5. Discussion Forum on Extreme Poverty

The most vulnerable

The most vulnerable

by Deleted user -
Number of replies: 4
I think that the most vulnerable to the effects of poverty, whether in Jesus' time, Francis' or now, are the "outcasts", as Pat pointed out. In Jesus' day, outcasts of various kinds suffered both physical want and disconnection from their communities. These were the very people for whom Jesus had compassion and spent his time with. They in turn were the most responsive to him. In Francis' day, lepers and homeless outcasts were similarly treated, and were served by the brothers. In the now, the "outcast" suffering most not only the effects of poverty but also primary discrimination and stigmatization, are those with a "dual diagnosis" of intellectual disability and mental illness. This is what our daughter Bethany had to suffer. These persons are poor in every sense of the word, if added to their challenges are difficulties finding and holding jobs, or securing a safe place to live and spend their days.
In reply to Deleted user

Re: The most vulnerable

by Beverly Silvester -
Hi Julia,
I can't get your daughter's plight out of my head. I have just retired from dental hygiene after 15 years. Every day I saw one or two special needs patients. I was always overjoyed to treat them as they were truly in most need of my services.
One gentleman comes to mind. Pat has Downs Syndrome. He is low functioning. His elderly mother told me at our first visit that it would take months for Pat to talk to me. She let it slip he liked the Beach Boys. So throughout the visit I sang their songs. The smile on Pat's face was breath-taking. He requested me as his hygienist from then on. He often showed me a photo of his niece though he could not remember her name. The year I got a Christmas card from him reduced me to humble tears.
The other young girl who sticks out in my mind is Megan. She was 9 years old and low-functioning Autistic. Twice a week after hours I volunteered to see her in the chair to try and desensitize her from coming to the dentist. 2 1/2 years later I had not made an awful lot of progress or so I thought. It was Christmas time and I was trying to explain to her that we would not see each other for 3 weeks. As I held up 3 fingers she grabbed my hand, dragged me to her face and kissed me! Her mother , psychologist, and myself to this day find it incredible. I still weep over this.
My reason for this sharing is to show you the other side of the coin. The people who never give Bethany a second glance never get to see the treasure from God that is Bethany. Their hearts will never know the joy of having her trust and friendship. They will never have moments when they hear the angels sing. Bethany is a gift to us all. To not know and love the Bethany"s of this world is to live in true poverty.
Peace And All Good
Bev
In reply to Beverly Silvester

Re: The most vulnerable

by Deleted user -
I will never forget the two most vulnerable human beings that I saw. Both were female. One was a facially deformed crying child who was forced to beg by an older girl (probably a relative) in a location frequented by tourists in Vietnam. The horror of her situation still makes me shudder and cry out in prayer.
The other was a woman in a wheelchair soliciting in the shadows on East Broadway in Vancouver at around 2 am about 20 years ago. I glimpsed her as I was driving home from work and am assuming she was soliciting because that area was a known "stroll".

I am still shocked and horrified and feel compassion for these two human beings, both victims of many things exacerbated by poverty.

To the little girl I could give money but what the woman in the wheelchair was doing did not register until I was couple of blocks away in my car. To one I could give charity but not justice and the other nothing at all ...... or can I? Maybe after 20 years I can take action against human trafficking and prostitution.

There are so many to pray for and we must never give up.

Christ told us "The poor you will have forever" (can't remember which gospel) and I think it is because, as Orthodox Christians say: "The poor are ambassadors of God". As such we should treat them with repect and love and make them feel welcome. I think the two women I have mentioned made me realise that.

Pax et bonum,
Andrew
In reply to Deleted user

Re: The most vulnerable

by Deleted user -

I agree with you and Beverly with all my heart about the sufferings of people with intellectual disabilities and mental illness.  I work in the school system as a special educational teachers assistant and over the years have enjoyed, laughed and cried with children with autism, downs and other difficulties.  These children are a gift from God to us all, they help show us that every life on this planet is worthy of dignity and respect.  Some of these children look  "normal"  and so people expect them to act normal (whatever normal may be).

 As for the other teenagers, for some of them the very fact that they are at school on a regular basis is a major achievement, they come from really disfunctional homes were there is lack of parental guidance - one parent, who could be a heavy drinker or into drugs- and often there is not enough food in the pantry to eat.  These children act tough and non compliant on the outside, but inside they are hurting very badly. They are also poor and unloved. 

 There are so many people hurting in this world its hard to imagine where to start to help, but I think if we start with baby steps- smile, nod, look someone in the eye when they are talking to you, do good for someone you do not particulary like. Always try to treat people the way you like to be treated, send money if you have any to a good cause, write letters re the horrors of abortion......the list can go on and on and really its what we are supposed to do anyway, like Francis moving from gospel to life to gospel

peace

anne

In reply to Deleted user

Re: The most vulnerable

by Deleted user -
From the introduction it seems politics is the primary cause of poverty and it is suggested that politics must be the solution. So what political action can we take. We could get involved in the local political party and try to be a positive influence, but I sometimes wonder what happens to people who enter politics. How many of our prime ministers have been catholic yet we politically sanctioned abortion, gay marriage and so forth. It is also interesting to note that the vast majority of the electorate are Christian, so why are we so apathetic? If all Christians raised their voice or wrote letters, as Anne suggested, perhaps these laws would not have been passed. Perhaps more would have been done on the political front to end homelessness and  child poverty etc. But nothing is done, so perhaps part of the solution is re-evenglising members of our own Christian faith, and take a good hard look at ourselves; are we complacent? JPII was right when he talked about the travesty of indifferentism.