I have been asking myself this question more and more each day – how much does it cost to be free from poverty? There are a few things to work out before answering this question. Is being poor the same as being in poverty? is being free from poverty the same as being financially independent? What is the minimum about of Kwacha does needed to be considered to be free from poverty?
They used to say, ‘less than a dollar a day’, now they say ‘less than $1.25 a day’. If a person in Zambia earned $1.26 a day, can we then say that this person is free from poverty? What does it mean to be free from poverty? A good house, a good education, good health?
I want to know how much it costs, so that I can start making new targets and improve the plans that I already have and implementing.
See End Poverty by 2015 – millennium development goals – http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
I am planning a conference/meeting to be held in Kitwe Zambia in December, on the agenda will be a set of questions that will help me (and others) understand what it required to end poverty (being poor), basically the way forward.
I like this bottom-up approach because I feel empowered I guess. I have left others to lobby Government for change (I will participate when given the opportunity).
A number of discussions will be help in one of the forums on the Zambian Forum website – http://www.zambianforum.com/, the final questions to be tackled at the conference/meeting in Kitwe will be finallised and made available as the agenda of the meeting.