Reflecting on Poverty

From our Just Faith week 6, after our reading assignment from "Amazing Grace" by Kozol. Here are the questions, and a part of my answers.

Question 1: What are your early memories of poor people, or of being poor yourself?
-Poor people and addicted people coming into the Salvation Army for assistance, money, a meal, a bus ticket somewhere.
-Visiting a lady in a one room house.
-Working in the thrift store.
-Was I poor? Not really. We did live in a trailer while dad was in the Air Force but after they joined the Salvation Army our homes were provided and they were in decent blue collar neighborhoods. I always felt like I wasn't "cool enough" in school since I didn't have the name brand clothes or a nice hairstyle, but I wasn't ever hungry or cold.

Question 2: What did people close to you say to you about poverty, about poor people?
-Being raised as the child of Salvation Army ministers, the poor in town were just a part of our lives. Our job was helping others. "Heart to God, Hand to Man" is the S.A. slogan. A lot of government programs (WIC, cheese, etc.) were run from the church.
-Being poor was never a cause for distancing myself from another.

Question 3: What experiences as an adult have you had of poverty in the world?
-My own experience was a year or two of absolute poverty. I didn't think of it that way at the time, but there were many occasions that water/electricity was shut off. One place I didn't have any heat at all. I have had to haul water from the pizza joint across the street from my apartment in order to flush toilets when the water was shut off. I've used a bunson burner to keep warm. I have subsisted on macaroni and cheese box dinners for weeks at a time. I've rode the bus because I couldn't afford a car.
-As far as poverty in the world, until Just Faith I really hadn't given it a thought. Since then, studying a lot, reading, and watching educational video as part of the program I have learned. In addition I've had the chance to actually spend time with the poor, not just handing out food but really talking and finding out what they think, what they think should be done to improve things. When we visited the Catholic Worker House on Linwood and got to eat dinner with some of the people coming for a meal, it was very moving, but also a learning experience. Some of my assumptions were very wrong.