Strumming the guitar to poverty

POVERTY is a state of the mind, we have heard that countless times. Many poor people are made to feel guilty for the condition they find themselves in. Many have succumbed to ridicule and committed suicide having given up on the hope of a better tomorrow. The pressures of life, the expectations from society and the fake successes of peers in the neighbourhood have never before been as immense as this generation’s.

Driving monstrous fuel guzzlers competing to pollute the environment has become a pastime. Building giant hideous concrete and glass castles has turned into infatuation. Throwing away huge amounts of food is now a symbol of success. Not wearing the same clothes more than once a year is something to publicise. Quaffing the most expensive liquors and smoking the best at impromptu parties is guaranteed to attract admiration. When the sick are airlifted to Borrowdale Trauma Centre and publicise it or when they die and burial space at Glen Forest Memorial Park is a badge of honour followed by the erection of expensive copper, aluminium and gold-plated tombstones, do we consider the message that the poor are receiving.

At every turn we are reminded poverty is a state of the mind implying one can decide to either endure or escape from poverty.

The poor are made to feel they are to blame for their situation. Of late in order to break out of misery children from bad backgrounds have been fighting the poverty cycle. Some are using legal means while others are trying unorthodox ways. Almost every other day while the Press covers business successes by youths, it does not escape the eye that drug smuggling and human trafficking cases are also rising.

Blogger Rod Usher says poverty is a word that has become poor in meaning. For the world’s starving, it is a cruel understatement, when applied to the prosperous countries of the European Union it seems sacrilegious.

Economists disagree on how to measure poverty, governments on how to tackle it, and ordinary people on whether or not they suffer from it. An increasing number of people worldwide are clearly struggling as the gap between the haves and have-nots widens.

While the rich struggle to spend, the poor feel excluded due to inequitable distribution of income.

When there are social and economic problems we are conveniently reminded that even the Bible says “the poor will always be among us . . .”

Poverty is relative of course. A poor person in the United Arab Emirates is definitely rich anywhere in the world. The Emirates provides basically every need for free from housing, education anywhere, health and monthly household grants, no tax, interest free loans. But still those receiving such handouts regard themselves as poor otherwise they would not qualify for such.
Europe’s economic giant, Germany’s wealth is cold comfort for those battling to stay afloat. For instance while about three million Germans drew welfare grants the government states that none of them was poor as “social welfare guarantees that the recipient not only has what he needs for bare survival, it also enables him to participate in social life.”

But is it enough to come up with safety nets? Is it enough to provide the poor with food, shelter and clothing? Walther Specht, former president of Germany’s National Poverty Conference, once said it is not enough to provide the penniless with food, shelter and clothing. “Today’s participation in social life is defined by money. So when people don’t have it, they are excluded from the rest of society.” He argues further that “the important thing about poverty is how a person feels about it, not what the statistics say.”

Does it then mean that it is true that poverty is a state of the mind? Can somebody convince themselves they are not poor and live it. Likewise can the poor be victims of self-perception that is how they view themselves is how they are. It is actually shocking that in a world of plenty where there are hundreds of billionaires and thousands of millionaires, we still talk of poverty. We have extremely poor people in every country in the world yet the personal wealth of the haves has been growing exponentially over the last few years. Occasional handouts will not help. Poverty can be tackled if the poor are enabled to help themselves by starting small businesses with potential growth. The use of technology and availability of minimal interest loans for youth and women, unemployed men and investment opportunities for all could spur growth of the economy thereby creating employment.

Do handouts really work? Recently Sekuru Banda, a Harare traditional healer, rescued fallen musician Paradzai Mesi who had been arrested for allegedly stealing from Never Sabawu’s shop in Concession.

Mesi was ridiculed on social media when his video in handcuffs went viral. Sekuru Banda convinced Sabawu to withdraw charges and pledged to build Mesi a house. A musician and businessman Mudiwa Hood also provided Mesi with groceries, clothes and school fees for his children.

Notably Sekuru Banda has in the past helped comedian Marabha, boxer Mosquito and late footballer George Shaya.

While Mesi was entertaining us, was he strumming his guitar to poverty? “Mesi entertained a lot of people with his music and to see him suffer should touch the hearts of all,” Sekuru Banda said as he called upon society to help Mesi with handouts. The question is for how long will the groceries and clothes last. The hope is for the recipient not to sell the gifts for alcohol and the givers to avail opportunities for wealth creation and confidence as poverty might be a state of the mind.