The meaning of poverty is one that I’ve been struggling to
figure out during the course of my Peace Corps experience. It is true that in
Bluefields most people have no clean running water, insufficient medical care,
and the inability to buy the overly expensive fruits and vegetables sold here.
However it is also true that here people are more connected. Families stay tend
to stay close and support one another. At any minute of the day, there are
always more than one person in the house and often there are visitors, most of
whom come over unannounced. As a Nicaraguan, it is almost impossible to feel
alone here.(This is not to say that I wish to romanticize the way
things are here, but rather point out a positive aspect of the culture that I
have lately appreciated.)
In contrast, in the United States, we place a premium on
individualism. People are seen as successful when they are able to be
self-sufficient. This was something that I worked on hard in college and I
still work on now. However, it seems as though we can sometimes take it too far.
Too often when we need help we are afraid to reach out and ask for it from
those we love. This makes us also more reluctant to give help when it is needed
from us. While a complete reliance on others may not be healthy, so is the act
of trying to remove it. It is this reliance that helps keep people connected.
To be fair, I’m not trying to say that any culture is better
than the other or state that poverty in terms of material items is any less
critical, but rather that maybe we’ve been defining poverty too narrowly. In
living here, it is impossible to doubt that there is material poverty. However,
it is also impossible to miss how richly connected people are. Mother Theresa
used to speak of a spiritual poverty, which makes me think that poverty could
also be expanded to include a social and emotional component. Being social
creatures, humans need to feel loved and accepted just as much as they need
food and clean water. Looking at poverty in this way would not only give a more
complex and holistic approach to addressing global issues, but it can also
change the way we view development work in general.
