Basic Needs - Then Empowerment

While I didn't grow up in a family of means, I did grow up in a safe environment where all my basic needs were met. This was before the intense pressure the internet began urging all of us to wear a certain label of clothes, go on big vacations and eat at nicer restaurants. We didn't know any different.  

Because I grew up with way less, and lived with way less until my kids were grown, I thought I understood those struggling financially.  It was a rude awakening for me when I discovered I knew nothing. My neighborhood was a safe place.  I could walk to school, play outside or go almost anywhere alone and without fear. I had shoes - a pair for church and a pair for everything else, and clean clothes to put on each day.  Many were hand-me-downs or sewn at home, but back then that was accepted. 

An inkling of what was to come came during a talk I heard one day. The speaker shared that empowerment was a privilege.  First you needed to have your basic needs met - food, water, clothing, a roof over you head - and not be in constant fear for your safety. This was the foundation, the basic building blocks, that are needed if you want to help those in need.  Once safe, with basic needs addressed, then the next steps to self empowerment can be taken. I was struck by this idea and knew I needed to dive deep into the subject to help me gain a better understanding.

It took a lot of reading books by those who grew up in true poverty, listening to others with experience speak, and watching countless documentaries before the blinders fully came off. The hardest book to read was Viola Davis' memoir. The severe poverty she experienced as a child was so disturbing, I almost quit reading during the first third.  Her experiences were so far removed from anything I could even imagine.  There was no running water at times, which meant no clean bodies or clean clothes. There was never enough to eat and sometimes no food at all. They had no proper shoes that fit or warm coats. And it wasn’t a safe environment when she went outside, and sometimes not safe inside. Poverty for her meant always, always being on guard and under stress.

I can't imagine growing up that way.  Nor can I imagine living as a homeless person on the streets with no access to showers, laundry or money to buy food. One definition I read of empowerment is, "The process of becoming stronger and more confident, especially in controlling one's life and claiming one's rights." Being empowered means having autonomy and self-determination. Those living in poverty have no control. They are in survival mode every day, trying to get from one day to the next alive. Living in those circumstances suck the life out of one's confidence and undermines one’s hope for a better future. 

To move beyond this life, a new foundation must be put in place that includes a roof over their heads, a safe environment outside their door, food, clothing, water, and education.  Only once the foundation of basic needs is in place can they being to gain more more control over their lives and reach for their dreams. In Trevor Noah's book Born A Crime, he mentions the adage, "Give a man a fish he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime."  Noah's response - he doesn't have the basic equipment, a fishing pole.  You can do all the teaching about fishing you want, but without the basic need filled of owning fishing gear, it will be impossible for him to gain more control in feeding himself in that way. First the basics, then the empowerment.

I want to be clear, I am NOT an expert on alleviating poverty. In fact, I have barely scratched the surface. This article shares only a small look at what I have learned so far. Poverty is a complex subject. All I can do is keep trying to educate myself and be open to where my heart is leading me step up.

Many of us don't have the finances to make that big, life-changing donation, or fund the birth of a new organization to help those in need. But there are still small ways we can make a difference. No effort is too small. And remember, one small effort after another small effort adds up over time.