How would you define poverty? It's a simple question for a not-so-simple issue.
Is it not beaing able to eat more than one meal a day?
Is it not having any soap to wash yourself or your clothes?
Is it having to skip school to work in the fields?
Is it having to get sick with malaria all the time because you don't have a mosquito net or don't have money to buy insect repellent?
Is it wanting to learn how to read but not having anyone to teach you or not having books?
Is it having to drink dirty water because there is no alternative?
Is it the inability to pursue your goals?
Wikipedia says: Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money.
I asked my brother Abou this question and I was rather surprised when he didn't answer right away with the obvious but rather bland and extremely oversimplified wikipedia definition that I imagined most jeunes might answer with. Instead he took a long time to reflect about it and told me, Cest quand il y des choses que tu veux, ou desquelles tu as besoin, mais que tu ne peux pas gagner et que tu n'as pas les moyenes à gagner. Poverty is when there are things you want or need, but that you can't get and you don't have the means to get.
What do you say?
I invite you (anyone reading this) to share your definition of poverty by adding a comment.
