Entrepreneurship, a way out of poverty

Ever see those videos highlighting global poverty? They show clips of starving children, dilapidated homes, and houses made from trash. Most of the time, it’ll showcase really run-down and poverty-stricken economies that no one should have to live in. Personally, I feel extremely saddened whenever I see how much the children suffer. Living in the US where we’re more concerned about whether we’ve got the newest and shiniest things, watching those videos is like a wake-up call. Just like those videos strive to bring awareness to poverty-stricken people, organizations like TED and people like Jacqueline Novogratz work towards the same goal.

I’ve heard people comment that they feel sorry for people who are suffering from poverty; they just don’t see how anyone can truly get rid of poverty because the problem is just too big and complicated to solve. While the task is definitely a big challenge, I don’t think it’s impossible. In one of her talks, Jacqueline Novogratz told of how one woman, Jane, found a way out of poverty. Though Jane had tried many ways to earn money (even having to depend on prostitution), it wasn’t until she was able to begin her own business (fixing old garments/dresses and selling them) was she finally able to really escape from the chains of poverty.

I found it interesting that her answer to solving her problem was to develop her own business. While some (mostly western way of thinking) may consider the amount of money she earned wasn’t enough to categorize her as “not poor”, from her perspective, the limited money she was able to earn made a huge difference in her life. Her story made me think that a major key towards solving global poverty is to help people finance their own businesses, help them become entrepreneurs and find a way out of poverty for themselves. Like in Jane’s case, all she needed was some money to fund her business, and from there, she was able to make money and in a way, take herself out of poverty. She wasn’t completely reliant on someone else to carry her out of her troubles. Jane could have decided to continue living in poverty, but she took the initiative to find a solution. But, her solution wouldn’t have made a difference if she hadn’t met someone who could help make her idea become a reality (through funding). Entrepreneurship seems to be one facet in which to help lower global poverty, and people should take the opportunity to help others if given the chance. Who knows, some day it could be us needing the help some day.