Wealth
Ask most anyone in your neighborhood, and they'd probably say that solving poverty is about meeting basic human needs: like water, food, or education. Simplistic? Probably. But intuitively it makes sense. Right?
Not entirely. It depends on your definition of poverty, and your definition of success.
If poverty is about goods and services, then the natural solution is to fill that void. And if your definition of success is about how much of those goods and services are delivered, then of course, more is better. The question I don't hear many people asking is - how has that worked out for us - our perceived quality of life or sense of wellbeing?
If you answer "not so much", then why do we chose to address poverty by these definitions? Why not look a little deeper? As it turns out, people have. But the answer can't be packaged and sold, and so frankly, it fails our cultural need to be fashionable and consumer oriented. It fails to be marketable.
"Wealth" as it turns out, is not the same as "Rich". Our culture is filled with quotes and proverbs to this effect, but the 19th century English cleric, Charles Colton, may have said it best: "wealth, after all, is a relative thing, since he that has little and wants less, is richer than he that has much and wants more."
Ask someone living in material poverty to describe what it's like to be poor, and you may not get the answer you expect. Though material needs are expressed, the deeper roots are defined by shame, fear, desolation, and powerlessness.
A young Ethiopian woman in "Voices of the Poor" shares a universal feeling:
"A better life for me is to be healthy, peaceful and to live in love without hunger. Love is more than anything. Money has no value in the absence of love."
Wealth is defined by satisfaction, dignity and self-confidence. It's a belief in hope and opportunity. The problem is, we can't package hope or measure dignity. But if we want to change poverty, really change it, we have to embrace this reality. If we do, then we are one step closer to solving both their poverty, and our own.
-Barak Bruerd, Africa Programs Director
Not entirely. It depends on your definition of poverty, and your definition of success.
If poverty is about goods and services, then the natural solution is to fill that void. And if your definition of success is about how much of those goods and services are delivered, then of course, more is better. The question I don't hear many people asking is - how has that worked out for us - our perceived quality of life or sense of wellbeing?
If you answer "not so much", then why do we chose to address poverty by these definitions? Why not look a little deeper? As it turns out, people have. But the answer can't be packaged and sold, and so frankly, it fails our cultural need to be fashionable and consumer oriented. It fails to be marketable.
"Wealth" as it turns out, is not the same as "Rich". Our culture is filled with quotes and proverbs to this effect, but the 19th century English cleric, Charles Colton, may have said it best: "wealth, after all, is a relative thing, since he that has little and wants less, is richer than he that has much and wants more."
Ask someone living in material poverty to describe what it's like to be poor, and you may not get the answer you expect. Though material needs are expressed, the deeper roots are defined by shame, fear, desolation, and powerlessness.
A young Ethiopian woman in "Voices of the Poor" shares a universal feeling:
"A better life for me is to be healthy, peaceful and to live in love without hunger. Love is more than anything. Money has no value in the absence of love."
Wealth is defined by satisfaction, dignity and self-confidence. It's a belief in hope and opportunity. The problem is, we can't package hope or measure dignity. But if we want to change poverty, really change it, we have to embrace this reality. If we do, then we are one step closer to solving both their poverty, and our own.
-Barak Bruerd, Africa Programs Director
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