escapingbabylon.com

I’m back.

Just found this article on UrbanFaith.com that, among other things talks about the education disparity among rich and poor students.

Wisdom of a 5th-Grade Solomon – UrbanFaith.com.

Solomon looked at me for a moment and then he burst out laughing. He was not convinced of my words in the slightest. “Aw c’mon Ms. Baker, nobody thinks we’re smart! If they did, they wouldn’t give us this broken-down school and these ratty old books. You don’t even have enough paper and pencils for us!”

As a first-year teacher, I was shocked that a 10-year-old was fully aware of the implicit disparity in our country’s two-tiered public education system. He wondered why someone like me — an African American who had graduated from college and “made it” — would ever choose to teach in his low-income public school.

The article itself is a good read, but the section above struck me, because it also illustrates how messages that we never explicitly state can still be clearly communicated through our actions.  If we truly value those who have the least, then we must pay attention to how the societal structures we are a part of reflect that value.

Yes, I know I’m probably preaching to the choir with my readers.  So for those of you who are working to make it happen, I salute you and hope you continue to find encouragement in your work.

If you are on the website, look up and maybe slightly to the right and you’ll see the words escapingpoverty. A while ago I figured that instead of simply being a place where you can listen to me wax philosophically (or maybe not so philosophically), maybe the small community of internet readers can do some good in the world, and thus escapingpoverty was conceived.

At the moment, we are coming together as a Kiva Lending Team. For those who haven’t heard about Kiva, it’s an organization where people can lend as little as $25 to help low-income entrepreneurs around the world get out of poverty.

As a group we’ve been able to help people in Peru, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Pakistan. And as that loan is repaid, each of us can choose to put that money back in our pockets, or re-invest the money with other entrepreneurs.

I just wanted to say thanks to you guys who have given thus far, and I also wanted to invite others who haven’t to join our team and help to make a difference.