Poverty--What do we do about it?

I recently read a book that rocked my view on how to respond to poverty, called “When Helping Hurts” (by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert). While some of the ideas I’ve heard before, there were some that were new, but make complete sense. So much from this book has changed my perspectives on how to help alleviate poverty, which I feel are very appropriate considering my major is community development!

            To start with, the author pointed out that every one of us are in a position of poverty, and that poverty is not just a monetary state.
 Instead, the author believes that there are four areas one can be poor in, and they all have to do with broken relationships: our relationship with God, with self, with others, and with the rest of creation. (57-58) What he means by this is that “due to the comprehensive nature of the fall, every human being is poor in the sense of not experiencing these four relationships in the way that God intended.” (62) It is important that we recognize our own aspects of poverty and realize that we are no different from the “poor” that the world views, before we help try to them. Once we recognize our own problems, we are able to recognize with them and see that we both need help. One of the biggest things that can hurt a ‘poor’ person is the “poverty of being” shame. “Low income people often feel they are inferior to others. This can paralyze the poor from taking initiative and from seizing opportunities to improve their situation, thereby locking them into material poverty.” (64) So what is the correct response to this problem? Look to them to solve their own problems! This, I think, is my greatest takeaway from the book. The author gave examples of when trying to help a poor community, they went door to door ‘assessing the situation’, if you will. During this assessment time, they asked the people what strengths they had, and what kind of things they could offer to the community. Not only did they discover the community had so much within it themselves, but upon asking people this, they became proud, and had a renewed sense of worth. This act in itself brought the opposite of the “poverty of being” shame. What a radical idea! It kind of makes me think of a 16 year old with a new car. When a kid is given a car by their parent, I’ve heard the statistics are higher for that child to get in an accident and total the car, compared to if the child bought his/her own car—because there is a greater sense of responsibility and pride in something that they were able to get on their own. The same goes for people in poverty. We should find what they are good at, and encourage them in that.

            There is also another idea from the book I would like to bring out—that of broken worldviews and broken systems. “In our capitalistic society, where identity is measured by economic and individual success, the absence of work brings shame and discouragement. Since our society also defines identity by individual success, the absence of meaningful employment corrodes a sense of self and, by extension, family and community. To feel unable to support a family and the wider community—which is what occurs with the structural absence of work in the inner city—can severely constrain the manner in which one thinks, feels, and acts with respect to the future.” (92) So it really is important to empower people. The book told of a story of a church who had good intentions in trying to help a poor community. Around Christmastime, they went door to door with gifts for the children. The church community continued to go around Christmastime for a few years, but soon got discouraged and frustrated because the situations were not improving, and they were frustrated that no fathers seemed to be in the picture or providing for their kids. What they didn’t realize is that when the fathers saw these white upper-classmen coming to bring things for their kids that they were unable to provide, they hid in shame. Instead of helping the situation, they were actually making it worse.

            One last point that I find to be crucial in helping to alleviate poverty is determining what is actually needed: relief, rehabilitation, or development. “One of the biggest mistakes that North American churches make—by far—is in applying relief in situations in which rehabilitation or development is the appropriate intervention.” (105) What does this mean exactly? Relief is meant in situations to “help the bleeding stop,” i.e., right after a natural disaster. This meant to be immediate and temporary. Once relief is given, rehabilitation can come into play. Rehabilitation is meant to help move the people back to their pre-crisis situation. It is important to work with the locals not for them. Lastly is development. I don’t mean to quote the whole book at you, but I just love what it says about development. “Development is a process of ongoing change that moves all the people involved… closer to being in right relationship with God, self, others, and the rest of creation. In particular, as the materially poor develop, they are better able to fulfill their calling of glorifying God by working and supporting themselves and their families with the fruits of that work. Development is not done to people or for people but with people. The key dynamic in development is promoting an empowering process in which all the people involved… become more of what God created them to be, moving beyond… to levels of reconciliation that they have not experienced before.” (104-5)

            What’s important to realize is that we, as middle-class American’s, aren’t the only ones who can do development (or any of these three). Just this weekend I spoke with a staff member at Compassion International (where I do my internship) who is a local who has created his own community development organization. This organization teaches children how to make things they can sell, such as candles (I know there were a lot more things he listed off, but right now that’s all I can remember). He teaches them how to make budgets and how to save. He even has created a micro-loan system within the group. His organization has been so successful, he even has a few branches of it in Kenya!

            All in all, I hope this blog post has inspired you to pick up a copy of When Helping Hurts. I haven’t been able to even describe to you the amount of goodness in this book. And even if you’re not going into community development, I feel like this book can still rock your world and help you understand even the more practical side of engaging poverty in your own community.