In these days of the credit crunch, the word ‘poverty’ can mean so much to many different people.  There is no doubt that times are very hard and that for some, there is real suffering and distress.

The question ‘What is poverty?’ is one which I asked myself before I went to Fizi. I wondered what to expect. Nothing could prepare me for the reality. There was no electricity, no piped water, no sanitation, no postal system and no land-line phones. The market stalls seemed to have some small fish for sale, maybe some fruit, perhaps some flip flops or a few bars of soap. It seemed as though I had stepped back in time hundreds of years.

New babies were carried on their mother’s back, but it seemed as though once they could toddle, they were on their own. We saw tiny children wander along the side of the main road (there was only one road) into Fizi. It was perhaps fortunate that the vehicles could not possibly drive fast as the road was so poor, but there must surely be tragic accidents with these little ones if they had not yet learnt to jump out of the way in time.

The children’s clothing was so poor and ragged. We saw little ones of perhaps 5 years old carrying a baby brother or sister.  Young children walked with heavy pots of water on their heads.  Some local children came running to the fun day and pleaded to be allowed to join in. Their parents did not have enough money to pay for them to be in school.