Location: UN, NY
Date: 17.10.08
Event: The international Day for Eradication of Poverty.
Its not half as shallow as it would appear. This is the day when the 'powerful' have begun to aknowledge the existence of 'powerlessness'. One could say that it is indeed hypocritical to commemorate a single day to a reality that has now existed for a very long time. Well, I am at this organization and its not as powerful as the world imagines it to be. Its sense of power derives out of the agreement from 193 nations around the world.
There is a symbolic Chinese Peace Bell here and most open air world events/international days are held in its proximity. Today the Broadway cast of "A Tale of Two Cities" performed three songs. The first being a solo by a character called Mrs Defarge-a poor old french lady, who sees a young boy die and her change becomes the impetus for the French revolution-the song 'Out of sight, out of mind"
To all who stood there in the cold, we pledged the following:
"We are standing now with millions around the world on this symbolic day, the International Day.....Poverty, to show solidarity with poor people everywhere and to renew our commitment to fight against extreme poverty and inequality.
We are standing because everyday 50,000 people die needlessly as a result of extremem poverty, and the gap between the rich and the poor is getting wider.
We are standing to call on leaders-from both rich and poor countries-to deliver on their commitments to meet the Millenium Development Goals.
We are standing here at the United Nations because we pledge to accelerate our efforts to achieve the MDG's, and to keep the campaign to end extreme poverty at the heart of our work.
Today, and everyday, we will stand up, speak out and take action against poverty. We are millions of voices standing in solidarity to say: Make it happen-end poverty now."
There are words out there that unconvince me, that I know form part of the official rhetoric.
Another morning,
a walk to the subway
the wait
the coffee
She sits at the exit begging,
Surrounded by tallest of them all,
the speed,
the stale early morning smell,
the smoke, the affluence.
Everyday she dreams bigger and better