Being poor is something many people in Guyana could probably relate to given that a considerable number of them struggle to make ends meet, and find it extremely hard to pay their bills and eat properly in the same month.
Things are so bad that being poor is not something people hide anymore. In fact, many cannot hide it. The reality is that more people are falling into the bracket of living on the line; waking up each morning and praying their salary comes in on that day, because getting by any longer is going to take a miracle.
Some people would rather not hear about the plight of the poor in Guyana. We have heard comments to the effect: “The poor don’t want to change their circumstances”, “The poor cry about being poor and do nothing about it” and “They born poor and want to die poor”.
On Wednesday afternoon, we met two young children – a brother and sister – who beg for a living. Aged 16 and 10, they leave a crowded home of eight other siblings with no sign of daddy anywhere and a mother without no job.
After three hours of working the road they go back home with whatever they manage to collect; sometimes it is not much. Though money was what they were really after, the first thing they asked for was something to eat. They wanted a piece of bread, pastry, rice, anything that would fill their empty stomachs. When asked had they eaten for the day they said no.
It is true that they represent only a fraction of the many children begging everyday on the streets. They also represent a vast number of the country’s youths who are not in a position to help being poor. They grow up in poverty and often live out the rest of their lives in poverty.
Whether it is being placed in a position where an education comes second to surviving; working a low income job to feed other siblings or having no choice than to work for next-to-nothing, many who are born into cannot escape an eventual life of poverty.
The two children we met could not remember what last they attended school; they do not go regularly if at all. They said if going to school meant being hungry all day then they would not go. Who is there to tell them otherwise?
But theirs is not the only scenario, many very poor people do not live on the streets, or in depressed communities, nor do they beg. They live all over and some have nine-to-five jobs. Many are actually surviving because of remittances. If money does not come from overseas on a regular basis many would bawl.
Remittances to Guyana are significantly higher than direct foreign investment and there is nothing which says this is likely to change anytime soon. It is this money and not their jobs, which is keeping many people afloat.
There is no short-term solution to eradicating poverty, we are aware of this. But something should at least be done for the children. Why should they suffer the consequences of hardship they did not bring on themselves and see only desolation in their future? thescene@stabroeknews.com
