The Impact of Poverty

The other day, I was sitting in a cafe when a young Gambian walks in and sits down next to me at the bar. I go to this cafe often, and know most of the customers and the staff. This young man was unknown to me, and there was something off about him. I noticed he was eyeing my phone, so I took it off the bar and put it in my pocket. Five minutes later, one of the customers yells, “where is my phone, it was just right here!”. He sat on the other side of this young man. The security guard asks the man to empty his pockets and out comes the phone. At this moment he hits the young man so hard in the face that his glasses fly off and end up 3 meters across from the bar. Within seconds an angry mob of customers and staff surround the thief and decide to take justice into their own hands. They hold his hands behind his back and fire off more blows until the manager tells security to take him out back. There the thief receives a severe beating, while in the cafe the victim decides not to hand him over to the police, but instead let him off with a beating, knowing he will tell his thief buddies not to come back to this particular cafe. They flag down a taxi, and over my shoulder I can see them throwing the thief in the back seat of the car, kicking and beating him while he is sprawled across the seat, his blood staining the upholstery.

Afterwards I was told that he was lucky not to be handed over to the police, as he would have spent 2-3 years in jail, where he would be continuously beaten. The speed with which the mob formed and the severity of the beating attest to how quickly things can get out of hand when you have nothing to lose. I have been told that all it takes to create an angry mob is yell “thief”, and point at someone. People will appear from out of nowhere, beating the 

suspect senseless before even calling the police. 

Poverty makes people angry and violent.

Poverty kills hope and ambition.

Poverty breeds more poverty.

Poverty is the reason you die from a simple stomach flu.

Poverty makes you have lots of children, half of which will not survive past age 10.

Poverty is raping your own country of every resource, not caring of what the long term effects might be.

Poverty is working the land under the burning sun at temperatures of 40 degrees.

Poverty results in leaving your home and family to drown on your way to Lampeduza.

Poverty is when your most valuable possession is a bag of rice.