Ivan Kovalenko

Professor Magnusson
May 1, 2016

E-Portfolio

Reflection of World Poverty

The defined rate of poverty is mind numbing low. After reading some of the brief
statistics given, it is almost impossible to imagine a life, let alone happy life, with such little
economic opportunity. If you realize that the poorest nations on earth literally are less than
$2,000 per capital a year for a family of four, you can not begin to understand the anguish in the
lives of those affected. Even with those who are at the poor level, which is figuratively
determined by the World Bank, the number is so low that a simple commute to work is more
costly than the amount of money, even when put comparatively for those in their respective
nations, than these people are afforded. The quick statistics provide us with the figure of 50% of
all nations earning a 5 K per-capita income. An even more frightening number is when it is
broken down on a daily figure.

Comparatively speaking, life in America as a poor individual still garnishes the fact that
most have access to homes, with 40% of poor Americans owning their own home, decent
selection of food, clothing, clean water and transportation. Even the daily allowances for such
things as food and transportation and education are much higher than that of 50% of the world.
Americas poor, assuming a family of four, has an allowance of $20 a day for the purchases of

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food, and even greater figure of $40 for the cost of transportation, education, and also
recreation. Allowing these minimal thresholds to combine with the amount of social services
provided, these number may even be higher. To note, these are not ideal conditions, obviously the
people suffering through these dismal numbers would like to let us know that the daily lives
endured by these low figures is not one to dream about. However, the opportunity to create and
grow under the comparatively fluffy conditions the U.S. offers is one that even established
families, such as my own, will immigrate and even take refuge to America while giving up much
of what was already earned in their former country of residence. We see this all the time, a
family who is reasonably well-off will sacrifice the status quo of their current condition in order
to rebuild in a country such as the United States.

I am a lucky first hand view of what hardships are brought into a newly formed life in a

foreign country. My family immigrated to the U.S. in 1992 from the Soviet Union, in order for
my older brother and I to have a greater opportunity in America. The social climate is one that
generally is supportive of families that have every intention into working the American dream
into fruition.
However, this is not to say that those in their respective countries are not working to
progress their own lives at home. My recent trip to Vietnam with my girlfriend at the time
showed me how locals live in their day to day lives. Catching a glimpse of my two week stay at
the locals, which were her friends and neighbors, showed me that though the daily life in a slowly
developing nation such as Vietnam is painful, but also rewarding to see. I saw that most families
are also small business owners. The public transportation system is alive (though not nearly to the
quality of the U.S.) and running throughout the day, delivering promising young faces to their

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schools and universities. The troubling part is when these young people are fighting to create a
healthy life of their own, to only be thrown hurdles by corrupt governments that are keeping
people in widespread poverty. I heard many stories of her peers who have already earned degrees
in their field of study being forced to pay their way into entry of their respective fields. Though
this type of thing occurs in many developed nations, the extent to which these people face
barriers is angering.

One thing I can take some uplifting views to heart is that the World Bank has improved

the figure of $1 to $1.50 over the last few years. Though this is a marginal increase, it is an
increase of a real figure taking in account inflation. Also, the United Nations has set up a
Millennial goal of cutting extreme poverty down by 50%, by last years date. Once again,
though the milestone was not completed, a spearheading of the issue of world poverty has
already taken place.

One suggestion I can make on how to alleviate some global poverty rates is the one I have

already taken place in; micro-loans. At Whole Foods Market I was able to generate over $3,000
for women in developing nations. Through the micro-loan program a comparatively small figure
of $150 U.S. dollars are loaned to women to fund, and provide training for, small shops. These
loans are repaid at the rate of over 90% (with no interest) and then provided to the next person
(usually woman) in need. This effectively helps people create their own pond rather than being
served a single meal of fish.
Another great way is conscious capitalism. Many businesses understand the value of
philanthropy for various reasons. Consumers are likely to purchase products that they know will
help benefit the people who are in some way related to the product, whether through production
or any other means. Companies may advertise on their label that a certain percentage of revenue

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will be distributed to those in need. For example, the Whole Trade logo at Whole Foods
Market represents a product that has some portion of their product imported from a developing
nation. The purchase of this product helps produce a liveable wage to those who helped
harvest some of the products raw materials. These are major selling points to consumers who are
comparing two like items and need an extra incentive to buy one over the other. This is also a
great way to quietly produce shopper loyalty to a specific brand or store.

*Below is a panoramic view of my stay in Ho-Chi-Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam in 2015:

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