Poverty has been a baleful factor of the mortality rate in our world, and probably always will be. From Ruki and Nathan we can learn that no matter how much heartache and troubles there seem to be while living a destitute life, never lose hope, love or even pride. One fifth of the world will struggle more than the rest of us and yet we all will find ways to adapt and survive to the most indigent conditions. The world's people must have prowess in their lives to overcome all the challenges in life. During life efforts should be put fourth to alleviate poverty. The range of possibilities is virtually unlimited. From everything, it's obvious that somewhere in the cradle of humanity, there is someone that is worse off than you are. Children starving, cold on the streets, parents without work. Although hard to imagine, it is true. Homelessness, hunger, lack of work and illiteracy are all just tiny fish in a great lake of problems of poverty in the world today. Jump in and try to help one out. It is simple a matter of will.

In many third world nations, there is a great lack of literacy. "Nearly one-sixth of the 5.9 billion people in the world cannot read or write". It's evident that illiteracy rates will steadily grow while we move into the next century because only one out of every four children in the world's poorest nations is in school. In Nectar in a Sieve, Ruki proves the importance of the necessity of reading skills. "...I would set myself up as a reader of letters such as there are in most villages, and surely also in cities". To earn enough money for a trip to their home in the rural village, Ruki can use her unique skills to earn more money than her husband could. In Africa, the percentage of adults who are literate varies greatly from country to country. From the highest of Zimbabwe with eighty-five percent adults literate, to the lowest, Niger, with only thirteen percent of the adults with the capability of reading. On average, fifty-six percent of African adults are able to read.

eal, but in Massachusetts alone, three fourths of all homeless people are now children and their parents. Today, the chronically and severely mentally ill are not proficient at coping with the stresses of this world. They are vulnerable to eviction from their living arrangements, mostly because of the stress of dealing with various problems such as landlord situations. Many tend to drift away from their families and will loose all goals in their life. "Once the mentally ill are out on their own, they will more than likely stop taking their medications and after a while will lose touch with the Social Security Administration and will no longer be able to receive their Supplemental Security Income checks". Because of their poor judgment and disarray, they will fail to notify anyone and could end up on the streets, where the effects of drugs and alcohol will lead into

Some common words found in the essay are:
Ruki Nathan, Sieve Nathan's, Kamala Markandaya, Security Income, Sieve Ruki, Ira Tonight, , Nectar Sieve, Kuti Ruki's, homeless people, ruki nathan, nectar sieve, lack food, Security Administration, mentally ill, earn money, homelessness hunger lack, kamala markandaya, results limited, markandaya illustrates, tonight tomorrow night, village ruki, ira tonight tomorrow, hunger lack illiteracy, recognizes lack options,
Approximate Word count = 1937
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)