This particular article is about Crystal Pacheco, a first grader from a city in south Texas who writes a letter to Santa Claus asking for a blanket, a ball, and food. Crystal writes this letter in regards to her family, the ball is for her brother, the blanket is for her family because its cold in there home, and the food is for her family as well because they have no food in their house. The letter Crystal wrote to Santa Claus was shared by her teacher saying “it breaks my heart” to hear students ask for things that many simply take for granted. A lady named Nashley Garcia caught wind of the letter from a Facebook post and the next day showed up at school with 20 blankets for students and a couple balls. Garcia initially thought Crystal was a boy because her name was not featured on the letter and she asked for a ball. Once Garcia found a soft spoken little girl she drove straight back to the store and purchase a more girl friendly blanket and some girly toys. 

 

This particular article caught my eye because of the statistics at the end of the article. The article stated, “Edinburg, with a population of 87,000, is in Hidalgo County, in the heart of the Rio Grande Valley. About 45 percent of the children in the county and nearly 34 percent of its population live in poverty.” Edinburg, Texas is where Crystal resides which is part of Hidalgo County. The article also talked about ho, “Poverty in Texas is most prevalent near the border with Mexico. Five counties in South Texas (Hidalgo, Willacy, Zapata, Starr and Cameron) have the highest rates of poverty in the state”. 

 

With these statistics in mind we reflect back on our module 9 discussion of global poverty, this child Crystal lives in poverty everyday and she is unaware if she will have food in her house to eat. This particular situation sheds light that poverty is everywhere not just in other countries and sometimes living or immigrating to the United States does not bring the American dream that they seek. Garcia adopted somewhat of Peter singer theory, that it was her duty to help Crystal this holiday season because it was of moral importance to her. I believe some of the theories that go along with global poverty can be interchange. Keep in mind poverty exist and probably will always exist so focus on fixing or dealing with cultural, political, and economic conflicts that might arise in your town by speaking out, giving, or volunteering to help make an impact on poverty.