After attending the Poverty Conference that occurred last weekend at UM, I have to say that I'm shocked. No, it is not a shock that poverty exists throughout the world or that I live a privileged life. What shocks me is that even my President, who I view with the highest of esteems, did not include the issue of poverty as one of his major focuses (and for that matter, none of the other presidential candidates did either). My question is: WHY! Is it because those who are in poverty do not usually get the vote out? Or because they do not contribute to society like expected to? In my opinion, this is a horrible reality that we must face as the wealthiest nation, especially during the economic disparity of our times. And if anything, the numbers of hard-working Americans living in poverty is increasing with our current situation. Another issue that worries me is that I have never once really considered the issue of poverty in the Middle East, an area which I focus on frequently concerning the subjects of religion, politics, community, etc.
This entire subject makes me think of the 'human voice'. Let's revert to a few weeks ago when I lost my voice. Around three weeks ago, I unfortunately became ill and developed the worst case of laryngitis that I have ever experienced. I was unable to speak for four days straight. Though communicating through writing, hand motions, and mouthing of words was possible, it was not very feasible. I have never felt so incapable before in my life. Not only that, I began to miss the sound of my own voice, a one of a kind combination of differing sound wavelengths that ultimately represent me. I was afraid to walk back and forth from the music school at nighttime, because if anything were to happen to me, I would be unable to scream for help. I had no voice.
The first phrase that I began trying to say around the fourth day was, "Hi, my name is Shoshi and I have a voice". I practiced saying it over and over again in the morning when I woke up and in the evening before I went to bed. Though the color of sound that emitted from my vocal chords still did not sound exactly like mine, the grateful emotions that ran throughout my body from finally being able to say my name and that I possessed a voice were indescribable.
I perceive that those who live in poverty must feel the same way as one who physically looses his or her voice. You are excluded from the normalcy of society, communicating with others your problems is incredibly difficult, the reason you might be forced to remain in poverty could be related to outside factors that are to a certain degree uncontrollable until healed or diagnosed, you are doubly afraid during the nighttime since nobody will be able to hear you scream when trouble lurks around the corner, and lastly, you miss hearing your name spoken with purpose and dignity.
There must be more that we can do. Nobody should ever be left without a voice. In fact, every person should have the ability to sing.
