Badge #5 Prezi

What is poverty? When you google poverty, this is what you see:

      

          
                  

However, most people don't realize that poverty is more than this - it is more complicated and intricate than we think.   Although we use this word all the time, it is hard to define. 

What is poverty? The most common definition of poverty we found is "the condition/state of being extremely poor."

Absolute verse Relative Poverty: Both absolute poverty and relative poverty are valid concepts. Absolute poverty refers to the complete lack of resources needed to secure basic life necessities, while relative poverty refers to poverty defined in terms of the society in which an individual lives. When comparing an individuals standard of living or finances to the rest of society, you are discussing relative poverty.  Absolute poverty is a set standard that is not affected by ones location.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Abraham Harold Maslow proposed the chart below in efforts to describe the pattern that human motivations move through.  This hierarchy places humans needs based on their importance.  Human beings must fulfill each level of needs before moving to the next level.

At the bottom level of the hierarchy is physiological needs.  Under this level is the basic necessities required for human survival such as air, water, food, clothing and shelter.  Physiological needs is the most fundamental level of needs. Without these basic needs, it is impossible for a human to function and move to the next level. Once physiological needs are fulfilled, humans must feel safe and secure in all aspects of life.  Social needs comes from the idea that all humans have need for belonging and acceptance.  Once these three needs are met, the fourth level is esteem, which gives humans a sense of contribution and value. At the top of the hierarchy is self-actualization.  Once all other needs are fulfilled, human beings can focus on reaching their full potential, personal growth and achievement.




Additional information:

The Poverty Line project is a pictorial website that shows the daily amounts of food you can buy if your income lies at the poverty line.  Presenting us with a graphical representation of the purchasing power of people living on the poverty line, this project attempts to show us what it means to be poor.  This website shows that poverty lines vary in different countries.  For example, a person on the poverty line in USA can purchase $4.91 of food while someone in Madagascar can only purchase $0.64 of food.  However, this project also has flaws - poverty is just not this simple.  Since it only shows the amount of food for people on the poverty line, it therefore tells us nothing about poor people who actually live under the curve.  It also only focuses on food, and does not show you the other poor living standards.  Because there is so much that goes into poverty, this project presents us with only a small glimpse of what it means to be poor.

ONE is described as "a movement of people around the world fighting the absurdity of extreme poverty." This program stood out to us because it shows that poverty is more than an abstract idea.  We tend to think of poverty as something distant, something that happens to people half-way around the world.  However, written on the home page of ONE in bold red letters is the number "1 billion." For 1 billion people, poverty is their daily existence. ONE believes that the answer is to take action, through phone calls, letters, rallies and petitions.