I have nooooo idea what it means to live in poverty although I see it all the time.

I helped a local youth buy a motorcycle (piki). He was so thankful because with that piki he can earn a reliable $3.50 each day giving mototaxi rides. That is enough to provide his family with food. He recently had his piki impounded by the police because they said he was driving it after curfew (he denies this and says it was around 5 PM – there is a good chance the police are using the curfew as a way to line their pockets during this time of financial stress). They were also upset because he was driving without a face mask. He told me there was no way he could afford a mask because they cost $1.00 which is an incredible amount of money for him. He also was asking if I could help him with $10 dollars to get his piki out of the impound lot, which was completely unattainable, especially now that his piki was impounded.

Despite living around it, I cannot understand what it is like to live with this type of financial stress. True poverty is inconceivable for an American.