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Talent
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Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
September 20, 2006 - 10:08 AM
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Here we go! All the way to one of the finest holiday resorts enjoying the quality services of Zimbabwe's high level tourism enterprise. On the first day when I was fighting my way through a three course dinner menu, my mind suddenly put me off. I came to think of me sitting at this colourful table.
I had come here to discuss about sustainable poverty eradication. Instead of the food left on my plate I started chewing the words "Sustainable Poverty Eradication." That is what we are here for, that is our aim, our mission and our duty.
Somehow things do not fit?!
In essence, we are employed by the poor! So I wonder what they would say, if they would see me sitting at this prosperous table stuffed with foods and not even being able to enjoy the taste of it? I wonder what their comment would be if they were to evaluate our work and audit our expenditure?.
Truly the development bisiness will never be released from the dilemma of " living on poverty", since poverty vertually is creating our jobs and paying for our salaries and our work, including the pleasent benefits of it! So maybe we should rethink our mandate and keep a moral balance to the costing of it.
Because otherwise we surely feed on poverty rather than eradicating it.
By Claudia Jubl,
MS-Zimabwe
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vas
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
September 21, 2006 - 08:34 AM
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i have a question -does poverty leads to
illteracy or absence of education results in poverty or its a vicious circle?
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Talent
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
September 22, 2006 - 08:28 AM
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First, what is poverty? Poverty is scarcity * shortage * deficiency * lack or poor quality. In this case its the shortage of basic need for a human being to survive.
In a way it affects education and leeds to illiteracy. In short I can not afford to send my child to school because I don't have enough money to feed them first, I don't have money to buy them clothes and that psycologically affect their attention to education even in class, that how poverty cause illiteracy.
Lack of education can bring a burden to yourself because you can not cope with the changing world in terms of knowladge needed to do business, communication with people from other countries. Imagine country being led by dully uneducated people.
Talent
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MOHAMMED ALIYU PAIKO
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
November 20, 2006 - 07:10 AM
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You are quite right, Talent for picturing the fight of eradicating poverty the way you did.
You see, most discussions about 'sustainable poverty eradication' or whatever name they may choose to call it, are done in lush hotels, air-conditioned offices, over dinners with baked turkeys and while sipping champaigne. It is therefore little wonder that all the so called programs designed to eradicate poverty always collapse.
How do you imagine that someone who affords three square meals would know what a poor man that can hardly afford one meal a week would want?
How can a man who lives in a semi-detached block of flats or in a two storey building offer advise of the kind of building that a man who lives in a hut built of reed or mud and covered in thatch? The examples are so numerous.
Until such a time that we really get down to the very poor in the saciety and call them together to ask them what they feel, what they want then we are no where near the reality of poverty diagnosis, talk more of eradication.
As for you Talent, dont feel guilty because you were just copying the style of your predecessors in your so called fight against poverty! You should have enjoyed your rich meal, you deserve it, afterall, you now feel guilty of being where you were in the name of poverty eradication. Some wouldnt even give it a second thought!
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Rajesh
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
November 23, 2006 - 05:08 AM
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Sitting in the luxurious place and thinking about poor, I don’t see any harm. You don’t need to be poor to think about them, but you need empathy rather than sympathy. Just look, Professor Younus, who develop the concept of Gramin Bank for the poor people and have tremendous achievement on it.
The question you raised, relate to the moral of development worker. But depends on, how are they taking the issue of poverty as their employment or real social problem? Why are they working, for their earning or public service? If we think as poverty is selling point of development worker, then they are not different than corrupt political leader of the developing country. You are right that development worker should be economic that the money can be spent more and more for the welfare of poor. Don’t think that you are working for poor but feel that you are working with them and you are also a part of them. We need to realize that “a chain is never stronger than its weakest link” and we all are the part of this chain.
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mnopq
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
November 23, 2006 - 05:36 AM
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Poverty is not something to be "eradicated" as the word suggests (in a rather direct way). It will disappear as a result of certain set of actions, for example, improving the educational sector, making more transparent the economic and political fields of a country, etc.
Trying to eradicate the poverty is like trying to cure sick tree by cutting off its ill branches, hoping that if there are no more sick branches, the tree will be healthy. The problem in itself, most commonly, lies in the roots of the tree, and that is where we must bring our attention...
I would suggest a better phrase to use instead of "eradicating poverty" to be "fighting against poverty".
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MOHAMMED ALIYU PAIKO
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
November 23, 2006 - 08:56 AM
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I seem to agree completely with the last two speakers up to an extent. It is completely unwise to be part of the struggle to end poverty by giving your best and to feel unnecessarily guilty because you had reason to enjoy a rich meal in the process.
However, I am completely in disagreement with the notion of 'fighting against poverty' because it defies the true meaning of the entire struggle. I mean, how many "fights" in whatever form have been won in the true sense? The issue about the struggle in respect of poverty is not a win/loose situation because no matter how hard we try, there will still be the poor in society and there will still be poverty, somehow and would that mean that our struggle is in vain, despite milestones achieved? (the Nobel prize for peace by Dr Yousuf being a clasic example).
I will rather we addressed it more like "facing the challenges of poverty" which has become globally accepted and makes more meaning, to my mind. Within the concept of "facing a challenge" I believe the guilt of taking a rich meal in the process can be comfortably tolerated, for instance (ask Dr Yousuf if you can wether he never dinned with the rich in the process of developing his novel micro credit idea).
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Talent
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
November 28, 2006 - 07:52 AM
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Wonderful, Thanks a lot guys. It is difficult not to think so because we are coming from the poorest community here. It is disturbing for the fisrt time to enjoy such a meal when you well know that you are just starting the project of helping the poor to get out of extreme poverty to at least better level where they can help themselves to feed and send kids to school.
It it true that we should not worry ourselves a lot about enjoying good meals. But most of us end up forgetting what had made them get to such food. It has happened to most NGOs, The intended beneficiaries of the program will get nothing and it ends up like we are feeding on poverty.
That is, if we are not very carefull enough we will keep on feeding ourselves more otfen that the time we should be working with the poor. Also, most of the time is spend in meetings at resorts where we need a huge budget for expenditure.
On this note can we say now let's just enjoy what is for us at that moment. and make sure we work with a spirit of love for the poor.
Thanks , moleepaiko ,mnopq, rjerung
This post was edited on: 2006-11-28 at 07:55 AM by: Talent
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fellybabe
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
March 7, 2007 - 11:40 AM
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nice discussion.
In Nigeria where i come from, the rich are getting richer while the poor are getting poorer, the goventment claims to have plan for them, to eradicate poverty but instead left them in poverty.
Although most ngo's here are trying while some are using thier own foundation to extract money/fund form the govenment through the likes of our politician and ended up using the fund for their own selfish interest.
but let's ask ourself this question that has been agitating on my mind for a long time now
CAN POVERTY REALLY BE ERADICATED COMPLETELY?
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EconRams5
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Re: Food For Thought Are We Eradicating Poverty Or Are We Living It
April 12, 2007 - 10:48 AM
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I believe that poverty is something everyone should be aware of. It's how you are aware of it that counts. If you have lots of money, who would you give it to to satisfy your need to feel generous. I believe eradicating poverty is definitely a topic of interest and is in need of some attention. But what if the poor don't wish to be helped. There are certain factors that need to be considered before we start to "clean up" the streets. Just because we have the money, doesn't mean your opinion counts more than theirs.
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