Blog Action Day: The Conversation on Poverty

Poverty has a profound effect on people and can cause ripples throughout communities.

Poverty is affecting society. The enormous hole left by possibilities that go unrealized becomes even greater with our discomfort in acknowledging the gap. The rapid aging of the population in the Western hemisphere and the failing of public systems contribute to increasing demands on individuals. Many of us are called upon to assist our families in two directions for the future - children and parents.

As well, there are 36 million people (spotlight on poverty) in our communities (interactive map of the US that shows poverty levels) who are struggling to make ends meet. The chart you see up there is a global map of poverty created by Maplecroft. If you go to the site, you will see what the symbols mean, but I think you can get an idea just visually. There are case studies and analysis in the interactive maps.

Can we change the conversation on poverty with action? How can we tie our personal goals with helping others? What can we offer the world?

Today thousands of blogs with millions of readers are joining in the conversation thanks to social media.

The map here depicts digital inclusion around the world. The lime green denotes high connectivity with the blue wifi symbols signaling  businesses that have made connectivity possible in various areas. The regression then goes to light pink, dark pink, and red. The black wifi symbol means hotspots and the yellow one shows improvements. When you view the map at the site, you will be able to roll over and learn more on each.

If we cross reference the areas of highest connection with the listing or grouping of blogs, for example, we will see that Japan, many parts of Europe, Australia, and North America have more. Lest one thinks this is all talk we do on blogs, I beg to differ. In the third year of my personal blog I am planning to share more case studies and lessons learned from doing. Many of the professionals who are active in social media are also passionate doers.

Today many join in by speaking up for their communities, sharing about their professional contributions, donating and microfinancing, and informing their readers. 

Three Areas of Involvement

There are at least three areas where one can help their community, especially in today's economic climate:

1. Volunteering - there are many non profit organizations that do excellent work in many cities. In Philadelphia I can think of Greater Philadelphia Cares. Strapped for opportunities to get physically to a place? Check out the UN Online Volunteering site. You will learn that more than 40% volunteer from developing countries and that more than 50% of the assignments are non tech related. You probably know this already - online interactions are very personal.

I have met most of the people with whom I connected in the last two years at least once face-to-face. In fact, there is a higher likelihood of someone volunteering physically when they mobilize online. Online volunteering is a strong opportunity for development in the coming years (see research on online volunteering).

Let's put two of the most-used words today to good use: collaboration and community. How can we make the impossible possible?

2. Mentoring - I've talked about my involvement with students in the past. Are you using your influence? Social media promises to become important for fulfilling this promise as well. If people can take online courses for credits, reading blogs, learning from professional peers who act as facilitators, and getting the opportunity to do virtual internships are all great ways to do that.

There is one area of mentoring that is especially dear to my heart - and that is teaching children how to read. A while back I wrote a forward to The Age of Conversation, where I talked briefly about my work with brain-injured children.

One of the books I like to give away to expecting parents is How to Teach Your Baby to Read. I used this methodology to teach children Italian and I have seen it used successfully to teach brain-injured children how to read. It works even if you decide not to do it after you read the book, which is written for parents. It works because it changes forever the way you look at your child's potential.

There are still lots of kids who are not in school and are not working, too many.

Here we could put another couple of expressions familiar to social media participants to good use: learning and using your influence to do good (link love as in showcasing good work).

3. Giving - in a recent interview I did with a reporter from The Philadelphia Inquirer I talked about reaching out to your community and helping the elderly. I have lived 4,500 miles away from my mother for twenty years now. She lives very frugally because she has to - thanks to a broken system and her switching careers, she does not qualify for a full pension despite having contributed millions of Euros to the system.

She still works to supplement her meager share so she can buy groceries. I help as much as I can. One does not only need financial help. Sometimes she needs carpentry, plumbing, or electrical work done, for example. I am grateful for the friends she has over there who do help. Thankfully she is still young and capable of taking care of herself.

Giving does not mean only money, it also means time, support, and attention. Many of the people in my neighborhood are retired. The younger among us do look on them. They give back by being available for a delivery, etc.

Collaboration, community, but also crowdsourcing come to mind here.

There is a lot of advice for those who intend to begin conserving more. Frugality for self can also mean generosity for others. Who knows, we may find out that we are happier spending less. I have been on a "have less" drive for the past couple of years and it feels very good. There was an article in the recent issue of Reader's Digest about frugality and happiness. See also how to get a great deal on anything, if you are in the market for buying.

I saw a story on msn money about a family that tried to live on $25 a week. Imagine what it's like having to do that, or even less. I have always believed that helping people learn and believe in themselves, mentoring and giving of one's time go a long way to help communities raise themselves up and improve. What are your ways to help bring about action? Conversation is a first step.

Comments

[Melissa M]

Fantastic post! I am bookmarking it because of all the wonderful links you've provided. Thank you!

[Lewis Green]

Valeria,

Thank you for sharing your critical thinking on this important subject.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Melissa - I know this is not a contest, your story was so moving! Thank you for reading and for reaching out. I am glad to have met you, virtually.

@Lewis - growing up quasi poor has trained me not to forget. This was a worthy topic and initiative.

[Richard Becker]

Valeria,

Thanks for the Twitter reminder on this one. How very important for us all to stop and think, and then move that thought into action.

All the best,
Rich

[Suzanna Stinnett]

Valeria, thank you for this timely, insightful post. The graphics are fascinating, seeing the world's distribution of info-tech availability. When I teach content for bloggers, I prompt people to ask themselves "What gift do I want to give the world?" The Internet is a magnanimous place and a naturally expansive tool. With a little guidance, I think we can move into a very different world through effective use of communication.
I think you're proof of that, and I applaud your very intelligent writing.
cheers
Suzanna Stinnett

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Rich - glad the Twitter reminder was helpful. I know from reading you and your activities that you and your company are very active in the community. Thank you for taking action, and for visiting.

@Suzanna - from reading the comments to some of your posts, I glean that many feel overwhelmed by it all. This comes across also in my conversation with copywriters and marketing communications professionals. Anyone who, like you, helps people navigate through the waters of online effectiveness is a welcome contribution. Thank you for your kind words and keep up the good work!

[Dan Bassill]

Great use of maps and great suggestions. I encourage you to visit http://tutormentor.blogspot.com and http://mappingforjustice.blogspot.com to see how we're using poverty maps to focus volunteers and donors to volunteer-based tutoring/mentoring programs in all high poverty areas of Chicago. If there were databases showing organizations serving poverty areas in the various parts of the world where poverty was concentrated, our blogging could connect potential volunteers and donors to these programs, and these programs to each other.

If we repeat this even just four times a year we could increase the flow of resources to many of these organizations who now struggle because few people know they exist.

[Neil Anuskiewicz]

Even if we acknowledge that virtually every human being on this earth is in it for themselves, it is in every individuals best interest to reduce poverty and *extreme* disparities in income.

I read in an authoritative source that FDR's Federal Reserve Chairman once said that one of the primary causes of the Great Depression were that, "as in a poker game where the chips were concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, the other fellows could stay in the game only by borrowing. When their credit ran out, the game stopped."

Both the beauty and tragedy of capitalism is that its engine is the most reliable of human motivators -- self-interest. Through that reliable engine driving human behavior, we have created prosperity.

The tragedy is not far off from the classic "tragedy of the commons." How to harness the self-interest that drives this prosperity to work toward resolving enormous poverty, is one of the World's greatest challenges and has been for some time, now.