Two American students, Chris Temple and Zach Ingrasci, gave a TEDx Talk in Buenos Aires in 2011 about a personal experiment they had experienced: living as billions of impoverished do--on $1 per day for 2 months in the highlands of Guatemala.
Temple and Ingrasci simulated the income, as well as the unpredictability of its arrival, for those in extreme poverty, and they came to three conclusions about how the poor manage their money:
1. The poor are active money managers. There is a belief that the poor live hand-to-mouth daily, but they plan for the future constantly and mentally, as money is always on their mind.
2. The poor use many different tools in order to sustain themselves, including loaning to and from neighbors, creating their own businesses, and starting savings clubs.
3. The poor are willing to pay for flexibility and reliability.
Therefore, Temple and Ingrasci champion microfinance as the solution out of poverty. They argue that a more formalized institution, rather than borrowing from and relying upon neighbors and friends, is a more secure investment, despite having to pay interest. I would assert that this concern has some validity, as neighbors and friends often will go through hardships simultaneously, for example, natural disaster, drought, disease, and other community-wide problems. The source of cash flow would dry up all at the same time for a single community, so a system that is independent of the conditions of a small region would be more secure.
Furthermore, Temple and Ingrasci created a documentary about the 2 months they spent in Guatemala to show the hardships they experienced: hunger, disease, fatigue, and stress. They wanted to create motivation for not only themselves, but for other young people, who followed their experience for 2 months via video and blogging. I think their decision to live under and meticulously document conditions of extreme poverty for 56 days brings a sense of meaning and understanding associated with what it truly means to be fighting for survival. I believe it is important to stop and remember why we, as GPP minors, want to engage in solving poverty worldwide.
Thank you for sharing this video! I watched part of this video with my mother and she shared with me how a lot of what they were documenting was similar to what went on in her early life in Peru.
ReplyDeleteI loved what they said about tackling extreme poverty as our great challenge and our great opportunity. This was great am hopeful for all of us GPP minors to be this generation of changemakers.