Poverty Interview with bill prevette

Many who make it out of unbearable situations find solous that one day, the world may know their story, which gives meaning to their suffering. Yet others write because they think themselves clever. But in this interview with Bill Prevette, we will see his opinion on poverty and how a situation can be rectified. Prevette was a missionary, Oxford professor, and now author. His books seek to enlighten readers on living in war-torn areas and how poverty can be aided.

Many believe that poverty is a lack of motivation and laziness. What would you say poverty is perpetuated by? "If you go into a poverty-stricken situation, is poverty a lack of stuff? Is poverty a lack of food and clothing and material goods? No, poverty is a lack of self-worth. It's a lack of meaning. If you had been abused your whole teenage career. You're going to have a pretty crappy view of yourself, right? That's what happens in poverty. People are ground down by circumstance. I hate how this current milieu here in America is using the word oppressed because nobody understands what oppression is. Oppression is when people's lives and spirits are just absolutely crushed, that is true poverty."

If poverty is a lack of meaning, and once self-worth has been completely demolished, how can it be rebuilt? "If we want to change a situation of poverty and if we are committed to helping these individuals, it will take a long-term commitment and investment in local people." In other words, if a volunteer wants to reinstate self-worth in a community, there has to be a demonstration that their lives are something to be fought for, and this is achieved through the sacrifice of peoples time and energy.

How do you think your writing affected more prominent organization's approach to poverty? "Big organizations have all these Western ideas about I want to help; I want to help, I want to help. And it's like, well, wait a minute, by helping, you might hurt. Are you even aware of this? Most are not. It's like, wait a minute before you do anything, start figuring it out. The root causes of poverty are generally people have been held down their past experience, and don't know the way out." In Prevette's writing, he explains how the West has failed when providing aid to impoverished countries. He then offers better answers, such as investing in local industry and pouring into the next generations to ensure that the mindset of poverty is not passed down.