Photo from http://exipiosingapore.blogspot.sg/
Have you heard about the concept ‘Cycle of Poverty‘? For some, it’s a never-ending cycle and you wonder if they will ever get out of poverty.
Picture this, a single mother in her early 20s, with 5 children, oldest at 7 years old, with her other children who are at 6, 4, 2 and 4 months old. One day, her husband just decided that it was all too much to handle and left the family for good.
Why doesn’t she help herself and her kids by getting a job, you might wonder…
For her, a job is simply not an option she can consider. Her children are young, she has no other relatives in Singapore and no one who is able help her to take care of her kids. As for child care? It is totally out of the question, when having 3 square meals a day is already a challenge.
My parents got to know about her situation through the MCYS recommendation to Methodist Welfare organization. And when they first met her, she had just been discharged from the ICU unit from the hospital after giving birth to her youngest child. All they saw was a stick thin woman, with hallowed cheeks and dark eyes who lived in a dark and dimly lit government welfare flat in Jalan Besar with her children.
K and I got to visit her and her kids at her home on Saturday, with some of K’s pre-loved toys that he did not play with anymore, together with some snacks and cakes.
It was like Christmas for the kids for the first time.
It was a sobering sight, to see the children so excited over old toys that K has no interest for anymore, and fighting over the simple snacks that K eats every day. As I watched and talked to the kids, I had to hold back my tears numerous times.
I have heard about families like that but only seen it for myself for the first time on Saturday. I realized that It is only when I see real life families living in poor conditions like that, then I will learn to be content regardless of the state that I am in.
Have I ever gone hungry? Never.
Do I still have a room over my head? Surely, and I even have my mom’s helper to do laundry and iron the clothes for K , hb and I.
So if ever you feel discontented in the state you are in, think about the many out there who are barely surviving with a lot less than you have. Consider even extend a helping hand monthly to a less-priviledge family, spend some time in their home and it will be a stark reminder to how blessed and how much we need to be content with the plenty that we already have.
