Kicking out poverty watching ‘Poverty Cure’

I have watched many documentaries in my lifetime, have enjoyed doing so and benefitted from most. But ‘Poverty Cure’, a six-part series produced and directed by Michael Matheson Miller of Action Institute is in a class of its own.  Most times we think about poverty, brainstorm and wonder how the rich get richer and the […]

I have watched many documentaries in my lifetime, have enjoyed doing so and benefitted from most. But ‘Poverty Cure’, a six-part series produced and directed by Michael Matheson Miller of Action Institute is in a class of its own. 

Most times we think about poverty, brainstorm and wonder how the rich get richer and the poor more so. This has been a puzzle to a lot of people for many years, especially Africans. And then, at some point, they give up. This documentary tells you to rise up, be enterprising and don’t settle for handouts. 

Approaching the subject of poverty and its cure from a Christian gospel perspective, this documentary looks beyond what has always been the poverty approach as regards Africa. Usually, aid comes in from Europe, America and other parts of the world to Africa, perhaps after a genocide (like in the case of Rwanda) or insurgency like is the case in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. But is aid enough? Wouldn’t the people eat and sleep and wake up with the same situation staring them in the face? What if they were empowered and allowed to produce, to engage in meaningful enterprise?

There are several examples. One is that of a man who kept hens and traded in eggs after the Rwandan genocide. Unfortunately for him, just at the time his business was beginning to grow and prosper, a church from Atlanta in the United States (with good intentions) decided to supply eggs to his community. Suddenly eggs were everywhere in the market and the trader was out of business. He sold his hens and that was the end of it. But not quite. Soon after, the church decided to move its charity initiative to another part and there were no more eggs. The community had to now import from their neighbours. What is the lesson? The church had good intentions, but it had a long term negative impact on the lives of those same people they wanted to help. 

Another instance is that of a man who was given capital to facilitate his gardening business. But overtime, when the person who helped him paid a visit to his home, he realised nothing had changed. The man’s family wasn’t doing well, and instead of prospering he was spending his hard-earned money on other women. So, ultimately, there’s more to giving help. Miller pointed out that the Christian gospel is vital in changing people and making them better equipped to prosper and also manage prosperity. After all, why should human beings be created in God’s image and yet suffer extreme poverty?

Rev. Chanshi Chada, a minister of a church in Kitwe, Zambia explained that some people think humans are born either rich or poor. 

So, this leaves many discouraged, Doug Seebeck, President, Partners Worldwide said. They hold unto the belief that, whether Christians, Muslims or Hindus, the poor are destined to remain as they are. This is not what God intended for mankind. “If they can understand that that is not what God intended and this is why he sent his Son, so you can have fulness of life now, that’s when they are really empowered.” 

‘Poverty Cure’ brings home a powerful message. Africa is flooded with used goods, from clothing to electronic gadgets and many more of such commodities.How will a people who have what it takes to prosper do so if they are unable to produce and engage in meaningful enterprise, if they are continually receiving handouts from a giver who maintains a superior position? What does it take to break out of those shackles? This is the message in this documentary, and Africa needs it probably more than any part of the world. However, if the entire world digests the core of this message, then it will likely see a decline in the fast-growing rate of poverty.