Poverty in the 21st Century

1. POVERTY IN
THE 21st CENTURY

2. Current Situation

3. ● Middle East:
o Violence through indoctrination
 Indoctrination: Teaching or inculcating a doctrine, principle,or
ideology, especially one with a specific point of view
● Many around the world:
o Poverty
o Wars and various forms of abuse in the household
 Live as refugees
 No access to education or drop out of school
 Emotional and parental neglect (especially infants and very young
children)
 Child labour (about 5-14 yrs old)
 Child prostitution, Internet child pornography, child slavery and
trafficking and military use of children
 etc...
Difficulties faced by children

4. Joseph Wresinski

5. About him...
● 1917-1988
● Immigrant parents
● Born in poor neighbourhood of Angers, France
● 1946: Ordained as priest

6. ● Inspiration for set-up:
o Grew up in a family that suffered from chronic poverty and social
exclusion
 Wanted to change living conditions of people around the world for
the better
o 1956: Assigned to 250 families living in huts in an emergency housing
camp in Noisy-le-Grand
ATD Fourth World (1957)

7. ● Challenges:
o Not much
o Venture was well-liked by many people around the world, lots of help
came in many different ways
 Eg. Finance
● Membership fees from members
● Grants obtained for projects and programs, fighting against
poverty, coming from local, regional, national government
and international bodies (European Community, Council of
Europe and some NGO agencies)
ATD Fourth World (1957)

8. ● Goals:
o To unite all sections of society around people living in chronic poverty
o Change the way society sees people living in poverty and social
exclusion
o To get rid of poverty instead of just managing it
o Remain open to people of all cultures, faiths and races
ATD Fourth World (1957)

9. Chris Underhill

10. About him...
● Usually works with people socially excluded from
society
● Awarded an Order of the British Empire (MBE)

11. ● Inspiration for set-up:
o Shocked to find out that 450 million people across the world suffer
from mental disorders at any one time
 13% of all diseases are attributable to mental health (more than
heart disease or cancer
 Gap between need and access to treatment is close to 90% in
low income countries
o However, there are very few organisations who work with mentally ill
people across the developing world
Basic Needs (2000)

12. ● Challenges:
o Funding drop by about 20% across all sectors
 Fundraising in the developing world is demanding
 Usually considered a low priority by many donors
o Finding innovative ways of extending their reach and inviting locally-
based, properly registered organisations to take on their Model for
Mental Health and Development to increase their good work
o Hope that people with experience in programme management will
voluntarily help them
 Keep costs low
Basic Needs (2000)

13. ● Goals:
o To help with people with mental illness or epilepsy in the developing
world
 Alleviate poverty
 Help them secure basic rights
 Eg. medical requirements, helping people get back to work,
providing support to their careers and families and educating
communities about mental health
Basic Needs (2000)

14. Reflections

15. Joseph Wresinski
● Born in a poor family
o BUT did not live like a poor man the rest of his life
● Accepted the fact that he was poor, tried to improve his life
o Even of those much poorer than him
● I was inspired by his will to help those who were worse off than him rather
than just helping himself.

16. If I were a child facing
poverty...
● Jealous of others who live better lives than me and get to enjoy it
● Trying to survive each day by finding own food
● Fall sick easily due to lack of sanitation and poor hygiene practices
o Have to live with it as no money to see a doctor
● Making money to afford slightly better living conditions or food would be
difficult due to illiteracy
o Only able to do manual labour
o Paid low wages.
● May not even think of improving my lifestyle
o No time to think about an uncertain future when I have to constantly
think of ways to survive every single day

17. If someone helped me out...
● It would change my life for the better
● Educated well
o Find better job
o Get a better pay
o Improve living conditions
● Better living conditions
o Would not fall sick as easily
● Better education and a secure job
o More time to plan for future

18. Sensitivity to others
● I would try to find out as much as possible about the issue
o Be sensitive
● I would try giving words of encouragement and advice to the person or
people affected
● I would also ask the person if he needs any help and do my best in helping
that person

19. Going out of the way
● I would not mind leaving familiar and comfortable surroundings to help
those whom I am familiar with or around me that require help
● It would not be as easy if I were to help strangers
o Do not know them
o Not sure about interacting with and helping them

20. Can I make a difference?
● Yes
● Doesn’t matter how big or small we think our actions are
● If not that confident in helping
o Start small and work towards something bigger
o Eg: Start by donating old clothes, still in good condition, to Red Cross
or the Salvation Army and maybe in the future, helping out
occasionally at these organisations.

21. Making a difference around me
● Help my parents with the household chores
o Eg: Washing the dishes after mealtimes; sweeping or mopping the
floor
o Both my parents are working (very busy)
 Still squeeze in time to do the chores
 Cannot relax during weekends
o I hope to lighten their load so that they will have free time to relax or
do their own work

22. Is there a sense of
reponsibility?
● Yes
● We have people who care about us and take care of us
BUT ...
● People living in poverty do not get such love in the environment they live in
● We should spread the love that we have received to others who actually
need it more than we do

23. Any current resources?
● Encourage family and friends to join us in helping the people in poverty
o Eg: Brainstorm ideas and carry them out together
● Donate any old household items or clothing lying around in our house that
are still in good condition to those who may need them
● The Boys’ Brigade Share-a-Gift Programme (In December)
o we can take part in to help the less privileged families in Singapore

24. A meaningful idea for me
● We should try to get out of our comfort when helping others so as to help
them to the best of our ability
o Think more of others and less of ourselves
o “Do unto others what we want others to do unto us”
o Spreading kindness to everyone by helping one another

25. An inspiring idea for everyone
● The thought of helping someone else and seeing that person succeed or
the smile of joy on that person’s face
o That satisfaction felt from helping someone in need is better and more
precious than any other material reward