How would you define poverty?
Absolute poverty is a shortage of food, shelter and drinking water. I would also consider the lack of access to education and employment and subsequent social exclusion as poverty.
There is also relative poverty which is defined by social standards and compares people in a particular society in terms of access to goods and services - people excluded from these goods and services for financial reasons can be said to be poor relative to other members of their society. This is not the same as absolute poverty but it is still an issue.
How would you describe your emotions the first time you experience poverty?
I was quite shocked to see images that had previously existed only on television brought to life. The hardest thing was the scale of poverty which you can't grasp until you visit a poverty stricken area in person. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing how people lived, I was actually amazed at how positive they were - nobody I met was wallowing in self-pity, they were incredibly generous with the little that they had and I was left feeling deeply humbled.
What is the most shocking aspect of poverty you have experienced?
Teaching slum children in the Primary School in Mombasa who do not get regular meals at home was shocking. They were given beans at lunchtime at school, but trying to teach them on a Monday morning was hopeless as many of them hadn't eaten all weekend. One day I threw away the skin from a quarter of a mango that I had eaten, and one of the children picked it up and started eating the tiny bit of flesh still left on the skin. It was deeply shocking that she was so hungry, that I felt I had been quick to throw something away, and ultimately that there was nothing I could do there and then to solve the underlying poverty affecting these children.
What was the most enlightening aspect of poverty you have experienced?
The most enlightening thing on both of my projects in Kenya and Uganda was that the people I met never defined themselves as 'poverty stricken' or 'living in absolute poverty' - this is a label attached to them by the western world. These people are just getting on with their lives, and their dedication, generosity and willingness to help each other is breathtaking. Every one of the children at the primary school I support in Mombasa works incredibly hard in all their lessons, and they all have dreams of being doctors, lawyers, pilots and many other things! To them, education is everything and generally they are happy and positive despite what I perceive to be their challenging circumstances. Likewise in Uganda I met people who had literally given their lives to helping others when from a western perspective they were 'living in poverty' themselves. The most enlightening aspect for me is that these people are not looking for pity or handouts, they are incredibly grateful for my support, but they want to work alongside me and achieve their dreams in their own way with a little help from people like me - that gives me so much more confidence in what we can achieve in the future.
Absolute poverty is a shortage of food, shelter and drinking water. I would also consider the lack of access to education and employment and subsequent social exclusion as poverty.
There is also relative poverty which is defined by social standards and compares people in a particular society in terms of access to goods and services - people excluded from these goods and services for financial reasons can be said to be poor relative to other members of their society. This is not the same as absolute poverty but it is still an issue.
How would you describe your emotions the first time you experience poverty?
I was quite shocked to see images that had previously existed only on television brought to life. The hardest thing was the scale of poverty which you can't grasp until you visit a poverty stricken area in person. Once I had recovered from the shock of seeing how people lived, I was actually amazed at how positive they were - nobody I met was wallowing in self-pity, they were incredibly generous with the little that they had and I was left feeling deeply humbled.
What is the most shocking aspect of poverty you have experienced?
Teaching slum children in the Primary School in Mombasa who do not get regular meals at home was shocking. They were given beans at lunchtime at school, but trying to teach them on a Monday morning was hopeless as many of them hadn't eaten all weekend. One day I threw away the skin from a quarter of a mango that I had eaten, and one of the children picked it up and started eating the tiny bit of flesh still left on the skin. It was deeply shocking that she was so hungry, that I felt I had been quick to throw something away, and ultimately that there was nothing I could do there and then to solve the underlying poverty affecting these children.
What was the most enlightening aspect of poverty you have experienced?
The most enlightening thing on both of my projects in Kenya and Uganda was that the people I met never defined themselves as 'poverty stricken' or 'living in absolute poverty' - this is a label attached to them by the western world. These people are just getting on with their lives, and their dedication, generosity and willingness to help each other is breathtaking. Every one of the children at the primary school I support in Mombasa works incredibly hard in all their lessons, and they all have dreams of being doctors, lawyers, pilots and many other things! To them, education is everything and generally they are happy and positive despite what I perceive to be their challenging circumstances. Likewise in Uganda I met people who had literally given their lives to helping others when from a western perspective they were 'living in poverty' themselves. The most enlightening aspect for me is that these people are not looking for pity or handouts, they are incredibly grateful for my support, but they want to work alongside me and achieve their dreams in their own way with a little help from people like me - that gives me so much more confidence in what we can achieve in the future.
