Personal Resources and Poverty

Our guard's family lives just over the $2 a day poverty line,
and rarely misses meals as far as we know, but if they are
able to eat solid meals at the end of the month, it has a lot
more to do with their community relationships than what
they have left in their house on day 30.  

I read an article this week on CNN that Africa is no longer 'poor'. Africa is a continent of 54 different countries! I am amazed when Africa is talked about as one place. As I read this article, I discovered that the judge of being 'poor' is how many times you have gone without food or medical necessities. I found this fascinating because from a western view that may seem like a clear cut way to determine poverty, but that probably doesn't take into account how communities take care of each other around the world. How many areas do we place our cultural judgement and categories on other cultures and not even realize it? As I travel and live longer, the more I realize that western culture is held up as the bar to measure against and assumed that everyone has the same way of doing things and the same way measuring individuals or ownership of things.

If you remember many of our struggles and posts have been on community – what we may consider extreme community. But most people here (I don't know about all Africa, so I will talk about our country :) will not have resources themselves, but will many times be saved from going without medical necessities or complete lack of food because they will rely on community to pull through for them where they are not able to pull through. So that does mean someone has enough money to provide for them in a pinch. But I bet you'd say they were living in poverty if you experienced it. Now this can sound like a wonderful system where everyone is cared for when they're in need, but it also has its problems. 1. Getting the food or medicine may be delayed because it depends on others. 2. Nobody wants to get ahead because then they will just be expected to give all their money away. 3. As soon as you get any money you want to spend that money because when people know that you have money, they will be coming to you and asking for it. Since you have it you feel an obligation to share it. So there is no way that income will last until the end of the month with this method! But if you don't 'buy' into the system of sharing money, when you run into a tough spot and need some help, people will not be there to help you. And as a westerner living in contact with this system there is no way that you can get away without many, many requests for money, candy, medicine etc.

Knowing the problems of our own system, we can see that no system is fully right or wrong (although our system often feels better to us!) and no system solves all the problems, as no matter what there will be greediness and sin in each of our lives. Sadly, none of us have been excluded from this sin and can claim to be able to do this community 'right'.

--La Maestra