.plattsburgh.edu/richard.robbins/legacy/hunger_readings.htm

20 May 2000

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York: Franklin Watts, 1991.

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09 May 2000.

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12 May 2000.

Carnell, Brian. “Adult Literacy ? Africa”

Overpopulation. http://www.carnell.com/population/literacy_africa.html

15 May 2000.

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20 May 2000.

“Homelessness” The World Book Encyclopedia.

International ed. 1996.

Hope, Marjorie and James Young. The Faces

of Homelessness. Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Company, 1986.

“Hunger” The World Book Encyclopedia. International

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20 May 2000.

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of homeless” http://www.cnn.com/US/9911/20/homeless.children. index.html

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Savill, Richard. “McCartney?s Model stole

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May 2000.

“Unit 18: Malnutrition: Determinants, extent

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20 May 2000.