On Tuesday, April 1st, our class had a speaker come and discuss her volunteer work in Cambodia. Her volunteer work included her starting a school for the impoverished children in Cambodia. She discussed her story of how she came about this position and it was very inspiring. Her story encouraged me in knowing that anyone who is passionate about their work can accomplish something truly amazing.
During her presentation a student asked about how these children and families, who are living in poverty, view poverty. This question is important because here in America everyone talks about poverty and their thoughts on it. And we wanted to get an understanding about what these people in Cambodia think about poverty, especially because so many of them are living in it.
The speaker said that although, the people in Cambodia know that they are living in poverty, they do not fixate on it as much as we do in America. The families in Cambodia are basically in survival mode because of the situation they are in. They are more focused on making it through the day rather than looking towards the future. In contrast to that, Americans are typically focusing our thoughts on the next day and on the future. The speaker talked about how happy the people in Cambodia are regardless of their impoverished situations. She thinks this is due to the fact that they are just happy to get through one day. From what I have seen in America, Americans are always focused on the future rather than one day at a time and it makes us unhappy because we constantly want more. Although it is good to look forward, if the people in Cambodia looked to the future more they might get depressed at their situation too.