This Is Poverty
We in the world of privilege, living in well-established, democratic countries of the West, think we know of poverty, of those living within the confines of great urban centres, and in rural areas, who live in poverty. There has always been a stark divide between people whom fate seems to have decreed will live with perpetual need, and those whom the fates look kindly upon, who are given opportunities to advance their personal interests and live in a manner the poor can only imagine.On the other hand, there is the issue of relativity. In that the poor living in western societies rarely starve. They may live with inadequate diets, and in sub-standard housing, with fewer educational and employment opportunities than their socially and economically better-off peers, but they will not starve to death. In these economies food is plentiful, available and relatively inexpensive. And there are public and private social investments in improving the lives of the poor; an obligation recognized by the entire society.
In many of the countries of Africa and parts of east Asia, however, the story is stark and far, far different. Was there ever a time when people were not urged to think of poor, starving African children? There was a time when India and China reflected immense populations of indigent poor, barely subsisting, but those two giant countries have managed to place themselves and their populations in a more generally advanced situation.
Africa however, that's another story entirely. It is a continent wracked and riven by tribal antipathy and dread animosities where exclusion and suspicion and dread violence on a mighty scale wracks disparate countries from time to time. It is a continent whose many nations are ruled by dictators and despots, in a hopeless totalitarian rule that sees the people as their own to exploit as they will. Africa was, and remains to this day the despair of the world.
People who live with plenty, and their governments, live with their consciences that tell them they must 'do more' to aid Africa. There is general agreement of a need to part with portions of countries' treasuries in the hopes that some meaningful change will come about through generosity and well-wishing. Dedicated humanitarians have given their professional expertise to the country in desperate attempts to help it, and they have died there.
Now, in 2010, drought conditions are once again affecting the Sahel region of the continent; land stretching across northern Africa, affecting ten countries. Few appear more deleteriously affected than tiny Niger with 50% of its 14-million people at risk of starvation. Niger nationals have migrated in their millions from their drought-stricken geographies to attempt to find food in surrounding countries.
Women travel on foot for days, leaving their home villages, travelling to other African towns, where they manage to find market areas in countries like northern Nigeria, and there they patiently and meticulously sweep the ground where sacks of grains have been piled, to find and collect the bits of spilled grain. Grains spilled in the dust during off-loading from cargo ships.
Corn, millet, cowpeas and soya beans are swept into little piles and taken as treasured food to feed their hungry children. This is poverty.
Labels: Africa, Environment, Human Rights, Poverty
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, July 03, 2010
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