Conversation Blog: Poverty (February 2012)

[IPJC Office]

Join the Conversation on Local and Global Poverty

• Post an update and photo from your Justice Cafe
• Share an insight, question or action idea
• Interact with young adults from across the U.S. and Africa

[Junie Galindo]

Today was very enlightening conversation about poverty. The subjects may have been "off-the-wall" different at times but they all related to the social problems within our community. At times I felt the conversation would not come back to poverty but it did! The discussion lead me to truly see how each and every human being is some type of resource (like emotional, from a mother; or income, from government) which makes causes our actions. One action realized in the conversation was fear.

Fear has scared, doubted, and changed many people. Fear is human nature but it is when fear is propelled to a greater platform that it alters a whole society. We discussed fears that people have about losing their home, their title, or even their money. It is sad to see that sometime people STAY in certain situations beacuse of fear and that other KEEP people in certain situations because of fear.

Thank you for your time and attention. Have a wonderul day! 

[IPJC Office]

Thanks for posting.  It sounds like a very interesting conversation.  Isn't it interesting how poverty is interwoven into so many other topics!  And it's also interesting what a role fear plays.  I look forward to hearing how the cafes have gone in the other cities!

[IPJC Office]

Read the update from our newest Justice Cafe at Davidson College in North Carolina!

"Most of us had not had first-hand experience with poverty, but we were all interested in what our roles could be in serving the poor. We decided that it is not necessary, or helpful, to relinquish all our possessions to be in solidarity with the poor. Instead, we must focus on closing the wealth gap. This involves giving up certain wasteful practices, such as always taking private transportation, and making choices that benefit the poor."

Read the whole post here

[Nick Albino]

I do apologize for this late post.

Our group met and we talked about multitude of aspects pertaining to poverty. I really enjoyed that we had a diverse group of people who were able to give us insight from other perspectives or point of views that some of us never considered before. Normal topics like causation, societal views, solutions, and our strategies to minimize were discussed but I was most impressed when our conversation turned towards the vantage point of a person in poverty. When we discussed dignity and how a person in poverty may be afflicted with doubts of self-worth, depression, and despair due to their current condition.

 

We had group members that have lived abroad or the opportunity to travel abroad and we discussed poverty on a global scale not just in our back yards. This group is from the great state of New Jersey and we also discussed how here in New Jersey we have drastic imbalances or differences in both wealth distribution and ability to earn wealth. In a state where often many people have so much and yet there is a large population with so little.

 

 All of our members added valuable input with their personal experiences dealing with poverty and when we all became aware of the condition of poverty. Some members talked about their first experience with poverty at the dinner table in regards to wasting food, at their place of worship giving donations which fund many projects, and community food drives.

 

I prefer to use the word condition when speaking about poverty because it always reminds me of its impermanence and that in a sense can only occur because we on a macro level allow it to occur. Another important topic that a group member brought up was "the cycle of poverty" and we discussed about how difficult it is to make changes when life throws so many obstacles in our way. Overall it was a great discussion group this month and I can’t wait to attend next month’s Justice Cafe.