What everyone would do one small thing every month?

I have never experienced poverty first-hand. We always had food on the table, clothes on our backs, and a roof over our head. A lot of that food was bought in bulk, many of the clothes were from Ames (think Walmart, but junkier), and the houses were sometimes fixer-uppers. We didn't have cable until I was in high school. We ate at a restaurant about 10 times a year. But we were always comfortable. I learned to live with less, for which I am eternally grateful. If you grow up being given a bunch of stuff, you start to think that stuff is necessary. I know better. And I know that if I live frugally, I'll have more money available to help others.

But I've witnessed more poverty than I'd like to admit. Friends' whose families who couldn't afford to heat their homes. Who didn't own enough clothing to wear something different each day of the week. Whose parents were laid off or went bankrupt. I've helped give Christmas to food pantry kids who wouldn't have had anything under the tree or on the table.

And now I've been to Brazil. I grew up the country. I was fairly accustomed to run down shacks and trailers. But there you'll see true subsistence farmers with houses made of mud and salvaged metal and plastic. They are poor, but most of them are really living quite well off the land. No luxuries, mind you, but you don't need to heat or insulate your house in Brazil. You can live with a small field, some fruit trees, a few chickens, and some goats or cows. If I were to be plopped somewhere in the world with nothing, I would want to be there.

This article is not about subsistence farmers. They are making a life for themselves that might not be at yours or my standard of living. But that doesn't make it a bad life. It may technically be poverty, but world can't sustain it's full population of humans my standard of living. Personally, I think that's a huge problem and can't stand that people keep having children knowing that, but I digress.

This article is also not about the professional panhandling children in Porto Seguro. We were there so long we began to be recognized by them, and left alone. Those children who who huddled up to form a game plan on the side street, then affected a pitiful posture and sad eyes to ask for money from easy targets. For them, it was a game, it was a job, it was in fact a way to ensure they didn't fall into poverty. But I know they weren't going hungry. I happily offered one a whole boiled potato from our large dinner platter. He tried for money again, and then for the meat. I gave him the potato. But a few feet away he tripped on a chair and dropped it. He hadn't even taken a bit yet and he did not pick it up to eat it before moving on his next target. That boy was not going hungry.

The biggest problem is in the cities. The folk who can't farm or build a mud hut. The ones not organized enough to profit from a panhandling racket. The disfigured and mostly blind girl shooed away from my dinner table in Vitoria. I am so sad that she was gone before I could give her our left-overs. I will always regret not running after her with them. The children in Curitiba wearing ragged t-shirts and shorts in 40 degree (F) weather. They were walking home through the very fancy neighborhood where our hotel was, probably from an afternoon of begging in one of the nicer parks. You could tell from the way they walked when they didn't see anyone around that they weren't faking it. They didn't have any shoes and the stone sidewalks were rough, cold, and wet. We don't like to give money to beggars, but we are happy to give them food. We bought these two dinner at a food stand outside the mall. They waited with excited anticipation for about 10 minutes for a meal that cost about $1 a piece. You could tell from the way they ate it that it was probably more calories than they usually got in a week.

There are too many lost souls in cities all over the world. Living in gutters. Scavenging trash for food and shelter and clothing. Unable to afford the education that might better their situation.

But what can you do about it? Honestly, not that much. But you can do some small things to ease the suffering just a little. Donate your old clothes and other household items you don't need. Give them to a group that will pass them on directly to those in need, or someplace like the Salvation Army/Goodwill who resells them - offering both an inexpensive shopping option to people in need and raising money for other programs to help those who cannot even afford thrift-store prices. You can give to your local food pantry. You can give school supplies to a school or children's orgainzation. You can give time or money to any organization that helps the truly needy in your community.

You can also give to a group like Kiva.org to make small loans to people all over the world. Those loans help people succeed and pull themselves out of poverty. The key there is that they are loans - the people are expected to pay them back. This is not some hand-out, it's assistance to improve a business or person so they can provide for themselves.

Is there anything you could give today? An extra can from your pantry, or pair of pants from your closet? Would you really miss $10 that could feed a family for a day or more? Walk around your house today and find something to give. Then do it again next week or next month. And again. And again. Make it a habit and do it for the rest of your life. You won't miss the stuff. Just think how many people you could help. Dare your friends to try it, too. How many people could you help together? What if it wasn't just you and me and our friends. What everyone would do one small thing every month? Imagine what a difference that would make. Now stop imagining and make it happen!