Last Sunday (250710) I dedicated my commentary in The Sunday Times to Ġanna (not her real name). She has to make ends meet with €600 a month. How can one stretch €600 to pay utility bills, other expenses, feed and dress two adults and three children every month? Her visits to the grocery store serve to buy bread and pasta. From time to time, she manages to save a little to do small luxuries like buying ham for the children's school lunch. When someone gets sick, even a minor thing such as influenza, disaster strikes. It is very difficult to pay the medical bills.

Ġanna would like to work to earn more cash, but finds it very difficult to find a job since her children are still very young and she has no one with whom she can leave them.

The drama of Ġanna is not the drama of the majority, though for her it is the drama of unanimity. The drama of Ġanna is shared by hundreds, if not by a few thousands. Each one of them has the same dignity and rights like each one of us. Each one of them loves his or her children like the rest of us. Their hurt aches when they notice that their children's poverty stands out like a sore thumb in class. For one reason or another, some people are left outside the prosperity and well-being that affects the vast majority. Unfortunately, many of us who are better off, tend to blame the poor for their poverty. However, it is definitively not true - perhaps with some very minor exceptions - that the poor should be blamed for the poverty they suffer. Moreover, even if they are to blame we are still obliged to do our part to help them.

Our inactivity cries for vengeance from the highest of heavens!

Zero poverty is possible

The drama of Ġanna is the drama of around 20 million people in the European Union. The solution is not easy but it is technically possible to eradicate poverty. Moreover, it is a human imperative to eliminate poverty. The deprivation of the poor is a shameful blot on our collective and individual consciences. This year the EU is targeting poverty and social exclusion. One hopes that the different member states will meet this target.

The solutions go beyond the individual help or donations one can, and should give. There are structural and economic changes that have to be enacted on national and international levels. Equal opportunities for quality jobs for all, guaranteeing adequate basic income and equal access for all to quality social and healthcare services are among the political proposals touted by the EU. Investing in education and training is also fundamental, so that every person is offered the possibility of maximising their life chances.

Children are particularly vulnerable. The children of the poor tend to become poor themselves as they fall in the poverty trap which can keep them poor all their life. It is also shameful that many minorities are still excluded from mainstream prosperity. One can mention ethnic minorities (in several EU countries), immigrants (even in Malta), disabled people or people living with or affected by different diseases e.g. HIV/AIDS.

Caritas Europa is giving its contribution continuously stating that zero poverty is possible. As they noted in one of their statements, European policy can be fatally short-sighted in many ways. "Examples also come from European governments' approach to climate change. Although Europe is a global leader in this area, more needs to be done to achieve ambitious climate/energy targets, as sustainable development is the right of all people and future generations. The quality and effectiveness of EU aid is another example. EU Policy Coherence for Development must be strengthened so that all EU external policies affecting the situation of developing countries support the objective of a sustainable and inclusive development. Better aid quality and more resources for development are needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015."

Other forms of poverty

Material poverty is very bad, but other kinds of poverty are equally appaling. Bishop Mario Grech in a homily last March, pointed towards material poverty, but highlighted other forms of poverty.

A few direct quotations suffice:

• "An affluent society can be a poor society. When material wealth is not treated as a means but as an end in itself, the same material wealth becomes a cause of poverty."
• "Among there is a type of poverty which can be called poverty of the heart. While many people's pockets are full, many people's hearts are dry and poor! We are afraid to love because true love asks from us a high price. We can see this poverty of the heart in our families: relationships between the married couple and between parents and children are getting weaker."
• "Those who are poor in heart do not commit themselves of those who are sick, old, or are dying. Those who are poor in heart marginalize others because of their beliefs, colour or sexual orientation!"
• "When sciences loses its soul it becomes as dangerous as much as it can be of service. A science without a soul can manipulate humans. We should be worried that during 2008 three million babies were exterminated in their womb in Europe."

Conclusion

Politicians, trade unionists, economists, church people, educationalists, scientists and the rest of us are bound to make everything possible so that we can make life better for the Ġannas of this world.

A lot has been done, but as long as Ġanna dreams of the day when she is able to fete her kids on ham, we have to remind ourselves that the best we did so far is simply not good enough.