The thing about living in poverty

The thing about living in poverty - Sheiku Charlie 1

“The basic objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives. This may be a simple truth. But it is often forgotten in the immediate concern with the accumulation of commodities and financial wealth.” Muhbub Ul Haq

This statement by Pakistani economist Muhbub Ul Haq speaks volumes for why so many are living in their current situation of poverty.

To live in poverty, many would argue is a life plagued with obstacles and devices at play which will consistently work against you, so you are chronically trapped in a cycle faced by many individuals in modern times. You do not need to be reminded of the precarious times we live in. For a vast number of us, we are experiencing the major effects of recent economic and social catastrophes. An increasing number of people are bearing the worst of living in abject poverty. Causes of poverty are too complex to be the result of just one issue. However when we do look at external systems that tend to push people into poverty or prevent them from escaping and the internal culture of poverty, the picture of the world that many who are poor end of tell themselves.

An example of this is presented in this simple diagram;

The diagram highlights the situation many living in poverty find themselves in more developed countries. If you compare with people in less developed countries the image is not so different. There are many people working on various solutions to alleviate conditions within or actually break the cycle. I can give you an insight into how we are trying to break the poverty cycle in a small village in rural Karnataka.

Case study: Uyyamballi Village, Karnataka, India

Poverty in Uyyamballi village is due to various causes and factors but a factor more notable than others is that of sanitation. In presenting this issues and how it was addressed I have simplified and illustrated the process we underwent to attempt to break the poverty cycle here.

Cause of poverty – No access to sanitation facilities

Effect – Disease and illness in the community, resulting in loss of productivity for the community and health care costs.

Solution – Provision of sanitation units to community

The solution suggested and implemented although very useful and practical we felt to be too simple an intervention rather than a full programme which would break one of the causes of poverty in the village. In addressing what else might be needed for the solution to have a sustainable impact we decided to implement another method.

Cause of poverty – No access to sanitation facilities

Effect – Disease and illness in the community, resulting in loss of productivity for the community and health care costs. 

Solution – Provision of sanitation units to community

Sustainable solution – Train community members to maintain the sanitation units; engage villagers in building the units and provide health and hygiene training to all.

This solution if implemented correctly we feel will break up this particular poverty cycle. The sanitation unit should lead to less people becoming ill meaning more time for education and so greater literacy. The knock on effect being greater job prospects and an ability to access a higher wage which could provide a trickle-down effect for family members.