The Hope for Latvia Blog
Isn't Latvia a part of Europe?
This is perhaps the question I get asked the most when I talk to people about our work. The next sentence is typically “there is no real poverty in Europe” or “its not that bad in Europe compared to …” To be honest it is a frame of mind that I had to overcome myself. There appears to be presumptions that because a country is part of the European community that it is prosperous and that whilst there may be deprived areas, large scale poverty certainly doesn’t exist. There appears to be a belief that absolute poverty, the type of poverty that means people are fighting for their very survival is something experienced by people on different continents, in rural countries that take a long time to travel to. Not in the middle of a capital city only two hours flight time away. As I spend time with people and the conversation about the situation in Latvia develops, another recurring theme is; that surely the EU is spending billions lifting people out of poverty? Surely it is just a matter of time before Latvia naturally becomes as prosperous as other European countries. The answer is that the European Union is spending money; the world’s most expensive bridge per citizen has just opened and is to be shortly followed by a prestigious multi-million pound national library. Latvian transport is excellence, there are a multitude of options that are warm and arrive on time; yet they remain unaffordable to those living in poverty. I don’t wish to appear cynical: infrastructure is vital for the economy to succeed in Latvia and the EU is the only organisation with the capacity to complete these projects. It’s just that right now I know so many families that are struggling to make it through the day, if we don’t help them now they won’t ever be able to use these great facilities. Hopefully the EU’s projects will play a part in creating a growing economy but just because the country could potentially have more income, it doesn’t mean that its people will. Back in 2004-2005 which was a time of growth, we saw the rich becoming better off at the same time as the poor became worse off. I believe that it is the responsibility of organisations such as Hope for Latvia to be on the ground working alongside people in helping them build a great future for themselves. To help them to be in a position that allows them to take hold of the opportunities that any further growth may bring. That it is our responsibility to raise the profile of this situation and to bring people into partnership with the aim of breaking the cycle of poverty in Latvia. John Lee is the project manager of Hope for Latvia"Surely the EU is spending billions lifting people out of poverty?"
It is our responsibility to raise the profile of this situation
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