Download Understanding Poverty: Definitions and Experiences and more Quizzes English Language in PDF only on Docsity! TERM 1 1 DEFINITION 1 1...2...3 A child has just died. Every 3.5 seconds a child dies because of poverty. Poverty is defined as, The state of being extremely poor. TERM 2 2 DEFINITION 2 Almost half of the worlds population lives in poverty. That means 3,700,000,000 people are living on less than $2.50 a day. As a result, a billion people are unable to read a book or even sign their name, because they cant afford to go to school and get a good education. This is a big issue in our world. 1 billion children who are just like us, are living in poverty right now and 22,000 of them die each day. The world's population is rising very quickly, and if we dont do anything to help stop it, poverty numbers will go up just as fast. TERM 3 3 DEFINITION 3 There are two main types of poverty, absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is better known as extreme poverty. Extreme poverty widely refers to earning below the international poverty line of $1.20 a day. Its when you lack the basic necessities such as food, safe drinking water, education, sanitation facilities, clothes, shelter and healthcare. Relative poverty is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed in order to maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live. One of the main causes of relative poverty is unemployment. TERM 4 4 DEFINITION 4 Numbers show only an academic understanding of this issue. To create better understanding of what poverty actually feels and sounds like, imagine this: TERM 5 5 DEFINITION 5 The look on a mothers face as she decides which of her starving children will not eat that day because even if she doesnt eat, there still isnt enough food to go around. Imagine the hot sun causing you to pour sweat, an aching back from carrying a bucket filled with 10 litres of water on your head, blistered feet as you walk two and a half hours each day to fetch water that might not even be clean. Now imagine being a sick, tired, weak 8 year old doing this every single day. Imagine sitting at an unsteady desk in a dirt-floored classroom desperately wanting to read but there are no books available, your teacher can barely read himself and you are so hungry, you cant even concentrate on what hes saying. Imagine the sound of sick, dehydrated children crying 24/7. They are so dehydrated that they cry without tears. The nearest medical clinic is miles away, and even if you made it in time, you dont have any money to buy medicine that could save their lives. Imagine that. Imagine that happening around you every single day.
