Archive for July 21st, 2009
The Nature of Poverty
I’ve seen the effects of poverty in many parts of the world. A year spent in Latin America couldn’t have prepared me for the crushing poverty that I saw in India. In Jaipur- the lonesome eight year old girl with a baby strapped to her back collecting garbage along the train tracks. In Mumbai- the endless lines of street dwellers sleeping alongside the highway and the horrified starved looks on their faces. The man that used one arm to pull the small remaining portion of his body across the harsh cobblestone paths of Varanasi- I could never erase that image from my memory.
Nor can I erase the feelings from my heart after what I saw in New Orleans post- hurricane Katrina. The community was abandoned and left in shambles and the residents, after years of neglect were nearly helpless. I’m often heartbroken by the exposed and vulnerable I see on the streets of New York City- old, young, pregnant, war veterans and others just lost. When I visited my home last week, it was hard to miss the bulging crowd outside of the Denver Rescue Mission- or maybe it just looks smaller when the crowd huddles together to escape the freezing winters.
Trying to compare the destitute in San Francisco or New York City to the desolate in Katmandu or Lima would do an incredible injustice to truth of these individual situations. The nature of poverty in the United States often manifests in ways that we don’t commonly label as “poverty”, especially once compared to the destitution we see in developing countries. I can’t pinpoint it but, the look of boredom I saw yesterday on the face of a four year old girl in New York City, elicits a similar feeling from me as seeing the languish on the face of a child in India.
You cannot compare the empty stomach of a child in New Delhi to the bulging belly of a boy in Brooklyn; however the look of malaise on both of their faces can be a symptom of some form of poverty. Poverty can be due to the lack of dignity involved in the process of consumption. Over abundance and extreme lack have both been known to create hopelessness, violence, and severe health problems. The types of poverty that I distinguish have manifested themselves differently and each deserves a compassionate call to response.
How does this relate to Kiva…
The United States has been suffering from a community disconnection that has been growing for decades, and the affect has had implications across the globe. The movement to bring back our sense of community has taken many forms. Some buy locally grown foods or volunteer at local school programs. Now, you can choose to lend locally on Kiva and support small businesses that foster strong and dignified communities. I’m a firm believer in the interconnectedness of humanity, and that even the smallest of actions can have profound and long lasting impacts. By supporting a microenterprise on Kiva you are supporting the rights of an individual to a dignified way of earning a living and supporting their family- dignity is a strong word.
___________________________________________________
Erica Dorn has recently completed her Kiva Fellowship at ACCION USA in New York City. She will be continuing a career in US Microfinance and can be reached at ericadorn@gmail.com. You can also follow her blogs related to US Microfinance at ACCIONUSA.org/blog
9 comments 21 July 2009
Microfinance and the economic casualties of terrorism
The first time the Bali bombings came up in conversation for me, it was when I was interviewing a borrower, Pak (Mr.) I Putu Agus Sumerta. Pak Herman, a DINARI loan officer, introduced Agus to me as a victim of the 2nd Bali bombing.
I immediately assumed that he had been injured in the blast, but it turned out he was working in a hotel in the capital city of Denpasar at the time, nowhere near the beaches of Kuta and Jimbaran where the bombs went off. When I expressed my confusion, Agus and Herman explained that for most people in Bali, the most lasting negative consequence of the bombings was economic. Tourists were driven off the island and even regular visitors didn’t come back for years. Agus’ hotel was forced to close, and he was forced to return to his village of Melaya.
Continue Reading 7 comments 21 July 2009
Should all kids want to be a doctor or astronaut? Maybe…
By Milena Arciszewski, KF8 – Community Economic Ventures Inc. – Philippines
The backdrop for my ah-ha! moment
Yesterday I had a thoughtful conversation with a CEV Loan Officer, over a bowl of soup. She told me about a recent interview she had with a young boy. She asked him about his dream for the future, and was disappointed when he answered: “When I grow up, I want to be strong so that I can carry heavy boxes like my father.” This boy doesn’t dream about becoming a pilot, or a doctor, or an astronaut. He dreams of becoming strong so that he can carry heavy boxes.
The Loan Officer looked at me and said firmly: “The worst part of poverty here is that it takes away people’s ability to dream.”
One of my favorite quotes is by Martin Luther King, Jr: “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.’ There is a strange beauty to that boy who dreams of carrying heavy boxes. He sees honor in the job and his highest aspiration is to be strong so that he can do the job well. And that’s okay. It is not my place to judge his dreams or expect them to match mine. I responded to the Loan Officer that I think it’s a fine for him to have that dream, as long as it makes him happy.
“No, you don’t understand,” she answered. “That boy isn’t dreaming about carrying boxes because that will make him happy. He dreams of carrying boxes because that is all he knows. He is so poor that he doesn’t know what else to dream about.”
I had my ah-ha! moment. That’s why microfinance institutions exist. It’s not just about giving poor people the ability to grow their business. It’s about giving poor people the chance to live a better like so that they have the ability to dream.
-
- A CEV borrower poses with her baby pig
-
- A CEV borrower poses before her rice field
-
- A CEV borrower with her recycled goods
Milena Arciszewski has a year-long Kiva fellowship. She is currently on her last placement at Community Economic Ventures, Inc. (“CEV”) in Tagbilaran City, Philippines. She has also spent time with Kiva partners in Bosnia and Kenya. For a list of CEV’s fundraising loans, click here.
9 comments 21 July 2009
RSS - Posts