Poverty= Stress

Poverty was the stressor that I chose to talk about in this weeks assignment. Few topics in American society have more myths and stereotypes surrounding them than poverty, misconceptions that distort our ideas on this topic.They include the notion that poverty affects a relatively small number of Americans, that the poor are impoverished for years at a time, that most of those in poverty live in inner cities, that too much welfare assistance is provided and that poverty is ultimately a result of not working hard enough. Poverty is a mainstream event experienced by a majority of people in this country. For many of us, the question is not if we will experience poverty, but when. I feel that this is just a cycle that will continue to happen until we take a look at the root of the problem instead of throwing the finger out in blame. That seems to happen more often that not. I work in a Head Start Program, and I am in the homes of people WELL below the poverty line on a daily basis. These parents aren't trying to live off of the system, and they aren't just lazy people who don't want to work. Many times they don't know the questions to ask to get the answers they need for help. I decided to look at the poverty in Kenya. I chose this because Kenya is one of the more agricultural and industrial areas in all of Africa. I would like to think that we have some similarities with that here in the US. The difference is that Kenya is a LOW-Income country with many of its people in poverty.One big factor I found is that there is a very high population with HIV/AIDS. This causes many families to be run by woman, and too many children being orphaned. Woman don't have the opportunities to provide for their families like we do here in the US. If the bread winner for the family passes away, that automatically puts the family into financial trouble they will be unable to get out of.