Awareness Workshop
Image adapted from originals by flickr users iamperegrino and nzdave.
Poverty: From India to Japan
Facilitators: Joe Pournovin & Ralph Chambers
Please note that the views expressed by volunteer facilitators in workshops represent their own opinions and not necessarily
those of Oxfam Japan.
AIESEC is…
the World’s Largest Student Driven Organization
― 110 countries and territories
― over 60,000 members
Our Vision
Peace and Fulfillment of humankind’s potential
What we do
Offering Youths the Opportunities to be Global
Leaders by Managing International Internships
What are the International Internships??
• International Volunteer Group
• Support Oxfam Japan
• English-speaking volunteers
• Organise events in and around Tokyo
Regular Events
• Awareness Workshops
• Pub Quizzes
Other Events
• Sea-to-Summit
• Tokyo Yamathon
• Halloween Party
• Gig nights
• ...and more!
Workshop activities
• What do you think of when we talk about poverty?
• India's poverty and its recent wealth
• Poverty in Japan
• Japan and India similarities and differences
What do you think of when you
think about poverty?
Maybe images like this?
Or maybe images like these?
Poverty
Poverty is a lack of a certain amount of things and or money.
Absolute poverty is a lack of things and or money needed for the basic human
needs; clean water, food, shelter, education and clothing. It is absolute because it
is a fixed figure across the world. Currently $1.25 a day is absolute poverty.
As nations become richer the number of people who can afford the basics (see
above) should increase. The number of people without these things should
decrease. But many countries see their populations wealth increase at very
different rates.
Relative poverty is the lack of usual or socially acceptable resources compared to
others in a society. Or 50% of the median household income.
Holidays, sports and eating out are all things many of us expect to do, but if you
can not afford these things you may suffer from the effects of relative poverty. You
may lose friends, contacts at work etc.
India's growth, poverty and super rich.
http://www.economywatch.com/economicstatistics/country/India/
India's growth, poverty and super rich.
India's growth, poverty and super rich.
India has 8,200 ultra high net worth (UHNW)
individuals whose combined wealth amounts to
$945 billion.
The combined wealth figure of these UHNW
individuals is equivalent to about 70 per cent of
India's total economy.
Merrill Lynch Report
Poverty in Japan
• Immediately after the war absolute poverty was a serious
problem. Then with time, hard work and an abundance of
young cheap labor Japan’s economy grew to become the
second biggest economy in the world and living standards
improved.
• In the 1990’s the economic bubble burst.
• Relative poverty increased from 8.1% in 1994 to 15.7% in
2007.
• Only the USA has a higher rate of relative poverty out of
the OECD countries.
• Peoples savings have decreased and the number of
people on welfare has increased since the 1990s.
Poverty in Japan
Who are the poor in Japan?
Single mothers, homeless, elderly people with small
pensions, cyber homeless and the working poor.
Japan and India similarities
and differences
Differences
• Poverty in Japan very rarely results in people dying from
lack of food.
• India has a much bigger water problems.
• The poorest states in India battle against high infant
mortality.
Similarities
• The poorest in both societies feel excluded.
• They live shorter lives than their countries average.
• Children born into poverty in both countries often don’t
break out of poverty.
Quiz
1. What is the average age of a homeless person in
Japan?
31 46 56
2. Can you claim social security in Japan if you have
no home address?
Yes No
Quiz
3. What percentage % of the Indian population falls
below the absolute poverty line of $1.25 a day?
6.1% 12% 42%
4.Which has more people in poverty, Africa or India?
Africa India
Quiz
5. What percentage of the population of India is
illiterate?
30% 35% 40%
6. Does India have a minimum wage?
Yes No
7 Which prefecture has the most people living on
welfare in Japan?
Osaka Wakayama Kanagawa
Quiz
1. What is the average age of a homeless person in
Japan?
56
2. Can you claim social security in Japan if you have
no home address?
Yes
Quiz
3. What percentage % of the Indian population falls
below the absolute poverty line of $1.25 a day?
42%
4.Which has more people in poverty, Africa or India?
India
Quiz
5. What percentage of the population of India is
illiterate?
30%
6. Does India have a minimum wage?
Yes
7 Which prefecture has the most people living on
welfare in Japan?
Osaka
Cyber homeless
BBC report on Japan’s cyber homeless.
Poverty line in India
Case study sequence
In groups can you put the cards into order?
Can you guess which country they are from?
Government
assistance was enough
for her life.
Government cuts to
welfare mean she gets
12% less money each
month.
Mrs. A stretches out
one piece of fish for
two days’ worth of
meals.
With less money she
is unable to afford
traditional offerings of
money at weddings
and funerals, so she
has stopped attending
them.
3
Mrs. A’s husband
died 30.
She has relied on
government
assistance since his
death.
2
1
Mrs A
Hisa Hashidate 88- Japan
Living costs increase
but welfare remains
the same.
Although Mrs. A is
nearly blind, she
switches off the lights
at 8 p.m. to save
electricity.
"I almost never go out
anymore," she said.
"What is out there for
me? I have no
money."
Has to rely on savings
whilst finding another
job.
After time she finds
only temp or contract
work at a lower pay
than she had before.
Has to take a second
and then a third job to
make up the shortfall
in money.
Her children see less
of her.
3
A single mother loses
her full time salaried
job.
2
1
The observations of Masanori Matsumura, a primary
school teacher- Japan
The children can not
afford stationery or go
on school trips
because of the costs.
Other children bully
them because of their
clothes and not fitting
in.
The children dislike
school and do badly.
The prices of cotton
fell a lot.
Subsidies were
removed in 1997.
Bad crops due to
weather wiped out
the families
savings.
3
Mr. C was a cotton
farmer.
30 years ago the crop
fetched a high price in
the market place. Mr.
C’s family were well
provided for.
There were farm
subsidies to help if crops
failed due to weather etc.
2
1
Mr C
Mr Naik- Andhra Pradesh, India
Crops switched to GM
cotton seeds. It caused
crop failure because it
needed to be used with
pesticides and fertilizers.
Mr. C borrowed money
to buy new pesticides,
fertilizers and new seeds
but still he lost money in
the market place.
With huge debts Mr. C
committed suicide.
France 24 report on Japan’s homeless
Discussion
Who was being the most helpful in the video?
What challenges/problems did the homeless people have?
Who should be responsible for lifting people out of poverty?
What is more important for helping the poor education or
welfare or other schemes?
How you can help?
Oxfam: - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/resources/countries/india.html
Oxfam's work on livelihoods in India is its largest and oldest programme,
focusing on three main areas.
• Improving economic security of small producers and farmers, especially
women and those prone to natural disasters.
• Expanding access to better and fairer markets.
• Safeguarding rights of the urban poor.
•
How you can help?
Unicef: - http://www.unicef.org.uk/
• UNICEF is fully committed to working with the Government of India to
ensure that each child born in this vast and complex country gets the
best start in life, thrives and develops to his or her full potential.
HelpAge India: - http://www.helpageindia.org/
• HelpAge India is secular, not-for-profit organization registered under the
Societies' Registration Act of 1860. We were set up in 1978, and since
then have been raising resources to protect the rights of India's elderly
and provide relief to them through various interventions.
How you can help?
• Giving money is extremely helpful BUT more
good can be done with the EOF!
• Raising Awareness
• Bringing people together
• Raising even more money
How you can help?
Japan
• Second Harvest Japan
“Second Harvest Japan distributes
food to soup kitchens, orphanages,
the elderly, emergency shelters, single
mothers, the homeless, migrant workers, and many others.”
More than 650,000 people in Japan cannot afford to eat daily.
At the same time, more than 6,000 metric tons of food is
thrown away in Tokyo every day.
Second Harvest Japan (2HJ) collects waste food from food
manufacturers, farmers, and individuals, and distributes
them to people in need such as children in orphanages,
battered women and their children in shelters, and the
homeless in Japan.
How you can help?
• What can you do to help??
• Friday: Go to the Warehouse in Akihabara and volunteer to
help cook the food.
• Saturday: Help give out the food to homeless people in
Ueno Park or help clean the warehouse afterwards.
• Collecting food and taking the food to the warehouse by
car.
• Donating food to Second Harvest Japan
• Donating equipment, such as paper cups, plates,
chopsticks, etc.
• Donating money.
:http://www.2hj.org/
How you can help?
The Big Issue
The Big Issue Japan is a business response to the social
problem of homelessness.
Est. 2003. The Big Issue is a magazine sold by the homeless.
How you can help?
Once someone has proved they are homeless TBIJ gives
them 10 free Big Issues.
The homeless person must sell these for ￥300 each.
Then the person can buy more copies for ￥140 and sell
these on again.
Ex.
Rental deposit- ￥60,000
60,000/160＝375 copies@10/day
38 days to get into a real apartment.
This is of course very optimistic- BUY the Big Issue!!
Thank you!
Next Awareness Workshops
• February ?th – Ben & Linden - TBC
• March 10th – Shivonne + you? – GM Food
• "People associate the homeless with the '3 K's,'"
says Sano. He holds up the corresponding
number of fingers as he enumerates these. "One,
they are kitanai [dirty]; two, they are kusai
[smelly], and three, kowai [scary],