The current international poverty threshold is calculated at living off of $1.90 or below per day, which can be hard to understand for many of us. Unfortunately, too many people in the world know this first hand day after day. Poverty is a complicated concept that happens in a cycle, which makes it a very hard thing to end. Many different solutions have tried to combat poverty, some with no success, others making tremendous progress. From what I have learned, education at all costs is going to be the world’s key to ending the poverty cycle. First of all, knowledge is not a material object, meaning it can’t be built, bought, sold, or taken. Many have said that knowledge is power, and education is the pathway to it. Education isn’t just a house, food, or supplies, it gives someone the ability to understand and envision greater possibilities like jobs or important solutions. Also, the physical act of children, young females especially, being occupied in school blocks the paths that can lead them back into the poverty cycle. Therefore, to end the continuous circle of poverty throughout the globe, access to education needs to be a driving force.
Being part of a solution is a key part of proposing one. That is a major reason why I am so grateful to be part of these trips. I get to try to make my contribution to the world. Believing that education is key to ending poverty, I have to find ways to do my part of it. In Tanzania the group and I will be teaching classes as the major part of our volunteering, so, I will make sure that I am one of the most over prepared teachers on this trip. I will have lesson plans, games, and activities for each and every class. I know that I will have only so long at the school, which is why I want to do something in addition to just being a good teacher. I am going to find something to give the students to allow them to have lasting access to more education than they had before. I’m not sure what this will be yet, but I am making it a goal for myself to find it.
As I said before, there have been many initiatives with varying success to slow down poverty. One example of such initiatives in Tanzania is an organization there that works with farmers to help them transition from solely subsistence farmers to commercial farmers, making farming a developing and growing industry. They also work to allow both men and women to start their own businesses. This has been fairly successful, because it works to help people help themselves to create their own solutions. On the other hand, in the mid 1970s, the government of Tanzania tried several things to attempt to fight poverty. One of those was requiring every urban resident to work, or be sent back to the rural countryside. Policies like these had very minimal success in reducing poverty, but much can be learned from them.
Hopefully, one day, there will be a time when few to no people have to wonder when their next meal will be or have to sell the last of their possessions only to lose it the next week.When that day comes, I hope I am around to see it.
