Dave M.

Asuncion
CD 100 SXY-3
Faces of Poverty

“Ending world poverty is an unrealistic goal.” This quotation is coming from a

person on the internet named Jonathan Tanner in his article concerning poverty from 8
years ago. Poverty is ubiquitous and no matter where you are in this world, we cannot
deny the fact that people are living in poverty even in the world’s richest countries. If there
are people who believe that poverty will not be eradicated and it still lingers even in the
richest countries, I can’t help to ask myself: Can the world end extreme poverty? If not,
why? If yes, how? I must admit that these are long-standing questions that have been
wandering around my brain since my youth, and obviously, no one I know would dare to
give a definite answer.

In 47 days taking the CD 100 course at the University of the Philippines, I’ve
learned quite a few lessons and it gradually gives clarity as to why that author on the
internet said that eliminating poverty is quixotic and I somehow grasp why people are also
confused and couldn’t give a definite answer to my question. The following are the three
major lessons that I have learned in CD 100 class where I got enlightenment from the
question that has been puzzling me since youth:

1. Poverty has many faces and comes in many forms, ways, and shapes at
different places around the world, and can be described variously by different
people based on their perception. When we ask people about the definition of poverty
you would normally hear, “lack of money to meet basic needs and necessities such as
food, shelter, and clothing” and technically, they are correct. I have to admit that I have
had the same opinion concerning poverty before. However, I’ve learned that poverty is
many different things. Poverty is multidimensional; poverty is insecurity; poverty is
exclusion and the effect of class struggle; poverty is deprivation of basic human rights;
poverty can be determined based on people’s perspectives. The fact that we can be the
ones to define poverty might be the reason why ending poverty can be idealistic. This
conscientization led me to the conclusion that perhaps we can end one form of poverty
at a time but not all at the same time. Moreover, it is unrealistic, and people are
Dave M. Asuncion
CD 100 SXY-3

uncertain about it because it would take dubious years to eliminate all forms, and even
science can barely solve the problem of poverty right now, so it has always been faith in
humanity and our collective power that we are clinging to. As they say, when science fails
to give an answer that is when faith comes in.

2. Community development professionals and workers must have a sound

analysis of the real root cause and not merely the symptoms or manifestations of
the problem. It has been a blatant struggle for CD workers to differentiate the root causes
and symptoms of the problem in the community. The tendency is they only provide
temporary remedies and not sustainable results.

3. Gender analysis and perspective is essential in development. People often

couldn’t care less about gender that we forget that it has a massive impact on poverty,
and gender equality can be a key to eradicating it. Women always have a higher chance
of experiencing poverty than men and it is evident that they suffer more. As they say,
“Poverty has a woman’s face,” and I reckon that feminization of poverty has to end.

I worked in the BPO industry for how many months whilst studying in Quezon City.
While in training, my trainer asked, “Who had it easy, men or women?” One of my co-
workers answered, “Men, [because] patriarchy has been so ingrained in our society for
[a] literal decade that no matter how much effort ang gawin sa 21st century ang hirap pa
rin tanggalin and it affects women in pretty much every aspect of their lives. Women are
basically sexualized, excluded, or shamed in many male-dominated spaces.” This
response came from a 19-year-old woman. All of us, even men, in the room retorted
“men” with different reasons but all boiled down to the fact that women are always seen
as inferior to men that’s why men can do everything they want to women, even the most
inappropriate things, and they are being undervalued just because of their gender. With
that experience, I’m delighted to know that the world is gradually becoming more aware
of the need to fight gender inequality. However, I realized that I was in the environment
Dave M. Asuncion
CD 100 SXY-3

of a working-class located in the richest city of the Philippines when I heard those
answers, and my experience is different from when I was in the province.

I am originally from Nueva Ecija where farms are the main scenery and extremely
far away from the city and civilization. In my 21 years of living in the small town of Guimba,
Nueva Ecija, I have seen how people normalize gender inequality and they have little to
no knowledge about it because it’s already embedded in the culture that prospers in our
town which led them to think that it was common. Let’s take my family as a reference. My
mother is a housekeeper, and she’s in charge of household work such as washing the
dishes, doing the laundry, cleaning the house, cooking the food, etc. She usually wakes
up at 4 in the morning to do these chores, especially the laundry, because she has to
wash used clothes coming from the 5 members of our family including herself. One time
I heard her conversation with my father because they were fighting about money. My
father asked her why did she have the audacity to ask for money when in fact she was
not working at all and not generating any income for the family. A few minutes of silence
occurred then my father suddenly uttered, “wala ka namang ginagawa rito sa bahay, sino
bang nagtatrabaho, diba ako?” I saw the dismay on my mother’s face; she was eventually
too stunned to speak, and no words were coming out of her mouth. Nonetheless, one
thing is for sure, she was discriminated against, undervalued, and dehumanized. That
time, I silently agreed with my father and thought that he was right, and that fight was just
normal. However, there was a question that formulated in my brain after that incident.
Why was my father so angry about my mother not working at all when in fact he was the
one who told her to not work, and just do household chores because as a man, he should
be the one to provide for our family? In contrast, why did my mother agree with that
arrangement when she can perfectly work and provide income for the family?

Now that I have learned different tools of analysis and understand the definitions
of poverty, it made me realize that gender bias and discrimination, like what happened to
my mother, are rooted in the culture of patriarchy, and gender inequality is a major factor
in poverty. Traditional patriarchal norms deter my mother to seek full-time employment,
Dave M. Asuncion
CD 100 SXY-3

thus, my father has to bear the burden of making ends meet alone. There’s a link between
patriarchy and capitalism and one proof of that is the sexual division of labor just like my
mother had experienced: she was kept within the four corners of our house catering to
the male members of the family as an unpaid domestic worker. At this time, I have come
to know that the answer to my question after that incident with my mother was one word:
patriarchy.

I abhor the fact that my mother experiences discrimination because of her gender.
I don’t want my sister, aunt, grandmother, and any other women out there to experience
poverty just because they are women. As a CD student, I greatly appreciate my degree
program BS Community Development because it taught me relevant lessons one must
know to become an effective member of society and a catalyst of change. The discipline
of community development always implies that it has a bias toward the poor. It helps
people; however, it focuses on the groups of people at the margin of society such as the
impoverished, oppressed, disenfranchised, and persecuted. Moreover, I have realized
that there is good and power in the community, and they have the potential, agency, and
capabilities for change.

Community development has a principle of empowerment, participation, self-

reliance, a bias for the poor, equity, and accountability. As a CD student, it is my duty to
uphold these principles to enhance people’s potential and capabilities, promote people’s
well-being and welfare, and build collective power. Ending the world’s poverty is
unrealistic to some but to us community development practitioners, we will not get tired
until we lose our job because the very reason why we are working is already eliminated.
I can wait to see no development workers around the community; however, will I still be
alive when that happens?