Extreme Intentions

“Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.”

Joseph Wresinski

October 17th was the international day to acknowledge the eradication of poverty. I’m not sure we can ever end poverty, but we can end the extreme nature of it. The stuff that gets in the way of life, of living and relationships – the implications are indeed extreme - malaria, dysentery, subsistence agriculture, lack of access to clean water and so on. It’s the disabling impact of poverty that’s so dehumanizing.

Every year those in the field of international development recognize the day around the world. It goes unnoticed by the majority to be sure.

It’s officially recognized by the United Nations, but the first notice of the event occurred in Paris, in 1987 when Joseph Wresinski worked towards getting the world to admit and speak to the ravages of poverty or as a Cambodian friend of mine, Mr. Nhap Piseth says “the virus of poverty.” Piseth works with farmers, building capacity, in an area called Prey Veng and Lvea Em just outside of Phnom Penh, where many people make less than about 65 cents a day. Many of these families will never move beyond subsistence agriculture.

Poverty is everywhere without a doubt. And it’s not just about financial distinctions. One can be emotionally, spiritually, physically or relationally poor, but it does seem to be a universal truth that if you are dying because of poverty related causes you won't have much time, energy or capacity for anything else other than getting well and filling your stomach. Close to a billion people will go to bed malnourished tonight. That’s unacceptable.

It’s all connected on some level. One thing leads to another and in many cases that one thing is the one thing that disables one thing leading to another thing. Simple right? Systemic to be sure.

I just returned home from Phnom Penh. As I write this I find myself reflecting on the tragic circumstances so many people around the world find themselves in. I’m never really able to fully shake it off.

A local NGO worker told me one of the most disturbing stories I’ve heard to date. It helps to frame the devastating gap between the haves and the have not’s. (Apologies for the crass polarization between us and them, but sometime it helps to juxtapose the extreme differences.)

A man from Siem Reap dropped 3,000 riel and a cigarette lighter down a water well. All in that's about 75 cents US. More than a day’s wage in many parts of Cambodia. To put it in perspective a pack of smokes costs about 25 cents and a litre of gas about $1.50. Pricey on both accounts. ‎

His young son climbed down the well and within minutes was dead from asphyxiation. Another boy followed and he met the same fate. Another child and he too died. Then four adults tried in vain to rescue the others. In total 7 people died. 7. That's a lucky number if you're a gambler. These villagers were not. God, Karma, good fortune and the local spirits all had nothing to say as the cause and effect like implications of not having quite enough to live by, led to such tragic and unbelievable conclusions. Che Chhan, 30, a sister of the three siblings who died in the well, blamed her family’s poverty for the tragedy. The Phnom Penh Post quote her as saying, “My 11-year-old brother knew that my father had lost 3,000 riel in the well and he wanted to get it back, without thinking it would be dangerous. And now so many people have died like this.”

Elizabeth Babcock in Rethinking Poverty writes, “In recent years, scientists have discovered that the stresses of poverty often overwhelm the critical-thinking skills that people need to chart and follow a pathway out of their condition.” That’s everywhere.

The Phnom Penh Post also quoted a Credit Suisse report that said that while Global Wealth had increased by 263 trillion dollars in 2013, and yet disparity had swelled in "developing" economies. Not a big surprise really. So where was the massive surge? 34.7 percent of the growth occurred in North America. Europe accounted for 32.4 percent.

Apparently all that you can leave behind grows. Inequality is on the rise.

We can end the debilitating, devastating, dehumanizing edge to extreme poverty, but we need intention. Extreme intention.

And we need to listen, listen and then listen some more.