It Seems Like Poverty Is Over...

“To start friendship, you need friendship. If you start by giving something, the day when you have nothing people won’t understand.  But if you have friendship, that will never end.” This phrase, from a young man who had lived on the streets, guided Virginie and Guillaume Charvon through the six years they spent in the Courtyard of a Hundred Trades in Burkina Faso.  Since arriving in Boston in September with their three children, this sentence has continued to guide their steps through the encounter with a new culture, a new country, and the work of ATD Fourth World in the United States.

 

Virginie and Guillaume’s journey with ATD Fourth World has been a winding one – after first meeting ATD in Bolivia, they returned to their native France and became involved in Street Libraries there before joining the Volunteer Corps.  After three years spent working at the International Center in France, they moved to Ouagadougou.“Burkina Faso is a homeland for us. We grew so much there as people, as a family – two of our children were born during our time there. We also grew as Volunteers thanks to the patient instruction of the members of ATD Fourth World there – particularly the children and families with the most difficult lives,” Virginie told us.Among the things Virginie and Guillaume are bringing from Burkina Faso, there are three that seem the most important for their time in the US.First, a quote from Mr. Andre, the oldest member of the Courtyard of a Hundred Trades, “Even in poverty, people have ideas. If no one recognizes these ideas, then people fall even deeper into poverty.” This phrase helps them to understand that the meeting and sharing of knowledge is essential for eradicating poverty.  Boston is certainly a privileged place to pass on this message.The second fundamental lesson that they bring with them is the phrase of a young woman who told them, “Without friends, I would be in the darkness.”  For people living in poverty, to be in contact with others is a powerful motor of resistance to poverty.  “When we are with others, it’s like poverty is over,” as one mother put it.Last, they think of a father, returning from a river where he had been cutting grass for hours to then sell it to pay the school fees for his children. He told them, “I don’t want my children to suffer as I have suffered.” Parents have a deep yearning to offer a future to their children through school, education, or apprenticeships, and  to transmit to them the knowledge necessary to be full members of a community.  This generates a deep creativity on the part of families living in extreme poverty, which in turn inspires the action of ATD Fourth World.  Even if the ways of acting and creating are different in Africa than in the US, Virginie and Guillaume could feel during October 17th in New York that the ambition is the same.As Guillaume told us, “In both countries we find people who are welcoming, even if their welcomes are different. This diversity – it’s extraordinary.  We left people behind us, and we found people again when we arrived.’’