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Economic Empowerment, Livelihoods and the Many Faces of PovertyPoverty has many faces – from malnutrition, unclean drinking water, unsafe living and working conditions, limited opportunities to gain an education, or lack of opportunity to ensure economic wellbeing. All of these are risk factors for preventable illnesses that can result in disabilities.
People with disabilities in developing countries tend to be poor by all poverty standards. They may have limited or no access to employment, schooling, or quality health care and may live in unsanitary living conditions. In addition, in many cultures persons with disabilities are socially ostracised and even considered cursed. Thus people with disabilities in poor countries tend to be the poorest of the poor.
Gaining a livelihood – economic activity to generate income to meet individual and household needs - is an effective means of improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities. Not only does a livelihood improve a family’s financial wellbeing, it empowers them, restores their dignity and earns them respect from their community. Because of these broader social benefits, the promotion and creation of livelihood for persons with disabilities is important. Livelihood promotion for persons with disabilities promotes human rights and equity for the individual and his/her family.
Take for example, Asnekecha from Ethiopia. Asnekecha lost the use of her feet in the family cooking fire as an infant. She and her family were then banished to the edge of the village, and her parents struggled to make a living from their small plot to provide for Asnekecha and her 5 brothers and sisters.
When cbm’s workers found Asnekecha she was an 18 year old girl who did not believe she would ever be able to participate in life fully. Not only that, she felt she was holding back her family because of her disability. With no access to microfinance because of her disability, Asnekecha and her family were trapped in the grip of extreme poverty. Through a loan of only $250 cbm was able to provide Asnekecha and her family with the funding to buy a cow and the training needed to care for the cow and trade the milk and butter they got in the local market. Now Asnekecha is a beacon to what a woman with a disability can contribute to a community. |
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