Sidney Beck Poet Prose Poetry

I Helped the Needy

I    HELPED   THE   NEEDY

I took the money and kept it to support my own family for a year
Then asked  their permission to leave for a year and work in Africa
I went to  Kenya, to  a poor  family and their poor school there, which I had read about
Teaching is my trade so I taught them everything I knew
About English, math, wood construction, health, business
And many other things.   I showed them how much the rich
Westerners care for them by being with them and sharing their burden
The end of the year came  and I went home to my family
Glad to be back, but also glad to have worked  in Africa
Years later some children had pursued their education with their  better English
Had become doctors and teachers and builders and  businessmen
They made efforts to change their country and make it a better place for all Kenyans
All the sick people, the uneducated, the homeless, the jobless
Who previously had little chance of  improvement  now had a better start
I felt that the benefit of education would ripple down from generation t o generation
I guess time will tell if I was right to take the money for my own family.

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Deb Radke January 11, 2011 at 1:23 PM Yes, you supported your 'own family', but consider the cost of hiring someone else to do what the teacher in this poem has done. For not only did he teach for a year in Africa, he also lived among those he taught. This, to me, is the far greater sacrifice, and a much greater expense than $25,000 would ever cover. Time will always prove that a good gesture ripples out over time, over lives, over politics, over societal barriers. Very good prose poetry. Take care. Deb

Jimmy Anderson January 8, 2011 at 5:49 PM Very nice poem...good luck in the contest...Jimmy

Dr.Ram Mehta January 8, 2011 at 5:36 PM Wonderful write on the theme of the contest, Good luck, Sydney

Phyllis Babcock January 8, 2011 at 2:05 PM I think you will find that the reward will show up for generations and they will benefit from your teaching and information. Our son gave up a scholarship so that a student from another country could stay in Can. and study. In fact he gave all he books for her third year too. He said mom, we have more than many so you do not mind if I give it up. This warmed my heart that he learned that it is better to give than receive. God Bless Phyl

Sara Kendrick January 8, 2011 at 2:03 PM Time will tell..I am sure that you made an impression on someone..We never will know until the end if one's efforts were just what was needed..Enjoyed reading your work..You need some claps ((~))..Sara

Barbara Gorelick January 8, 2011 at 1:40 PM Outstanding use of your $$$. you used it to benefit others in the long term..but it would benenfit you as well..the pleasure and reward of teaching. BG

Carolyn Devonshire January 8, 2011 at 12:57 PM Syd, by using that money to support your family, you were able to bring education to so many underpriviledged children. Perhaps through this education endeavor generations of Kenyans were able to lead better lives. This work may be fiction, but I can think of no better way to "spread the wealth" of knowledge. Read "The Master's Hand" and, yes, value increases when people have a different comprehension of worth. Just as you said, it brought tears to my eyes, but so did your poem. Love, CD