Poverty isn’t about money

We have all seen poverty portrayed in the media through movies like Slumdog Millionaire or even Aladdin. But, many times this presentation of poverty over-simplifies the obstacles facing the poor. Is shows a main character living in rough conditions and ends the film with the overcoming of obstacles to achieve material wealth. It tells the story that poverty is the lack of money. But, the surprising truth is, poverty isn’t actually about money. Money is just the surface issue. That seems contradicting right? For most of us money seems to be the obvious solution to poverty. Poor people are poor because they do not have money. So if you give people money, they will no longer be poor. This logic seems to make sense, but if this were true, then we would live in a reality of no more material poverty in the world.

So, if money is not the solution, what is? Well, that is where it becomes complicated. The real solutions to material poverty are not the fun stuff. They are not the feel good, do good, go on with your life stuff. They are often the difficult, discouraging, complicated, and messy stuff. It requires us to look inside ourselves and deal with our own untapped biases, prejudices, and ethnocentrism so we can reach a place of humility and listen rather than tell.

These solutions to poverty involve focusing on the strengths of the poor and not the deficits. Focusing on empowering the poor not controlling. These solutions believe the answer already exists, we just need to remove the barriers that stand in the way. This approach helps us to realize the individual is the actual solution and by removing the barriers in their way, they can move into their natural ability to become contributors to their families, schools, and communities. By focusing on people’s ability to become contributors to social change, we can harness the unique skills, talents, and knowledge to achieve goals and eradicate poverty.

Join us in this movement towards community-based solutions.