At lunch one day with a couple who are long-time friends,
they were full of stories about a vacation trip they had just taken. It
was a cruise to a distant part of the world, which included stops at numerous
ports I had always wanted to visit. When I left them, I was excited about
taking that cruise myself ---- that would be an ideal vacation adventure!
I looked on the internet for similar cruise opportunities,
and importantly to answer the question "What would it cost?"
After an hour or two of thorough searching, I found several cruise
alternatives, but they were pricey!! To be honest, they were beyond my
budget ---- way beyond! What a disappointing discovery. I guess I
was too "poor" to enjoy the cruise life that my friends had
raved about.
Recently, I read a magazine article about the World
Bank. You will remember that at the end of World War II, the Bank was
remarkably successful in helping to finance the re-building of war-torn
Europe. The report I was reading said the modern-day mission of the Bank
is to assist low-income countries around the world, which means attempting to
eliminate or reduce the poverty of their people.
Interestingly, they had found that people in the relatively
developed economies (that is, the financial donors to the Bank) usually
described "poverty" differently from its definition by the poor in
the low-income countries they intended to help. While the poor people of
less-developed countries mentioned having a lack of material things, they
tended to emphasize their condition in far more psychological and social
terms compared to the people in donor countries. The people in poverty in
less-developed countries typically talked in terms of powerlessness,
humiliation, fear, hopelessness, depression, social isolation, and
voicelessness.
Most often, the people in such poverty believed they lacked
any options for improving their lives. For example, it was only when some
developed countries shared a cure for River Blindness that many people in
Africa had some new hope. They could not have solved this problem
themselves even if someone had simply donated some money.
On the other hand, the leaders in developed countries tended
to see "poverty" only as a lack of material things such as food,
clean water, medicine, housing, etc. when they talked about "the
poor."
Somehow we must embrace both perceptions of
"poverty" if we aim to change things for the better. If, in
working with poor people, we treat only the symptoms, or if we misdiagnose the
underlying problem, we will not improve their situation, and we might actually
make their lives worse.
While the World Bank's focus today is on less-developed countries,
we should not forget that we have both forms of poverty in the U.S. and in
other developed countries. So, we don't need to go to foreign
less-developed countries to experience and appreciate the psychological and
social dimensions of poverty. It is nearby, if we look for it. For
example, this summer CPC will organize 25 or more teenagers for a week-long
Mission Trip to an economically depressed area of Western New York State.
They will live with and do light construction work amidst an impoverished
community. This close working relationship with the "poor" will
help the Mission Team members break through the stereotypes many of us have of
the "poor", and also help them better understand the psychological
and social side of poverty.
There are many such examples of how churches and other
groups have acquired a sense of the psychological and social aspects of
poverty, for a more well-rounded understanding of poverty's challenge.
They now see that there is more to it than just sending money. They have
acquired a better understanding of the people they are trying to help.
The lesson for me is that my "poverty" is actually
quite unlike the type of poverty we have just been talking about. For my
comfortable life style, it is required only that I be prudent when choosing
among my many options for how I will use my greater material resources ----
choices that the desperately poor are not afforded. For me there is
merely some disappointment when I cannot keep up with my wealthier friends, but
no feelings of fear,, powerlessness, humiliation, hopelessness, depression,
social isolation or voicelessness. I have to put my
"poverty" in perspective. I must remember that while I
sometimes may think I am "poor," my situation will not, and should
not support an application to the World Bank for a loan. I must
acknowledge that I am privileged, and remember to share my privileged gifts
with others who society seems to have forgotten.
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These thoughts are brought to you by the CPC Adult
Spiritual Development Team, hoping to encourage your spiritual growth this
summer.
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