perspective
In light of everything that is filling up the news lately I wanted to remind myself what real poverty is and just how fortunate we are. We have nothing to fear, if we become sick we can go to a hospital. If we are thirsty we can turn on a tap. If we lose our jobs we have family that we can lean on. I don't live in a refugee camp, or in a war zone, I live in a house that has heat and electricity. I remember when I drew a picture of a typical Canadian house with a young child in the Philippines and he asked me how many rooms were in my house. He then asked me who lives in my garage. I had to tell him that that is where we keep our car, I will never forget his face. I felt so ashamed.
What is poverty?
Absolute poverty is based on subsistence, a minimum standard needed to live. Seebohm Rowntree's research identified a 'poverty line' on the basis of minimum needs. The Copenhagen Declaration defines absolute poverty as "a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services."
Relative poverty is based on a comparison of poor people with others in society. Peter Townsend defines poverty as "the absence or inadequacy of those diets, amenities, standards, services and activities which are common or customary in society."
(mother with child during the famine in Ethiopia this past June)
Here are some more statistics to give you some perspective:
Ethiopia
Population: 82 million
Life expectancy at birth: 52 years
Maternal Mortality ratio (per 100,000 births): 720
Population Access to water source: 42%
Population Access to saniation facilities: 11%
% of Population Aged 0-14 years: 44%
Gross National Income per capita: $630
CANADA
Population: 33 million
Life expectancy at birth: 80 years
Maternal Mortality ratio (per 100,000 births): 7
Population Access to water source: 100%
Population Access to saniation facilities: 100%
% of Population Aged 0-14 years: 18%
Gross National Income per capita: $36,280
"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4
What is poverty?
Absolute poverty is based on subsistence, a minimum standard needed to live. Seebohm Rowntree's research identified a 'poverty line' on the basis of minimum needs. The Copenhagen Declaration defines absolute poverty as "a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services."
Relative poverty is based on a comparison of poor people with others in society. Peter Townsend defines poverty as "the absence or inadequacy of those diets, amenities, standards, services and activities which are common or customary in society."
(mother with child during the famine in Ethiopia this past June)
Here are some more statistics to give you some perspective:
Ethiopia
Population: 82 million
Life expectancy at birth: 52 years
Maternal Mortality ratio (per 100,000 births): 720
Population Access to water source: 42%
Population Access to saniation facilities: 11%
% of Population Aged 0-14 years: 44%
Gross National Income per capita: $630
CANADA
Population: 33 million
Life expectancy at birth: 80 years
Maternal Mortality ratio (per 100,000 births): 7
Population Access to water source: 100%
Population Access to saniation facilities: 100%
% of Population Aged 0-14 years: 18%
Gross National Income per capita: $36,280
"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4
posted by emily at
10:16 PM
7 Comments:
Absolutely, 100%, accurate! Poverty isn't just about losing in the stock market or having your $100,000 car repossessed, poverty is being denied a human right to drink water (not used for bathing and sanitation), the right to educate themselves, the right to be considered human, can you imagine Emily what $700 billion dollars would do for a country like Ethiopia! If utilized to teach, to build and to nourish, it could potentially change a nation to not only survive but thrive! Now if I was american I would ask my President to invest that money not in the stock market but in human rights- globally.
(Thanks for letting me rant!)
PS you write beautifully and powerfully!
Cousin Erin
thank-you Emily....
this was a very good reminder. It's so hard to see the big picture sometimes....
Wow! That was a great post. Convicting really. I never have even thought of what someone in a developing country would think of a garage. Yeah, we house our vehicles while so many people go without. It's easy to forget these things when we are so focused on our own lives.
Well said. As I read through "There is no me without You" I see stats like this and it's just hard to fathom. We forget how lucky we are.
Yes..you are so right Emily. Thank you for this post, it really reminded what is important.
Jenny
What a great post!! What a good point you made about the garage. When I drive down my street I notice that eventhough every home has a garage most people park their cars in the driveway because their garage is full of other stuff. Have we really gotten that greedy?...now we have so much useless stuff that we can fill a basement and a garage with it.
I think our consumer culture is very sad and that we are missing the real point of life often here in North America. We may have a lot in some ways, but in other ways, that count much more, we have very little.
This is great - you should republish or link to it on the 15th.
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