What does it really mean when we talk about breaking the poverty cycle?
It’s the kind of phrase that we often use when we’re talking about helping those in the developing world but do we really understand what it means in practical terms?
Look at the man in the photo in this post. That’s what it means to break the cycle.
When we talk about the cycle we’re talking about those living in poverty having children who live in poverty with their poor lifestyle being handed down from generation to generation. When someone has little money they’re unable to create a foundation for their children to build a better life. Unless someone is prepared to step in, desperate poverty will be handed down through each generation.
The guy in the picture above came from a poor background and was sponsored through Compassion.
Something exciting has happened through the sponsorship of this young man. He is now the accountant for one of the Compassion projects we visited in Dominican Republic. He’s no longer relying on the support of others, he’s working and earning money for his family.
Now here’s the exciting bit … his son isn’t part of a Compassion project. He doesn’t need to be. Thanks to the generous support of this man’s sponsor, the cycle has been broken. Not only is he able to take on meaningful, paid employment, his son doesn’t have to rely on sponsorship to give him a hand up and he won’t have to pass down a life of poverty to his children.
As I saw time and time again during my trip to Haiti and Dominican Republic, sponsoring just one child does far more than touch just one life. Sponsoring just one child may effect generations of his or her family. What an amazing oppoprtunity we have to break the poverty cycle.
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