What angers me about poverty

As we collect photos of angry faces at this year's festivals, Eileen Guo tells us why she's really angry about poverty.

Last summer, I spent two weeks travelling and volunteering in India. The straw huts of the Indian countryside, the shanty towns of the cities, the primitive (but comparatively well off) boarding school where I taught American sports and games, the school for the poor and disabled that I visited - all of these insights into 'third-world' poverty had a profound impact on me. They were heart-wrenching. There were moments when I wanted to vomit and weep with shame. And there were other moments when I just felt. nothing: empty and weary, overwhelmed by what I saw.

Despite the plethora, and lack, of emotions that I experienced, anger was not one of them. The anger came afterwards, when I had left the poverty of India and returned to the wealth of America.

Poverty, as I see it, will always exist. Through the noble efforts of Oxfam and other aid organisations we can alleviate the suffering of the poor and raise living standards for individuals, families, even entire nations. But despite all of our efforts we cannot eradicate poverty. Poverty is eternal.

That makes me angry.

As much as Oxfam and other non-profits are doing, there are so many who are doing nothing. But, just as bad, there are many who care but do not translate their empathy into action. What good does sympathy or guilt do for a child with an empty stomach? As the novel (and film) The Constant Gardener puts it, there is a difference between "pain observed and pain shared. Pain observed is. television pain, over as soon as you switch off your beastly TV."

That there are people who know and care but still do nothing - that makes me angry.

I like to think that I am not one of them, that I am doing something meaningful in the war on poverty. But there is only so much that promoting a cause - whether by writing an article or attending a protest - can accomplish. These actions, by themselves, cannot provide shelter or clothes or food. These actions, by themselves, are far from sufficient.

And that I cannot do more - that makes me angry.



What do you think? What makes you angry about poverty? Add your comments below.