Appeals for donations to help the poor are so abundant that the poor and destitute images become overly graphic and prevalent. Every person who has seen these images can quickly bring them forward to consciousness. Often, one must promptly dismiss the images to reduce the impact of the suffering may have on the day. It is preferable only to acknowledge the poverty and hope that one can make some active act of charitable donation when convenient. We maintain a shadow outline of the images to avoid excessive emotions of despair and hopelessness. If we dwell on these images, they may produce feelings of guilt, and since we cannot actively do something to help, one begins to resent the appeals for help to sideline the guilt feelings that may well up. Guilt is uncomfortable but results at times from a failure to act. If you have a charitable heart, then compassionate feelings can be overwhelming.

One cannot entirely dismiss mass media appeals. Ignoring them goes against a compassionate nature. Ignoring the prompts of compassion is highly uncomfortable, especially when an adequate response is not possible. We tend to relegate the tragedy of poverty to a passing image or cursory glance. Like the one my confessor unconsciously gave my abdomen while explaining how some forms of gluttony could be less serious than others, momentary intemperance in eating, for instance.

Perhaps Chesterton saw some deal with the pain of poverty. Rather than seeing the images with a clear, sharp lens, we prefer to see the images in vague outlines or a complex, impenetrable maze without seeing the pain. Chesterton states, “There are two ways of dealing with the dignity, the pain, the prejudice or the rooted humour of the poor; especially of the rural poor. One of them is to see in their tragedy only a stark simplicity, like the outline of a rock; the other is to see in it an unfathomable though a savage complexity."

There might be a particular splendour in poverty that reflects on the pessimist as bravery in the face of poverty. But at this point, the pessimist abruptly stops. They see poverty as a nebulous maze that resembles a forest entangling an unwary person who ventures into it. The pessimist believes the entire problem is beyond the ability of a few people to solve and relegates the issue as a whole to the grinding wheels of the bureaucracy of political channels and government studies and committees.

Meanwhile, in India, we have recently been told the middle-class suffers from lockdowns and social unrest and strikes. Food and fuel prices are soaring while businesses close and salaries are reduced in half. One example is a family who considered themselves “middle-class” in the past. We have helped them with school fees, but now other expenses are mounting. They now must live on 2500 rupees a month and are struggling to provide for their three children on that income.

Please commit to helping. Remember, Charity is the highest, most eminent virtue. You express that virtue with your donation. We struggle daily to help, but we can do nothing without your support.

Introduction

Africa has generally been known as a continent where poverty is common and subsisting on a low income is the norm. However, the impoverished communities of this beautiful continent are growing, and by 2030, it is anticipated that as many as 90% of the world’s total poor population will be located in this area.

The data can be difficult to decipher at first, and it may even appear on the surface to indicate that poverty in the African region is on a decline from 54% in 1990 to 41% in 2015. However, due to the population growth that occurred at the same time, the total number of people who are living in extreme poverty has actually increased substantially, from 278 million to 413 million in the same time period.

Some countries are making strides toward ending poverty, with Ethiopia and Kenya the closest and Ghana close behind. However, Zambia and Mali have struggled to achieve the same international assistance seen by some other countries.

Why No Improvement?

The reasons why poverty continues to dominate talk in Africa are many, and not all are easy to solve. In total, 27 of the 28 poorest countries in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa, with poverty rates over 30%. But poverty is not just a measure of financial wellness or the ability to acquire income; rather, it is a holistic examination of quality of life that considers hunger, shelter, access to healthcare, education access (both in terms of distance and society), being able to read or have a job, losing children to curable illnesses, and even the attitude of living one day at a time.

The most common factors by which poverty is measured are:

• Availability of shelter

• Access to clean food and water

• Ability to use healthcare services

• Government corruption

• Poor infrastructure

• Consumption of natural resources

However, in addition to these external criteria, individuals must also be assessed for emotional and spiritual poverty. These can have just as important an impact on the world—an emotionally and spiritually fatigued individual may not have the aspiration to continue their education, and the world has lost a valuable mind who may have made breakthroughs and contributions to others.

Why Address Poverty?

Our humanity often moves us to commiserate about the state of poverty in Africa, but sympathy alone is not the only reason to address poverty around the world. Because the insecure lifestyle generated by inadequate provisional needs makes people vulnerable, a number of issues can arise that have a global impact.

Imagine, for example, the change that would occur to unrest in the region if more people had access to food, healthcare, and job opportunities. Inept leadership may be replaced with highly educated individuals who are suited to lead wisely, and a country with strong leadership can become an integral player on the international stage. Similarly, countries that do not have inadequate healthcare help to keep global travel robust and safe despite outbreaks of dangerous diseases like Ebola and COVID-19.

US vs. THEM

African countries continue to fall behind in their goals to eradicate poverty. In September 2015, nations around the world joined in the Sustainable Development Goals agreement that was intended to eradicate poverty; however, many African countries are not on track to meet their promised poverty levels. 

Part of the reason for falling short is due to a lack of international funding. Communities already stricken by poverty cannot just pull themselves up by their bootstraps; they need international aid from NGOs and other charitable organizations. If you have the financial means, you too can help pull people out of poverty by donating to these worthwhile causes.

Organizations like CFTW make it their mission to rehabilitate poverty stricken communities and heal the whole person—not just by providing financial means. Instead, CFTW and other charities work with underprivileged communities to educate them both academically and spiritually so that they can move on as fully realized individuals.

You can help CFTW and other charitable organizations by donating as you are financially able. Your contributions, even in the amount of a few dollars, go a long way in communities where a single dollar is more than some people earn for an entire day’s work. You can also contribute your time via volunteer hours at the in-person or online organizations that you are most passionate about. We have a global responsibility to help our fellow humans in need, especially when they are unable to help themselves.

The Most Common Diseases

Throughout the third world regions of Africa and Asia, three diseases in particular ravage the population and leave little room for treatment: malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS. Where a rich person can continue on with life after HIV/AIDS by taking medicine, this illness is almost entirely untreated in the poorer regions of the world. Tuberculosis is essentially unheard of in first world countries, and vaccination has slowed or even stopped the spread of germs that have the potential to wipe out entire communities of children in some parts of Africa and Asia.

In the developing world, up to half of all deaths are due to infectious diseases. AIDS has cut the life expectancy of some countries nearly in half, with Botswana seeing a drop from 62 years old (in the 1980s) to only 37 due to the high rate of HIV infection: about 39% of all people in the country. Across sub-Saharan Africa, the life expectancy remains at a low 47 years of age on average.

Poverty plays a primary role in why these regions of the world are primarily infected. Affluent countries have no issue with affording the drugs that suppress HIV, but those medicines—and even more inexpensive options to treat only the infections resulting from their weakened immune systems—are unavailable to poorer countries. Tuberculosis takes advantage of the widespread HIV epidemic to proliferate itself, latching on to those with already weakened immune systems. Up to 15% of HIV cases die as a result of TB. 

Malaria also plays a significant role in health outcomes of third world countries. Transmitted via the bite of the Anopheles mosquito, malaria causes more than one million deaths per year—90% of which are in sub-Saharan Africa. It is highly resistant to many antibiotics that have previously been used to treat it, and this trend is not anticipated to slow down any time soon. For residents of developing countries that do not have access to newer treatments, this constantly evolving disease is an ever present threat.

The Cost of Fighting

It is the responsibility of richer countries to assist in fighting disease in the developing world. Some solutions are simple and inexpensive, such as mosquito nets infused with insecticide. Simply installing these in sample regions has cut the number of malaria deaths by 20%. The UN has noted that affluent countries pay a fraction of the cost for medicines that the poorest in the world would be entirely unable to pay for, and NGOs like Action Aid have maintained consistent lobbying to cut drug prices.

Anti-retroviral drugs that keep people with HIV alive cost nearly $10,000 in developing countries, but thanks to the efforts of organizations like Action Aid, the price has been brought down to about $300. This is still prohibitively expensive in many of the world’s poorer areas, but the price is anticipated to continue downward. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan established the Global Fund for HIV/Aids, TB and Malaria, though affluent countries have been stingy to contribute toward its yearly $7 billion goal, with the US sending only $500 million. 

Market Incentivization and What to Do

One of the largest problems facing the treatment of these diseases is the lack of incentive to focus on them from a market standpoint. Out of 1393 new medicines that were approved for public use, only 16 focused on tropical diseases like TB. A drug for sleeping sickness, which kills an average of 66,000 people per year, saw its production halted when no one was buying it—because it was too expensive for the developing countries that needed it. However, it was rebranded for use in the United States, where it is now used frequently as a hair remover. 

Drug companies must be incentivized to continue or focus on production of critical, life-saving medications even when poorer countries cannot afford them. This will require significant policy change in the government as well as the support of normal people, who can contribute by donating to charities that provide monetary assistance to underprivileged areas. 

What’s Next 

Countries across African continue to suffer from unsustainable economies that can collapse at any moment, local conflict, ballooning poverty levels, failing educational systems, and natural disasters like droughts that only exacerbate other issues. These barriers to a better quality of life can be addressed, but it will take cooperation and a concerted effort from people across the globe to offer the assistance that the African people need.