POVERTY PERSPERTIVE

To know the causes of poverty, perhaps we need to first know what poverty is and who is considered to be poor. It always amazes me when I hear people talk about poverty, you will get surprised to hear that even person who is doing fairly good will say that s/he is poor perhaps may not know what being poor means to an ordinary man. At the grassroots level we understand poverty as lack of necessities such as food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, health care and not forgetting lack of access to opportunities like education and employment which fuel the escape from poverty or allow one to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens. Perhaps if some body does not belief that s/he is rich then should use the word not having enough.

There are levels of riches just as poverty, if one gets sick and rushes to the clinic without rushing first to the neighborhood to borrow money either for transport or medical bills, then that person is neither too rich nor too poor but just has enough which our community discus as the best. Some people have turned luxuries to be necessities when people in our community may have not even met one basic necessity. The members of this community still live below the poverty line not because they want it or lazy but perhaps the world does not know that such people exist not because of their own making.

They are trying as mush as possible not to be spoon fed but to be productive that they can only cross over the poverty line if some one outside there supports them either in their income generating activities as you must have learnt in this blog or even sponsoring a child’s education. When the children’s parents are poor and not encouraged to go to school, they will be poor even for the tenth generations to come! And that is what economist say poverty cycle; this is what Kireka concern is concerned about.

Much as the government agencies may try, but might not rich all these needy people. But thank God for the upcoming of non governmental organizations, they have helped the government to reach many than before. I was amazed to read on the local news paper about the growth of Uganda’s economy at a rocket speed and this is very common with developing countries, they tend to measure only economic growth without considering economic development. And when they measure economic development, you can find in the hands of 1, 2, 3…5 people, with the majority yawing! There is massive production but is not backed by the market and at the end of the day a sack of maize is sold only to purchase a small basket of necessities leaving them with empty hands to take their children to school or get medical care and this does not make the balance sheet balance.

That is why lia kireka has engaged its community in income generating activities like making handcrafts that if they are supported in, their balance sheet will perhaps balance. We can therefore belief that the majority poor are the illiterate ones, a good number of people in developing countries like Uganda can not pick their names if even if they find it on the way. Based on enrollment data less than 1% of what the world spends every year on weapon was supposed to put every child in school but this did not happen. Infectious diseases like HIV/aids still is a cause of poverty, parents die at an early ages leaving behind helpless orphans, these need be cared for in terms of education, health etc. with no access to clean water, almost 2 – 3 people lacking access to clean water live on less than a dollar a day, including lia kireka community lacks access to clean water and sanitation, this kind of community of displaced persons is supposed to have proper sanitation and clean water. Apart from HIV/aids that can be controlled by other means, malaria may not be the same... 95% of the life in Africa kireka community living in Acholi quarters the outskirt of Kampala depends on cracking stone apart from the in hand crafts, from morning to evening in order to get what to eat but not to buy mosquito net!!

People used to die of natural deaths at the ages of 70 and above but today in Africa people die of natural deaths at the ages of 2 to 40 because of extreme poverty. They lack every thing including shelter, howver much you may eat, get satisfied and medical care, but you sleep in the drainage, you have wasted the food you have eaten. I refer you to my friends’ blog GHETO LIFE. Some people have theory that high birth rate is the one causing poverty in Africa and Uganda in particular, to some extend may not be true because China is considered to be one of the most populated country in the world but they are doing better than Uganda. Anyway, whereas the high birth rate in China is high, it matches its economic growth and development as Uganda is not.

Poverty can not be ended but reduced by access project this can be done by financing and implementation of projects supported by whatever fund and through community led development at the village level to help them achieve the community prosperity for all programs.