Why is Malawi poor?
Many reasons contribute to why Malawi is poor. Geographically, Malawi is a small landlocked country with little access to global markets. They do not have any sufficient amount of natural resources, and the population is so high that most families only have a small plot of land to grow their food and therefore cannot rotate their crops. This ruins the fertility of the soil and the size of their harvest. Their main export is tobacco and with the growing concern of cancer, the demand and price has fallen while importing oil has become more expensive. Many families do not know how to do anything other than grow tobacco. They have done it for years, and now that way of life has become less supportive. Education is also a problem in Malawi. Only rich families can afford to give their children higher education so the poor children are stuck in the same way of life as their parents. In a world becoming more westernized, education is becoming important for people wanting to escape poverty.
What exactly does it mean to be poor?
Dictionary.com defines the word "poor" as "having little or no money, goods, or other means of support." People are classified as "poor" if they cannot support themselves and/or their family in a sufficient way. Many poor people have to rely on charity or other any other help they can find. Most people associate the word poor with the amount of materials and things that someone has. If someone doesn't have very much money, a nice house, a few cars... the rest of society sees them as poor. While this definition truly states how most people use the word "poor," I believe that someone can be spiritually or emotionally poor as well.
Dictionary.com also states that poor can mean "deficient or lacking." This definition is many times overlooked when applying it to humans. I have seen many people who are not economically classified as poor, but they cannot find happiness or be content with their life. Some people rely on religion to fill what is lacking; some people rely on others. The problem is that not everyone can figure out how to fill what is lacking. Some families in the poorest countries in the world may be financially poor but love the life that they live. They do not see themselves as poor because they have everything they need. This is where the word poor can be used in a different way than we are sometimes taught.
