In light of this pessimistic
outlook, it seems natural to adopt a defeatist stoic position, to accept the status quo and acknowledge the futility
of trying to effect change. Anything else seems just a rose-tinted view of
reality or wishful thinking.
But this in itself illustrates
part of the problem of poverty. It enslaves its victims mentally as well as
physically. This can take several forms. Poverty can breed a mindset of
hopelessness and negativity, which begets only despair. Often, the communities
we encounter here have the wherewithal to change their circumstances, but they
lack the belief, the courage and the initiative to do so. Alternatively, the
communities here demonstrate a subconscious acceptance or acquiescence to
poverty; things have been like this for so long, that is how it will always be.
Breaking these mindsets and
empowering communities to take responsibility for their problems constitutes a
significant proportion of our work here. We don’t want to provide unsustainable
solutions or foster false hope, but we do want to bring people to a simple
realisation:
To acknowledge what is real,
without accepting that what is real is
also final.
Our present does not need to
dictate our future. We can take a stand and refuse to be victims of
circumstance. We do not ignore or discount our problems, but we instead focus
on solutions.
This may appear straight out of a
business seminar or even a church sermon (though, as for the latter, I feel
more than justified since it is Easter Weekend). The validity of the principle,
whether you endow it with secular or religious overtones, remains unaltered.
Moreover, its scope is universally applicable, relevant as much to England and
the rest of the Western World as it is to Malawi.
God bless, and Happy Easter :)
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