Johannesburg, South Africa recently hosted the 2010 World Cup. Visitors came from all over the world and commented on how deep the divide between the poor and the rich really was. South Africa looks and acts like a developed country in parts of its major cities. However, within a few kilometers of wealth and excess, you can find yourself driving into over crowded communities, whose people are struggling to meet the most basic needs of life.
Well governed countries are ashamed of poverty, and are doing all they can to create ways for their people to live prosperous lives. Many Non Government and Governmental agencies have made it their declared goal to eradicate poverty. But, as Mother Theresa said “ The most terrible poverty that people in developing countries face today is the feeling of being unloved, unwanted and uncared for by families, communities and the government.”
Communities often feel marginalized, powerless, inferior or even like aliens while residing in their own country.
Mistakenly, many believe that all there is to poverty is hunger and homelessness. But we have come to find out that there is a poverty that is ‘systemic’. It is not caused by a lack of money or resources but by governments, institutions or laws that do not have the people at heart, rather agendas, profits and greed in their sight. We saw what could happen if a nation set a goal and we were all proud to be African. Now that the World Cup is over, is it back to business as usual in Africa, or can we really begin to make a difference for our fellow man.
