Third World Poverty: But Which Third?
One of the cliché’s I discuss in my book Gentle Action is of “experts” and aid organizations who fly in to some third world country, observe the poverty and poor living conditions and ask how they can help, what can they teach that community, and how best to provide aid and financial help.
But Jonathan Glennie, writing in the Guardian newspaper turns that perception on its head quoting, for example, a couple who had spent 20 years working with marginalised communities in rural India who on their return to Glasgow said: “We thought we knew what poverty was, and then we came to Easterhouse.” Glennie points to the conditions in areas of the United Kingdom with its crack houses, teenage knife crime, high percentage of pregnant teenagers and classrooms out of control.
His article can be found at
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/katineblog/2009/feb/27/development
