Both poverty groups went to a Poverty Eradication Conference at the United Nations. We heard from many speakers from all over the world. The goal of the visit was simply to gain statistical information to head off our project. Getting to and from the UN was simple, and our group coped well with the high security and new environment of the building. Once inside, we learned about the more than 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty. The conference was engaging and emotional, especially when we heard from the 14-year-old girl who lives in a shelter. We gained perspective by coming to understand feelings of the more than 15 speakers at the conference. While some like Magalis Lama believe that, “Poverty is about not having choices,” and that there are no available choices for people living in poverty, others, including Burkina Faso, believe, “The world is too wealthy to have hunger and poverty–there are resources, but the men and women living below the poverty line are not educated about these choices.” The visit allowed each of us to form our individual opinions about poverty.
One thing that struck me is that the national goal for the eradication of poverty is in two years. By 2015, the government hopes to have no one living under the poverty line. Personally I believe that this is not possible, unless an enormous change in America’s path occurs. One question that I have developed from this conference is what the government or smaller organizations plan to do to achieve this goal. This will be one of the important questions we will ask at future fieldworks. Maybe some other people have ideas about how our group could help solve this problem. Another question I have about this topic is why this goal is so far from being achieved. How could America let this deadline pass? Hopefully the work in the next few years will get us closer to this goal.

Since asking this question, I have learned that this goal, suggested by the United Nations has not been enforced or agreed to by other organizations, the government, or the public.  Interviews with Peter Brest and Stacey Cedeno have helped clear this confusion.