It is approximately one week away from Christmas, and it is a time when Trinidad and Tobago comes alive. No where else in the world is Christmas more celebrated than in our twin-island Republic. In the haste to buy presents, paint the house, buy the sorrel, make the ginger beer and, of course, make the Christmas black cake, we are sometimes, however, unaware of those less fortunate than ourselves. Those are the people who will not have the money to buy all the goodies and, most of all, the presents for the children. Even more depressing is the fact that there are those who will not be able to afford a meal for the day.
Every year, some of my more concerned students and some of my colleagues, as well as my research assistant, solicit donations or give support to host or assist with Christmas parties for children. This year was no exception. Our annual Christmas party was quite successful, and even included a real-life Santa Claus. (The principal of the university also supports a party for children as well). More is involved in this activity, though, than simply rendering the means whereby children may have a good time. The outreach is, in part, a way of ensuring that the students of the university, who will be, one day, the managers and administrators of this and other Caribbean territories, understand that education is more than sitting in a classroom, writing examinations and attaining degrees. Education is about feeling for others, understanding their plight, and assisting wherever necessary. It is about interaction and learning to give back to a society that has so generously granted them free educational opportunities.
Sometimes, though, the lesson is lost. People are too busy with their own affairs. In the case of the majority of our students, it is a pre-occupation with handing in assignments and then writing examinations. In the case of the housewives and working mothers, it is a preoccupation with getting the house prepared, the presents purchased, and other miscellaneous activities associated with Christmas. In the case of the males, it is almost always about work...In the case of the politicians, it is trying to gain the most mileage by hosting Christmas parties (stigmatised sometimes as for the underprivileged) and in the case of the priests, it is a time to try to instil a conscience on those who flock to church at this time, but may not appear for the rest of the year. But, if one looks around...there are those who need our assistance, not only at Christmas, but throughout the year.
While it is obvious that the debate on how poverty can or cannot be measured is continuing (in some countries it is the ability to earn US$1 per day), it is evident that there is poverty around us. Some would argue that poverty is part of a culture and certainly it is. Some people, one would have noticed, seem averse to working...or do minimal work. This, no doubt, leads to situations such as squatting on government lands and building little shacks without water or electricity...and then the children come... one after the other... It continues with children having children and life goes on. More often than not, it is a miserable life...always hungry, suffering from malnutrition, yearning for a better opportunity, but not having a vision of how to escape. What was shocking was a 2005 speech by Prof Compton Bourne, President of the Caribbean Development Bank, in which some basic data was offered about the level of poverty in the countries of the Caribbean.
His report defined poverty as being measured by the ability to finance a basic consumption basket of food. In the case of Haiti and Suriname, it was found that 65 per cent and 63 per cent of the population lived below the poverty line. The following countries, according to Bourne, had 30-40 per cent of the population living below the poverty line: Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St Kitts/Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. The following countries were classified as having 20-29 per cent of their populations living below the poverty line: Anguilla, BVI, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Turks and Caicos. In the case of Guyana, a 1999 survey revealed that 35 per cent of the population was living below the poverty line, while in Jamaica, the 2002 figure was 20 per cent. In the case of Barbados, our smaller neighbour, the 1997 figure indicated that only 14 per cent of its population was below the poverty line.
While, therefore, as a country, we may boast of supporting two summits in one year, it is, perhaps, sad to see that nearly 20-29 per cent of our citizens have been classified as poor, according to this 2005 study. Clearly, our little annual parties will be no more than a drop in the ocean–a party for the moment–flighty and gone. By January, the poor will return to their cardboard or galvanised houses to eat their hampers and then return to their normal activities. The onus on the decision-makers, therefore, will be to put policies in place, so that poverty can be alleviated. Certainly, policies such as the SMART CARD, or providing loans without collateral, merely promote dependence on a government. Instead, the policymakers should, with the assistance of the universities (we now have three universities in this country), look at remedies to address not the symptoms, but rather the root cause of poverty in this country.
It is not that the universities are not unaware of this problem, and, indeed, there has been a lot of research conducted in this area. The challenge is to collaborate with the Government and other decision-makers to actually put the theories into practice. For all of us, then, our lesson should be to reach out to others, to assist, but at the same time to not promote dependence. It is time that we, as a country and as a people, take a decision to make our country a better place, and one in which we do not look at children in a grocery store and see the yearning in their eyes for a pack of marshmellows which costs no more than $14–a sum which their parents cannot afford. While it is true than poverty cannot be alleviated, yet it can be reduced if proper and well-thought policies are put in place. Hopefully, the Christmas will not only bring with it a spirit of giving, but also the spirit of collaboration as well. With collaboration between the thinkers and the doers, we forge ahead and hopefully have fewer persons hungry for the year 2010.