Open AccessEquipping the poorest of the poor to become agents of community transformation: A case study of milk as a catalyst in Burundi
Author(s) -
Andries G. van Aarde,
Awoyemi Taiwo Timothy
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
in die skriflig/in die skriflig
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2305-0853
pISSN - 1018-6441
DOI - 10.4102/ids.v51i1.2250
Subject(s) - poverty , dignity , beneficiary , politics , economic growth , stewardship (theology) , political science , development economics , extreme poverty , dependency (uml) , language change , political economy , sociology , economics , law , engineering , systems engineering , art , literature
Community transformation has cultural, political and religious dimensions. In the case of Burundi, it is ranked 188/188 on the scale of the world’s poorest countries. The poor in Burundi have a fatalistic attitude towards poverty as a result of the unstable political climate, corruption and a climate of suspicion. The poor are cynical and have no hopeful future expectations. The resourcefulness of the poor having been muted. The Christian church of Burundi has developed a culture of dependency. The role of the church in the West has been limited to lifting the poor out of abject poverty. A creative use of available resources and the participation of the poor through the recognition of their own resourcefulness and stewardship is a sustainable approach to the alleviation of poverty. Newfrontiers churches have developed the approach of equipping the poor as a mission’s strategy to participate in the missio Dei. The majority of churches and non-governmental organisations who endeavour to alleviate poverty in Burundi have, what can be termed, a ‘dependency virus’ or ‘dependency crisis’ and are victims caught in the ‘dependency trap’, that is, they create a culture of dependency through their provision. The loss of dignity that follows, transform the community into a slave of the beneficiary system in which poverty is conceived as a lack of things rather than a mind-set born from help given by the beneficiary without the consent of the poor.