A Day in Poverty

What do you think of when you hear the word 'poverty?

When I think of poverty, I think of people suffering, not necessarily physically, but also spiritually. I think of people in tattered clothes, asking for charity. I think of people living life day by day not knowing what will come next. 

But that's just me being stereotypical.

The last thing I would think of is a well-dressed little boy with a big imagination. In the following video, you hear a young German boy recounting the wonderful day he had last week.

After watching this video, I was truly in touched by the way that the little boy described his day with such a positive attitude. He is actually living a life of poverty and makes it seem like such an extravagant lifestyle. I just really think that it is interesting to see poverty from a more innocent and child-like perspective.  Of course, he probably felt the pressure to exaggerate in order to prove himself to the rest of his classmates. Maybe he really wishes to live a life like the one that the describes. It was a bit sad to hear the girl at the end of the video call him a liar because "it is not possible to have such a nice day." The way that she says it makes the girl sound so spiteful, but at the end it almost sounds like she's jealous of his "nice day." This comment visibly upsets the little boy, not only because it makes him feel guilty, but also because it makes him feel like an outcast in his own classroom.

In a much broader perspective, the little boy telling the story symbolizes all the people in this world living in poverty. His classmates are the rest of society and how they are so quick to judge. The fact that this video is from a powerful European country shows the universality of poverty. It comes in many shapes and sizes. In all sorts of different situations.

How did you react to this video? Did your image of poverty change?