Overview
Poverty is a horrible thing, but it is truly a huge issue in the world we live in. It is said to be dealt with currently the same way as it was decades ago, which obviously isn’t completely working. There are parts of the world, specifically such as Haiti, which are so poor that they don’t even eat on a daily basis. Rice is the one product that people eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner in Haiti. There was a horrible earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010 and completely destroyed the land and the buildings there, which only set the natives back even more. Many people came to help, which made them feel very good about themselves and that someone cared about their financial situations, as well as their living situations.
Poverty Issues
Poverty can be misconstrued to be caused by laziness, but there is much more to poverty than that, such as a lack of production of foods and such. Sometimes, countries and the people who live there don’t have the resources to get out of the poverty they are living in. Sometimes, people may have disabilities that doesn’t allow them to get a job and provide for themselves or their family. A quote that I love from the video is that “people have the internal capacity to rise out of poverty, but they do so only when they have certain key things many of us take for granted, like legal protection from theft and violence, justice in the courts, the ability to get title to one’s land, freedom to start and register a business, and links to wider circles of exchange.” The issue is these key aspects are missing around many parts of the world, and the current system creates incentives for governments, not to build it. It’s another issue that people who work for other governments giving aid aren’t working for the country that they are so-called helping. Instead, they are from other countries, which severs the connection between the aid and the people in the suffering country.
Suffering Countries
Another large issue in Haiti is the amount of gangs present; one man on this film was speaking about how gang members will offer people $500 and a gun if they join, which is easy to accept when you have no money and lack resources for yourself and the people around you. There is also an issue with the textile industry in Haiti, because of the amount of secondhand clothing imports from the United States, China, and other countries. Eggs have also been an issue in Haiti because other countries sent eggs one year to Haiti and then stopped all of a sudden and decided to focus on helping another country in need. This put a man out of business that had spent money on chickens and because of these imports, sold his chickens. After they stopped sending eggs, he was left with nothing. These are just a few examples of how a country depends on other countries for their products, it can put those industries out of business that are located in the struggling location. Furthermore, issues like these only hurt countries like Haiti, because they can never get on their feet to produce products for their own people. A lot of the time, churches have food, clothing, shoes, etc. drives and send what they raise to struggling countries. Even though the churches and people donating are only trying to help, this actually is not good for the overall economy and stability of the struggling countries. Because of issues like this one, jobs are difficult to come by in Haiti. One couple from the U.S. moved to Haiti because they wanted to start an orphanage and adopt children from there too. They met with the mother of the little boy, and she said she would have kept her baby if she had a job. She visits him frequently to check on him and make sure everything is okay. There are so many situations like this that we don’t realize and think about a lot, but there are places in the world where this is the case. It is very sad to think about, but there are so many people who help in any way that they can. One man was speaking about how most parents who couldn’t take care of and buy their children supplies for school wouldn’t want another person to come and adopt them and take them to another country. They would rather simply get a job and raise their own child, but again that’s easier said than done, because jobs are difficult to find in Haiti. There are many people who move to Haiti and offer jobs to natives, which really helps them to get on their feet financially and create a great foundation for their children.
Foreign Aid Isn’t Always Beneficial
One man from Africa said, “he has never heard of a country that became a first world country on aid”. He also said that “aid leads to more aid and more aid and more aid…” Africans do not want to be under the hand of the government. They would love to be helped in situations like natural disasters, but as for a normal thing to be given money on a normal basis for living, they do not want it. Another man said that foreign aid helped him buy his first home and that it has treated him extremely well. Many people have different perspectives on foreign aid as we have been shown by this film. Some people love it, and others don’t want it to be a part of their life consistently.
My Opinion
Overall, this video has really opened my eyes and showed me so much about the issue of poverty. Donations don’t always help; sometimes, the industries in the struggling countries need to grow in order for people to flourish and build a foundation for themselves and their families too. Without these industries, there are no jobs. The number of children who cannot be raised by their own parents due to financial reasons is absolutely insane. Poverty has been very heavy on my heart since I watched this film, but it is amazing to see all of the people who strive to make differences in these peoples’ lives.
‘Image Source’
Miller, Michael Matheson. “Poverty in the Developing World: Acton On.” Demand, 2022. ondemand.acton.org/poverty-in-the-developing-world-2/. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
