HOMELESS VS. POVERTY

THIS IS MY APPRECIATION TO SHOW NEW BEGINNINGS IN LIFE...IT WAS BEFORE I LEFT TO SOUTH AFRICA THAT MY VIEWS ABOUT "LIFE" WERE THE "HARD KNOCK LIFE" FOR US-MEANING USA. I WAS AN OUTSIDER LOOKING IN AS WELL AS AN INSIDER SEEKING THE WAY OUT!...SOME ENTITIES RENDER INVISIBLE BEFORE YOU MAKE THEM THE VISIBLE AND POWERFUL. REALIZATION IS ONE POWERFUL SOURCE TO HAVE IN ORDER TO RECONSTRUCT VIEWS ABOUT WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON AS WELL AS HOW ONE LIVES THEIR LIFE. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE FULL POTENTIAL OF POSSIBILITIES BECAUSE OF THE IMPOSSIBLE WAYS THAT SOCIETY HAS SHAPED UNDERPRIVILEGED PEOPLE. WHEN I WENT TO SOUTH AFRICA, I HAD THE MENTALITY OF STEREOTYPICAL VIEWS ABOUT HOW LIFE IS-WAYS IN WHICH THE USA TE-LIE-VISION SHOWED US ABOUT AFRICA. I COULD NEVER IMAGINE AND EXPERIENCE THE WAYS IN WHICH THE POOR PEOPLE LIVE...GENERALIZING MY "UNDERPRIVILEGED" LIFE COMPARED TO THEIRS. IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM IS THERE A COMPARISON TO THE WAYS THEY LIVE AND THE WAY USA POVERTY LIVES. ONLY RESULTING IN THE SAME POSITION-OPPRESSION AND STRUGGLES. BUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POVERTY IN SOUTH AFRICA AND THE UNITED STATES IS EVERYONE WHO IS IN POVERTY IS IN POVERTY TOGETHER. POVERTY CAN BE VIEWED AS A COMMUNITY THAT HELPS ONE ANOTHER WITH THE SAME STRUGGLE, ALSO TO FIND WAYS AND TECHNIQUES OF SURVIVAL. IN THE US HOMELESS PEOPLE HAVE A COMMUNITY AND RESOURCES TO HELP AND ELIMINATE STRUGGLES OF HOMELESSNESS. IN THIS CASE POVERTY IS CONCRETE AND REAL WHILE HOMELESS IS ABSTRACT AND UNREAL. WHAT I MEAN IS IN SOUTH AFRICA, PEOPLE DO NOT HOLD DOCUMENTATION ABOUT WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES OR HELP THEY NEED IN ORDER TO SURVIVE AS THE USA HOMELESS PEOPLE WOULD DO. INSTEAD THEY WOULD MAKE THE BEST OF POVERTY-BUILD THEIR HOMES FROM MINIMAL MATERIALS THAT THEY FIND, SEARCH FOR THEIR FOOD AND ADAPT TO OTHER UNIQUE WAYS TO LIVE DAY BY DAY. WHEN IN THE USA PEOPLE MAKE HOMELESS INTO A JOB-THEY HOLD UP SIGNS WITH WRITINGS DETAILING WHAT THEY WOULD DO FOR MONEY AND TELL A SHORT STORY ABOUT THEIR CURRENT STATUS, HAVE UNLIMITED RESOURCES TO EAT, SLEEP, BATHE, CLOTHE ETC.FROM THE COMMUNITIES THAT THEY LIVE AROUND. SOME ARE CAPABLE TO HAVE ACCESS TO ECONOMIC NEEDS AND SOURCES TO FIND JOBS OR FOOD. JUST THROUGH A LIVED EXPERIENCE EXPLORING POVERTY IN SOUTH AFRICA...THE USA HOMELESS HAS NOTHING TO COMPARE TO THE DISPARITY THAT THEY FACE YET IN REALITY THEY COULD BE CONSIDERED "STREET WORKERS" THAT MAKE THEIR ENDS MEET AT THE END OF THE DAY. THE CONDITIONS OF SOUTH AFRICA'S POVERTY IS FAR WORSE THAN WHAT WE THINK AND TEND TO COMPARE WITH "POVERTY" HERE IN THE USA.