Just by driving around İstanbul you will be approached by half dozen or more beggars on the streets. You may wonder, if you give them some cash, are you really helping them? The last thing we should want to do is to make others dependent on us. After all, money has the potential to destroy and to help. In addition to this, our attitude and the way the money is given also has the power to build or tear down.Güzin Erdoğan conducted research to determine the level of poverty in Turkey during the 1990s. Erdoğan also explored whether or not Turkey really had raised the standard of living.
Several questions need to be asked: How do we define what poverty is? How do we determine who is poor? Does poverty have a certain standard?
In short, we can say that relative poverty is defined as being “a lack of access to sufficient economic and social resources that would allow a minimum adequate standard of living and participation in that society.” (Waldegrave, Stephens & King, 2003)
Based on Erdoğan’s research, some concerning trends have occurred in Turkey: Turkey was making progress in the 1990s before its economic crisis to raise the standard of living. According to the 1992 Human Development Report of the United Nations, Turkey was considered at the middle level of developed nations, ranking 71st of 160 countries (UNDP, 1992). In 1995 it was 66th in rank (UNDP, 1995).
On Dec. 1, the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) announced in a press release the results of its 2008 poverty study. It reports that in Turkey 374,000 individuals are living below the hunger line and 17.11 percent of Turkey’s population, meaning 11,930,000 individuals, are living below the poverty line.
Interestingly, individuals who live in rural areas are at greater risk of falling into poverty than those who live in urban areas.
Turkey has a climate and rich fertile soil that produce a variety of vegetables and fruits. You’ve probably seen produce from Turkey in Europe and elsewhere.
It makes it hard to imagine that people are starving in Turkey when you walk down the street and see on nearly every corner a vegetable and fruit stand. The prices are so reasonable that most consumers purchase by the kilogram rather than by the piece.
You will find in abundance delicious vegetables such as eggplant, peas, beans, squashes, cucumbers and tomatoes. You’ll love the fresh fruit such as apricots, apples, grapes, pears, plums, raisins, oranges, melons and cherries. Turkey is one of those countries that have some large modern farms, but you will also see many traditional family farms.
How can those who are suffering be helped?
A man whom millions admire, Winston Churchill, once said: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
But this brings us back to the original challenge: how to give.
I’ve been reading a very thought-provoking book entitled “Giving Wisely” by Jonathan Martin, who asks hard questions. Martin explains that often it seems that government redistribution of wealth seems to impoverish the very people it wants to help.
Africa is a good example of this. It is worse off than it was nearly half century ago, when it was a recipient of great sums of money.
It seems one African nation is trying to do something about this. Ethiopia has been driven in part by last year’s global food crisis and an increase in a crowded and hungry world to consider alternative options. In recent months, in order to help its economy, Ethiopia began to farm out fertile land to other nations such as Saudi Arabia, India and China. Maybe you heard about this: crop-sourcing. It was not so long ago that Ethiopia appealed for food aid for about 6 million people as drought devastated parts of East Africa, says Stephanie McCrummen. (The Washington Post)
Between 2000 -2006, Turkey ranked 79 out of 181 countries in terms of the population living below the poverty level, whereas Ethiopia ranked 171, with 44 percent of its population living below the poverty level.“Some men worship rank, some worship heroes, some worship power, some worship God, and over these ideals they dispute, but they all worship money.” Mark Twain
Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com
