Poverty: We can do something

Now 20 years into South Africa’s democracy, the county is yet to achieve economic transformation. This is among the findings of the latest Development Indicators Report, released in parliament.

A township in Johannesburg. How much solidarity do Catholics have with the poor?

The report has identified South Africa as being one of the most economically unequal countries in the world—not to our surprise as most of us have known this fact for quite some time.

“While the poverty indicators show slight improvement over time, just more than half of South Africans still live below the poverty line of R577,” said minister in the Presidency Collins Chabane. He added that 13,3% live “in inordinate poverty”.

According to UNICEF, globally 22000 children die each day due to poverty. And they “die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death.”

When we are confronted with these startling global and national facts on poverty it has an almost depressing and paralysing effect on us. What do you do? How do we respond? Are we able to respond? Can we have any effect on this disheartening situation of poverty in the world?  What are we called to do?

When we reflect on what we are called to do, it is liberating and comforting to know that we are not called to save the world on our own. We are not called to do the impossible. We are not called to erase poverty by ourselves. But, we are called to do what we are able to do and what is possible to do. And that is non-negotiable.

What are we able to do? Many of us come in contact with poor people on a daily basis. The people who come to our door for food. The people begging at the traffic lights. The people living on the street corners and under bridges which we see through our vehicles and the trains as we travel up and down. The people living in the alleys and lobbies near to our places of work. There are many other poor people, but let’s just take a look at how we deal with the poor who have no food and shelter. Do we have a concern for them?

To have a concern for the poor is a non-negotiable part of our Christian calling. It is an essential part of living out the Gospel value of justice. It should be seen as being as important as going to church, living a personal moral life, and having a life of prayer. It is not an optional extra.

The reality is that many times we see the poor and talk about the poor as a group of faceless, helpless people to be pitied. Many of us do not know the poor. We do not have poor friends. We do not know the names and families of the poor.

Talking about poverty, a friend once brought me to the sobering realisation with these words: “All your daughters’ friends live in three bed-roomed houses.” That is true. More than being true, it is a realisation that we have no intimacy with the poor. How can we be in solidarity with people whom we do not know?

Each of us has our own unique call to be in solidarity with the poor and to impact the lives of the poor. We can start by impacting the life of one poor person. Get to know the person. What is her name? What is her surname? Where is she from? What is her skill? What are her dreams? This genuine interest in the life of this poor person will have a greater impact on her life than the sandwich we hand to her from behind our safety gates.

This is a question we should ask ourselves continually. Am I actually reaching out to the poor? At the end of our lives, as Jesus teaches us, we will be asked questions that have to do with how we treated the poor. Did you give food to the hungry? Did you house the homeless? Did you give the thirsty something to drink?

Let us make sure that we will be able to answer these questions in that we have done it for at least one poor person whom we knew very well.