Lesson 21 — Activity 3: Do People Have to Be Poor?

In the developing world, "poor" has a different meaning than it does in Canada.

In this activity, you will learn about poverty in the developing world and think about how poverty could be lessened.

If you are poor in a less-developed country, here are some of the things you would be worrying about each day.

As well, human rights is an issue:
Poor people in less-developed countries, as in Canada, are not valued. They are often treated as "less than human" and may be abused or mistreated by others.

The chance of you getting a job is very slim, because very few jobs exist. Many of the world's poorest people are refugees. This means they have lost their homes, jobs, and possessions because of a natural disaster or war.

Many people believe that poverty around the world could be eliminated if our resources and wealth were redistributed. This would mean spreading things out more evenly around the world. If this were to happen, it would mean that those of us living in the "rich" countries like Canada would have to expect less so that others in the developing world could have more.

How do you feel about this? Would you be willing to have less so that people who are starving could have their basic needs met? Answer the questions in the Self-check Activity below.

Digging Deeper!