Famine entails a widespread and extensive scarcity of food, attributed to a “triple failure” of food production, access to food and political response by governments and international donors.
According to the U.N.’s five-step scale of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, famine (Stage 5) requires that “more than two people per 10,000 die each day, acute malnutrition rates are above 30 percent, all livestock is dead and there is less than 2,100 kilocalories of food and 4 liters of water available per person per day.”
By the time the U.N. declares a Stage 5 situation, there has already been massive loss of life. From 2010 to 2012, Somalia was gripped by a crippling famine that killed nearly 260,000 people. Half of these deaths were children under the age of five.
Somalia was devastated by a two-year drought, which caused reduced harvests, food inflation and a steep drop in labor demand and household incomes. The country had already been suffering from high levels of malnutrition and child mortality, but the drought skyrocketed numbers even further. It also killed off valuable livestock, the only assets many families possessed.
Learn what causes poverty.
But what turned a natural drought into a man-made catastrophe was the inability of Somalia’s government and donors to tackle the issue of chronic poverty. There was already a serious lack of development and investment in basic infrastructure. During the famine, healthcare professionals reacted too slowly and the government itself was in shambles.
Somalia has been entangled in a civil war for the past two decades, and the subsequent violence and upheaval have greatly contributed to the famine.
During the 2010 to 2012 famine, the Islamist group al-Shabaab was at war with the government. Another factor was that the United States—Somalia’s main source of food aid—had discontinued their supply of aid in 2009 to avoid providing food to al-Shabaab.
Since the civil war began, and after an inadequate U.S.-led intervention attempt, the West largely withdrew from Somalia’s affairs. Having failed to stabilize the state and provide the needy with food, a worrisome pattern emerged. Humanitarian aid and food relief were only brought into Somalia with the permission of local war lords or clans, who used violence to control access to resources.
The U.S. withdrawal of aid in 2009 also pressured international aid organizations to do the same, because they feared U.S. backlash should they continue to provide food or supplies.
The U.N. first declared famine in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions—both controlled by al-Shabaab. The militant group denied that there were any food shortages whatsoever, forbade famine victims from fleeing the country and banned international aid agencies from operating within its territories.
The Obama administration responded by providing waivers to aid organizations to protect against prosecution. This shifted all blame of food aid blockages to al-Shabaab, which subsequently led to a sharp drop in public support for the group. Bereft of support and power, Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital city of Mogadishu, which they had occupied since 2008.
The U.N. declared the Somali famine over in February 2012. However, the strain on al-Shabaab and similar organizations continues to grow as people demand more access to food aid. Ethiopia and Kenya have considered training Somali militia to fight al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, but this could prove to be a dangerous move in such a conflict-ridden country.
In the 21st century, the public has the ability to completely eradicate famine, and has done so on every continent except Africa. In order to fight famine successfully, a variety of steps must be taken. More funding must be invested in African food production to prevent droughts from completely annihilating crops. There must be more support for farmers and pastoralists to raise hardier crops with cheaper inputs and learn about risk management in the case of a disaster. More aid must also go to infrastructure investment and fortification of unstable markets.
Currently, emergency aid is vital to helping Somalians gain a foothold after this devastating famine. However, effort must also be made to examine the root causes, in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future. The world was slow to act on warning signs this time, but with greater long-term investment, Somalia has the potential to deal with droughts and natural disasters effectively and without external aid.
– Mari LeGagnoux
Sources: Oxfam, SBS, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Photo: Flickr
Education in Eritrea
Eritrea came into independence in 1993 after a long period of war and military conflict. After gaining its independence, Eritrea continued to struggle with neighboring countries Yemen and Ethiopia, and the consequences were devastating to its people. Today, the country continues to work on rebuilding its infrastructure and developing its economy. Despite the many structures the country has implemented, education still remains a top concern. Below is an exploration of education in Eritrea.
Top 6 Facts about Education in Eritrea
1. Enrollment remains one of Eritrea’s biggest issues. In 2012, data put forth by the World Bank determined that only 42 percent of elementary school-aged children were enrolled in school.
2. Eritrea’s location in the Horn of Africa is a major contributor to the country’s low enrollment rates. Eritrea is extremely susceptible to droughts, as well as floods caused by heavy and sudden rainfall, which makes attending school—and maintaining school grounds—increasingly difficult.
3. Vast disparities in development in Eritrea’s zobas, or regions, is also a significant factor that plays into the low school enrollment rates. Remote regions such as Gash Barka and the Southern Red Sea simply lack schools altogether, so children then lack any access to education opportunities in those regions.
4. Remote regions in Eritrea are also inhabited by nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralists, for whom attending formal schools that are located at far distances is not impossible, but is in fact undesirable. Families in nomadic communities simply cannot—or don’t—send their children to school.
5. The country is working hard to address the issue of education for nomadic communities. With support from donors and the Netherlands government, 65 nomadic schools have been set up in Eritrea, a vast increase from the seven pilot nomadic schools that existed in 2007.
6. Gender disparity in education remains a top concern within the country’s education system. Though the government claims to be committed to achieving education equality, more than half of school-aged girls are not receiving an education.
Eritrea, ranked 177th out of 187 countries on the Human Development Index, struggles with severe poverty and countless other obstacles that make improving education conditions for children extremely difficult. The country’s unique climate and nomadic communities, coupled with its new independence and lofty regrowth plans, require tailored education initiatives and ample help from foreign aid programs. These programs will help the country improve its education opportunities, and therefore its economy and quality of life as well.
– Elizabeth Nutt
Sources: BBC, UNICEF
Photo: Asmera
The Pentavalent Vaccine
Pentavalent is a vaccine that is being used to protect against five diseases: tetanus, hepatitis B, Pertussis, haemophilus influenza type b and diptheria. The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) introduced the vaccine in 2001 in Kenya, and in July of 2014 South Sudan became the 73rd country to be introduced to the vaccine through the GAVI Alliance.
In order for the vaccine to be effective, it needs to be administered over a three-dose schedule. Increasing the availability of the pentavalent vaccine is an attempt to reduce the mortality rate of children under the age of five by two-thirds for the coming year (2015), which is goal number four on the Millennium Development Goals list.
GAVI has also partnered with organizations such as World Bank, WHO and UNICEF, as well as other donor countries, in order to increase the availability of the pentavalent vaccine in poor countries where child mortality is an extremely pressing concern.
Most recently, the Minister of Health in India, Harsh Vardhan, stated that the pentavalent vaccine would be introduced in eight of India’s states: Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Puducherry, Kerala, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana. The plan is for the vaccine to be distributed among twelve additional states in the near future.
The success rate of disease prevention once the pentavalent vaccine has been administered is extremely high; the next part of the plan regarding the vaccine is to make sure that coverage is provided in remote areas and in regions facing deep levels of poverty. GAVI plans to begin an initiative, to be implemented from 2016 to 2020, to increase the amount of coverage for the pentavalent vaccine worldwide.
The CEO of the GAVI Alliance, Dr. Seth Berkley, stated on the GAVI website that his “next challenge is to support some of the world’s largest countries to expand and strengthen their programmes to ensure they are reaching every child.”
– Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: GAVI Alliance, UNICEF, Business Standard
Photo: GAVI Alliance
History and Causes of the Somali Famine
Famine entails a widespread and extensive scarcity of food, attributed to a “triple failure” of food production, access to food and political response by governments and international donors.
According to the U.N.’s five-step scale of Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, famine (Stage 5) requires that “more than two people per 10,000 die each day, acute malnutrition rates are above 30 percent, all livestock is dead and there is less than 2,100 kilocalories of food and 4 liters of water available per person per day.”
By the time the U.N. declares a Stage 5 situation, there has already been massive loss of life. From 2010 to 2012, Somalia was gripped by a crippling famine that killed nearly 260,000 people. Half of these deaths were children under the age of five.
Somalia was devastated by a two-year drought, which caused reduced harvests, food inflation and a steep drop in labor demand and household incomes. The country had already been suffering from high levels of malnutrition and child mortality, but the drought skyrocketed numbers even further. It also killed off valuable livestock, the only assets many families possessed.
But what turned a natural drought into a man-made catastrophe was the inability of Somalia’s government and donors to tackle the issue of chronic poverty. There was already a serious lack of development and investment in basic infrastructure. During the famine, healthcare professionals reacted too slowly and the government itself was in shambles.
Somalia has been entangled in a civil war for the past two decades, and the subsequent violence and upheaval have greatly contributed to the famine.
During the 2010 to 2012 famine, the Islamist group al-Shabaab was at war with the government. Another factor was that the United States—Somalia’s main source of food aid—had discontinued their supply of aid in 2009 to avoid providing food to al-Shabaab.
Since the civil war began, and after an inadequate U.S.-led intervention attempt, the West largely withdrew from Somalia’s affairs. Having failed to stabilize the state and provide the needy with food, a worrisome pattern emerged. Humanitarian aid and food relief were only brought into Somalia with the permission of local war lords or clans, who used violence to control access to resources.
The U.S. withdrawal of aid in 2009 also pressured international aid organizations to do the same, because they feared U.S. backlash should they continue to provide food or supplies.
The U.N. first declared famine in Somalia’s Southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions—both controlled by al-Shabaab. The militant group denied that there were any food shortages whatsoever, forbade famine victims from fleeing the country and banned international aid agencies from operating within its territories.
The Obama administration responded by providing waivers to aid organizations to protect against prosecution. This shifted all blame of food aid blockages to al-Shabaab, which subsequently led to a sharp drop in public support for the group. Bereft of support and power, Al-Shabaab withdrew from the capital city of Mogadishu, which they had occupied since 2008.
The U.N. declared the Somali famine over in February 2012. However, the strain on al-Shabaab and similar organizations continues to grow as people demand more access to food aid. Ethiopia and Kenya have considered training Somali militia to fight al-Shabaab and other terrorist organizations, but this could prove to be a dangerous move in such a conflict-ridden country.
In the 21st century, the public has the ability to completely eradicate famine, and has done so on every continent except Africa. In order to fight famine successfully, a variety of steps must be taken. More funding must be invested in African food production to prevent droughts from completely annihilating crops. There must be more support for farmers and pastoralists to raise hardier crops with cheaper inputs and learn about risk management in the case of a disaster. More aid must also go to infrastructure investment and fortification of unstable markets.
Currently, emergency aid is vital to helping Somalians gain a foothold after this devastating famine. However, effort must also be made to examine the root causes, in order to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future. The world was slow to act on warning signs this time, but with greater long-term investment, Somalia has the potential to deal with droughts and natural disasters effectively and without external aid.
– Mari LeGagnoux
Sources: Oxfam, SBS, Foreign Affairs, BBC
Photo: Flickr
Three Simple Ways We Can Help End Starvation
Nearly 25,000 people die every day from starvation. While in richer countries nutrition isn’t always a paramount problem, there are still 947 million people living in developing nations who are undernourished; we have the ability to help lower this number. Below are a list of ways you can help easily end starvation.
1. Raise Money
During the 2011 East African famine, relief organizations such as Save The Children and UNICEF launched campaigns to raise money for feeding starving children. By using clear and simple incentives (“just $10 can feed a child for seven days!”), smart organizations allowed even those halfway across the world to help those in need. Donating money is simple, easy and can usually be done online with just a click of a button.
2. Urge your Congressional Leaders to Support Crucial Legislation
Calling or emailing your congressional leaders is a simple and a sure way to increase their chances of supporting a bill which could save millions of lives. One such bill still waiting to be passed in the House of Representatives is the Global Food Security Act of 2013, which would improve nutrition and strengthen agriculture development in developing countries. Other similar legislation that could use your support includes the Food Aid Reform Act and Water for the World Act.
3. Limit Your Daily Intake
Over the past three decades, the average intake of dietary fats has dramatically increased in almost every country except Africa. With a recommended range from between 15 to 35 percent, we are seeing a stark contrast in dietary intake. In fact, many countries in North America and Western Europe exceeded this recommended daily intake, while countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia fell dramatically below.
Despite our growing intake, we are quickly running out of natural resources. In an overpopulated world, it is up to each of us to individually be cognizant of our daily intake. By limiting our intake in richer countries, we are ensuring that our world is capable of growing enough food in the first place for all of our global citizens.
By helping others who suffer from malnutrition, we are also helping ourselves in return. The most common causes of death around the world—including heart disease, obesity, cancer and chronic illness—can be a result of unhealthy eating habits.
By remaining aware that we have a much larger role in helping to end global hunger and poverty than we may believe, we can help put an end to millions of those going to sleep hungry at night.
– Nick Magnanti
Sources: CNN, Borgen Project, McCollum House, Food for the Poor, Green Facts, Green Facts 2
Photo: Action ContrelAfaim
Trade Facilitation Agreement and India’s Poor
Due to lack of progress on food security to help India’s poor, India has refused to accept the World Trade Organization’s, or WTO, trade facilitation agreement. This deal was achieved in Bali in December 2013 and India’s refusal prevents the adoption of the Bali agreement.
India’s refusal has been criticized by trade officials around the world. Diplomats have noted that it may hamper the WTO’s Doha Round of trade negotiations.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party won a decisive victory in the spring election where they promised to develop the economy and tell the world that India is welcoming to business.
However, the new government is sticking by its previous position that the WTO is limiting their agricultural support programs.
Food security is important concern for India’s poor because 450 million people in India survive on less than $1.25 per day. The government has been arguing that the value of subsidies for food stockpiles has to be changed to more than 10 percent of a country’s total food production.
Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the issue of food security is critical for the country’s small farmers. India’s position on the trade facilitation agreement is probably due to political pressure from India’s poor.
India’s government argues that wheat and rice are more expensive than market prices. Their agricultural programs protect farmers’ livelihoods and provide reasonably priced nutrition to India’s poor and vulnerable. However, WTO rules only allow governments to stockpile food if they acquire those stocks at market prices.
The Bali agreement will only take effect if it is approved by all 160 member governments. Unless the World Trade Organization relaxes restrictions on a countries’ ability to subsidize farmers, the agreement will not come into effect.
“India has a decision to make about where it fits in the global trading system,” John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State, said. “India’s willingness to support a rules-based trading order and fulfill its obligations will help to welcome greater investment from the United States and from elsewhere around the world.”
– Colleen Moore
Sources: Gulf Today, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal
Photo: Washington Post
Rural Poverty and Urban Poverty
Poverty is not made up of a cut-and-dry set of circumstances. Rural poverty and urban poverty differ on many levels, with distinctive, environment-based issues that characterize quality of life.
There are similarities, of course, that span both rural and urban poverty. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) states that poverty usually entails deprivation, vulnerability and powerlessness. However, these issues are sometimes inflicted on certain individuals or groups more than others. For example, women and children are more likely to experience poverty more intensely than men and minorities tend to suffer more greatly than other groups.
The IMF reports that 63 percent of the world’s impoverished live in rural areas. Education, health care and sanitation are all lacking in rural environments. This causes many of the rural poor to move to cities, which often leads to a rise in urban poverty.
Compare and Contrast: Rural Poverty and Urban Poverty
The rural poor are divided into further subsets based on profession: typically, cultivators who own land and noncultivators who do not. Cultivators are slightly better off, as they are able to make some money operating farms and charging tenants for using their land. Noncultivators, however, are extremely poor, working as seasonal laborers on farms. Their pay is both low and erratic, as it is based on the schedules of farm owners and the other few employers available. The rural poor often suffer more than the urban poor because public services and charities are not available to them.
Several factors tend to perpetuate rural poverty. For example, political instability and corruption, customs of discrimination, unregulated landlord/tenant arrangements and outdated economic policies often make it impossible for the rural poor to rise above poverty lines.
While generally considered less severe, urban poverty provides the poor with a host of separate issues. The World Bank found that urban populations in developing countries are growing rapidly, at a rate of 70 million new city-dwellers per year. Former residents of rural areas are typically drawn to the city for the perceived wealth of economic opportunities, but often, those dreams fall short.
Compared to rural villages, there are indeed more job opportunities in urban areas. However, many migrants lack the skillset to take on many jobs, and positions for unskilled laborers fill up quickly. This shortage of jobs leaves new residents without a steady income, which creates a series of new problems in the city.
Without an income, the urban poor often find themselves in inadequate housing with poor safety and sanitation. Additionally, health and education packages are limited. Crime and violence are also much more rampant in urban settings than in rural ones, threatening the authority of law enforcement and the peace of mind of city dwellers.
Health is quite variable throughout rural and urban settings. While the rural poor lack access to urban health care programs, they sometimes benefit from the distance between the country and the city. In the close quarters that characterize city living, it is easy for disease to spread.
Additionally, communal resources in cities can actually lead to health problems. According to The Guardian, families usually have their own personal latrine, so if a health problem starts among the family, the latrine can be closed off and the health risk minimized. However, in cities where many people on a daily basis use public restrooms, disease can spread rapidly and tracking down the source can be nearly impossible.
Though rural poverty is currently higher than urban poverty, research shows that soon, urban areas will become home to the majority of impoverished people. The perception of greater opportunity leads the rural poor away from the countryside and into the cities, where they often end up in even further poverty. An overhaul of urban development programs is necessary to combat the issues with sanitation, safety and hunger that propagate urban poverty.
– Bridget Tobin
Sources: World Bank, The Guardian, International Monetary Fund
Photo: Brommel
Helping after the Earthquake in China
As of Aug. 6, the death toll of the earthquake that hit Yunnan, China has reached 589. The earthquake reached a magnitude of 6.1 in Ludin county, which is an area 225 miles north of Kunming, the capital, and even caused some damage in the surrounding areas of Guizhou and Sichuan.
The earthquake in China, however, was not the first in the region. In 1970, an earthquake reaching a magnitude of 7.7 killed approximately 15,000 people. In 2008, an earthquake took the lives of 90,000 in the Sichuan area, and an earthquake in 2012 left 81 people dead.
In response to this devastating natural disaster, rescue teams are working to recover as much of the area and as many lives as they possibly can.
The rescue teams have been working to dig bodies and survivors out from among the rubble and debris, but their progress is often halted by torrential rainstorms, landslides and the recurring tremors that constantly plague the region. Liu Jianhua, a senior local official, told the Guardian that “the blocked roads and the continuous downpours have made some disaster areas inaccessible for heavy relief vehicles.”
The state news agency Xinhua reported that although the government sent 2,000 tents, 3,000 quilts, 3,000 coats and 3,000 folding beds, the weather in the region is making it extremely difficult to provide the afflicted families with any relief. Thus far, 300 policemen and firefighters and 2,500 troops have been sent to help those hurt, homeless, and/or still trapped under the debris from the earthquake.
The rescue crews are also urgently trying to evacuate survivors whose residences are in what is being called the “quake lake,” which is an area where the water level is rising approximately one meter per hour. Twenty homes have already been destroyed by this rising water.
Although the rescue teams are doing their best, it doesn’t seem to be enough. A resident of the impacted area told The Guardian that “all the houses in the town have been damaged by the earthquake and at least two-thirds of them so badly that they could not be used anymore. Every few minutes there are people being carried away from the rubble.”
– Jordyn Horowitz
Sources: The Guardian, The Huffington Post
Photo: Mashable
Migrant Workers in Shanghai
Standing on a bustling street in Shanghai, it is hard to ignore the feeling of constant movement and intensity. The mantra seems to be: keep moving and keep progressing. And at both the individual and state level there is an insatiable desire to be the best.
But at what price? The pace of development in China is incredibly impressive and yet, despite the new and efficient subways, trains, and buildings, a contrast of wealth still exists.
As a whole, China has been on the forefront of poverty reduction in the last couple of decades, raising nearly 300 million people out of poverty. However, it is not hard to find the instances of impoverishment that still exist even in some of the most developed cities, like Shanghai.
The population of Shanghai in 2013 was 23.9 million, making it the largest and most populous city proper in the entire world. Furthermore, it has experienced double digit growth nearly every year since 1992, falling below double digits only temporarily during the 2008-2009 recession.
According to the 2010 census, more than 39 percent of Shanghai’s residents are migrant workers who have flocked to the city from the nearby provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Sichuan, and Henan seeking better economic opportunities. These migrant workers in Shanghai, who have made up the largest percentage of the city’s growth in the past few years, often live in the poorest conditions.
As development has increased in China, upwards of 250 million people have left the countryside for the east coast in the hopes of finding more lucrative work. Migrant laborers often work in labor, construction, factories as well as the service sector. Their wages tend to be lower than those of Shanghai residents and their living conditions incredibly poor. Just down the street from the newest high apartments and office buildings, it is not unusual to see old neighborhoods crowded with huts full of migrant laborers.
It’s important to note that poverty for migrant laborers is relative. In China, poverty and inequality differ dramatically in different parts of the country. Many laborers, who migrate to Shanghai for work, come from even poorer rural villages. While their wages are low, the income is often still better than what could be made back home.
Despite this, without a Shanghai hukou, a registration card that is used to classify where individuals are from, migrants are unable to live in subsidized housing, access basic health care and unemployment benefits, or enroll their children in local schools.
Marginalized and discriminated against, the poorest of Shanghai struggle to find social acceptance as well as economic security in their new lives. Yet, these migrant workers are the drivers of China’s tremendous economic growth. If this growth continues, the people of Shanghai will have to find a way to better accommodate their ever-evolving workforce. One of the biggest obstacles Shanghai faces is housing. Real estate prices are extremely high, leaving many people with low wages unable to purchase or rent homes.
Addressing this issue, as well as reforming the hukou system to allow for migrant workers to access health, education and other public services, will help further reduce the poverty and inequality that persists in Shanghai and China as a whole. It is easy to let the gleaming towers and trendy streets distract from the reality that most of Shanghai’s current population is still very much struggling to move beyond impoverishment.
– Andrea Blinkhorn
Sources: Poverties, China Perspectives, World Population Review, Nyuzai Shanghai, WSWS
Photo: The Globe and Mail
Poverty in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, Argentina is a difficult place to be poor.
The government announced earlier in 2014 that poverty levels at the national level continue to decline. Between 2011 and 2012, the nation’s poverty levels dropped from 5.7 percent to 4.3 percent. However, the impoverished of Buenos Aires continue to experience hardships.
Despite a slight reduction in poverty in the first decade of the century, Buenos Aires’ residents considered to be either poor or extremely poor continue to heavily populate the city.
Rising food prices in recent years have contributed to the problem. Crime is also a common problem in and around Buenos Aires. According to a 2011 report, crime is considered to be “one of the biggest burdens facing residents.” Robberies, especially muggings at bus stops, as well as street violence and other shootings are not unordinary in part due to a lack of police presence in areas of the city and the metropolitan region’s poorer areas.
Not helping the level of poverty in Buenos Aires is the city’s inadequate housing. Much of the city’s substandard housing was built with second-hand materials. Some of the buildings were never even finished.
While the city’s water and sanitation levels are adequate, Buenos Aires’ general infrastructure is subpar. The metropolitan areas lack the necessary architectural support to withstand hazards and extreme weather events.
In addition to such shortcomings, notable discrepancies exist among the city’s wealthy and poor. Even though certain areas of Buenos Aires remain inadequate, the more wealthy parts of the city possess newer, stable infrastructure.
Like other regions in South America, Buenos Aires features an abundance of low-income housing on unstable land. This includes land with contamination, low-lying and flood-prone areas and land on or near landfills.
One of the government’s most notable criticisms is its indecision in implementing a national poverty line. Even though many developed and some developing nations maintain such a threshold, Argentina does not.
In recent years, the Argentinean government stated that six pesos, or roughly $1.30, are enough for a citizen to sustain an entire day’s worth of food. The statement drew outrage both domestically and internationally. Given the expenses of living in a city, the average Buenos Aires resident would face financial hardships subsisting on such an amount.
Recently, children inhabiting one of Buenos Aires’ most dangerous slums have utilized cricket and the competitive spirit of sport as a means to separate themselves from a life of poverty. The Caacupe cricket team has seen some of its players enter training sessions at private schools and even play internationally.
“You can really use it in life as well,” fourteen-year-old Alexis Gaona said in an Associated Press article from March. “From here you have a reference for the rest of your life.”
It is a silver lining in a city where being poor poses many challenges.
– Ethan Safran
Sources: Buenos Aires Herald, Yahoo News, International Institute for Environment and Development, Worldbulletin
Photo: Flickr
Five Books About Poverty
Poverty is not heroic. It is cruel, unfair and undignified. Poverty is so often about numbers: 1.3 billion live in extreme poverty, and three billion live on less than $2.50 a day. Nearly 800 million suffer from hunger. It is so easy to get lost in the numbers and forget that all seven billion people in this world are human – complex, beautiful and wonderful. Literature tries to catalog and understand some of that complexity. Here are five books about poverty and the people who are victims of it.
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
Claire is born on the day her mother dies; “her birthday was also a day of death.” For years, her father implores wealthy Madame Gaelle, a fabric shop owner, to adopt his daughter. He needs to search for work and can’t provide for Claire. When Madame Gaelle finally agrees, Claire runs away.
She connects the residents of Ville Rose, Haiti. They – her father, ‘milk-mother,’ relatives and friends – search for her. As their loves and tragedies are unwound, the struggles of Haiti and its people are clearly, sympathetically revealed.
The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born by Ayi Kwei Armah
It is 1965, and the fledgling Ghanian government is a snakes nest of wealthy and ambitious elites. Corruption has swept the country. Our protagonist, an unnamed and humble railway station worker, is very much an ‘everyman.’ An honest man, he refuses bribes, choosing his integrity over money he desperately needs.
It is honesty that resigns him to poverty. He witnesses the rise of “the black masters,” as power hungry and ruthless as the colonists. He sees “the teacher” losing hope for a better Ghana. He must navigate life in post-colonial Ghana and its inherent chaos.
Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
Nectar in a Sieve is the story of an Indian woman’s life from her marriage at 12 until her death. Though she is well educated, her poverty-stricken father marries her to a ‘good-hearted’ man much her senior.
She has six children, five of which are sons. While it is seen as an accomplishment she is commended for, she is not able to feed her children. Survival becomes the only goal for Rukmani. Her daughter marries early. Her sons look for any work they can find. Still, their fates are decided by unreliable weather, unpredictable harvests and the changing industry of the 20th century.
Brick Lane by Monica Ali
At age 18, Nanzeen is a garment worker – she lives and works in Bangladesh, sewing buttons and zippers. Sent to London, she is married to immigrant and complete stranger Chanu.
She does not speak English, and her husband sees no reason to teach her. Her children, he reasons, will teach her eventually. Though he is not unkind, her inability to speak English severely limits her independence. Uncomfortable outside the confines of her home, she never leaves it.
The centerpiece of the story is her passionate affair with a young man, Karim. The relationships between Nanzeen, her lover and her husband are tantamount. What happens when a woman is empowered to think beyond her traditional position? How does it affect the culture from which she comes? How will her daughters live, when their mother wants freedom and education for them?
City of God by Paulo Lins
During the 1960s, the Brazilian government moved many of its favelas outside city centers. One such slum was named City of God. In his semi-autobiographical novel of the same name, Paulo Lins describes life there.
The progression of violence from hold ups to drugs dealing, drug dealing to cartels and cartels to armed gangs is manifest in the lives of petty criminals and gangsters. They are trapped in a cycle of poverty and violence, living in what The Guardian calls “a picture postcard of hell.”
– Olivia Kostreva
Sources: Africa Book Club, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, Society of Women Engineers, New York Times
Photo: The Guardian