by nissa_amas_katoj

Created on: July 15, 2009   Last Updated: July 20, 2009

I remember the day when, impelled by poverty, I went on an expedition through the dumpsters of Los Angeles, looking for recyclable aluminum cans. I spend about four hours in the hot sun, and collected a bag full of cans. At the recycling machine, the cans brought me about forty or fifty cents- enough for a small, cheap food item such as a chicken pot pie. I can still remember how hot and bone-tired that day made me.

There will always be some degree of poverty in the world. In the US, people in poverty may have indoor plumbing, televisions, brand-name athletic shoes, and perhaps even Internet access. In the Philippines, they may lack all of these things. But compassionate people worldwide, individually or as a part of church missions or charities, will try to ease the pains of poverty.

The best way to ease poverty is through self-help. No matter how poor you are, how uneducated, how unskilled, there is something you can do, right now, to lessen the grip of poverty in your life. If you are unemployed and can't find work in your field, perhaps it is time to consider work outside your field. You may need to develop new work skills by taking courses. Or your most immediate way of dealing with your poverty may be to learn to better manage the money you do have. Perhaps giving up gambling, smoking or the use of soft drinks may make a big difference for you.

One major cause of poverty is the use of drugs, including alcohol. If you have ever messed up on the job because of being drunk or high, that should be a wake-up call for you. You may believe your drug or alcohol use is a personal choice. But poor people can't afford that particular choice. Drop in on an Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous meeting today.

When you are living in poverty, sooner or later you think of the possibility of accepting charity- either private charity, such as food from a food bank, or government charity such as welfare payments or food stamps. For some of us accepting such charity is a necessity. But once you accept, you are in the Welfare Trap.

What is the Welfare Trap? It is that once you start accepting the aid offered, you have to be concerned with staying eligible for the aid. For example, suppose you are accepting SSI income because you have a disability. You are also concerned with the fact that you need to save money for your old age. You monthly put some money aside for this purpose. But once you have accumulated a few thousand dollars, you become ineligible, until

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