You are right to point out the condescension and pomposity with which we address the poor. As though having less money is a measure of intrinsic worth. Those who have actually committed the crimes that cause other people’s poverty are often found passing harsh judgment on a poor person.

I am not advocating for a return to traditional methods of health and education. What I am calling for is a re-assessment of all our education, health and financial systems. We have to weigh their relevance and practicability to our situation given our lack of “resources”. An example of this is the micro-finance movement that turned banking on its head by questioning the basic foundation of what it’s built on.

I would like for us to particularly focus on the role of the government in poverty reduction.

Thanks for the eloquent and honest contribution. Indeed, let us use this election to demand better. But let us also, each one of us, make ourselves more aware of the plight of the masses and their daily tribulations. There is a great deal of help each one of us can give out – in skills, in time, in attention – if only we can wake up to doing it. Poverty does not always need grand schemes: sometimes a thousand smaller efforts can yield better results.

One way of doing this is by asking our representatives to account for our taxes, a proportion of which have been coming back to us as CDF. Do my children have better access to health facilities and to schools and are the roads in my area a little more passable for me to get my tea and milk to the factory? I believe that’s what the funds were meant for.

Not to be simplistic, but it’s these little steps that measure our progress towards a better quality of life and better life chances for our children.