Working Hard for your Money

Getting some tips from Hard working construction Workers in Kumasi!!

Travelling through Ghana left me with feelings of Guilt when I compared our circumstances in Canada. The poverty was numbing in its appearance and scale. After awhile you almost did not notice it quite as much. I guess you just got used to it.

It is not that people do not want to work, it is that there are not many jobs that pay well. People are doing whatever they can to make a living. Most people derive a substantial part of the income from relatives living abroad. Recently I read that due to the current economic situation across the world foreign remittances have fallen by 16%. Combining this with a drastic currency depreciation of 25% and you can imagine that life is getting a little difficult for people! What would you do if your income fell by 41%!

Oh and don't forget about the price increases of food.

Here are some interesting statistics:

- The World Bank has estimated that the crisis has set back the battle against poverty by seven years, with an additional 44 million children suffering permanent physical or mental impairment because of rising malnutrition last year.
- An estimated 73 to 103 million more people will fall into poverty because of the global economic crisis. .
- The number of hungry people in the world is projected to hit a record this year – more than a billion.

I do not know what I or you can do to make this better. I just had to write about it becuase it makes me feel small.