Self help.

The traditional government approach to poverty hasn't changed much over the years -- if you throw enough money at it it will go away. But, poverty hasn't gone away, it's increased despite the billions spent to reduce it.

Perhaps, there's a need for different approaches to dealing with poverty. Self-help is a favourite cure put forward by the political right. Here are some short reports on a few successful and small-scale solutions to poverty problems.

As a rule, bankers don't want to deal with poor people. So, you don't find banks in poor neighbourhoods. What you do find is cheque cashing services. These give cash in return for signing over pension or welfare cheques, but they charge up to 5%. Lack of banking services was a problem in downtown Vancouver's east side. That's an area where almost 17,000 people live and three quarters of the residents have family incomes of less than $1,000 a month. There is a lot of petty theft in the area so many people lose their meagre income after cashing their government cheques.

Enter Jim Green, a community activist. He helped organize a citizen's group which drew up plans for a "people's bank." The low-income group even drafted the legislation that was used to charter the bank. The B.C. government has provided start-up money and is guaranteeing deposits. However, it's the people themselves who have created a much-needed bank in their community.

Aggressive non-violence is a term for a revolution being proposed by an outspoken Milwaukee radio talk-show host. Michael McGee says he'll recruit black people around the United States to cut phone lines, burn tires on freeways, and attack other institutions unless Washington creates jobs, improves education and housing, and takes steps against urban poverty.

Food Buddies is a program started up in Toronto by Soo Wong a public health nurse. The Toronto Board of Education provides meals for poor children, but not during March Break or summer vacation. So, Ms. Wong decided to fill the gap. She organized a group of volunteers and together they persuaded the East Toronto Chinese Chamber of Commerce to provide the food. They got the Toronto East General Hospital to supply a couple of nurses, food servers, and beverages. And, they approached Ontario's Lieutenant-Governor Hal Jackman to get him to come along and hand out food.

Ms. Wong and her colleagues have set up a lunch program that feeds 500 children aged 4 to 14. They have trained high school students to run the scheme in future years.

Of course, something like this doesn't happen on its own. Soo Wong is one of those people who won't take no for an answer. She approaches local merchants and tells them that as they are making a profit by operating in the area the time has come to give something back from what they are taking out. She tells of responding to one wealthy merchant who gave her $40: "What do you expect me to do with this?"

We can learn something about how to deal with poverty from the Third World. Take the case of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. It has been involved in lending money to the poor to start up their own small enterprises. Here's what the founder of the bank, Muhammad Yunus, has to say about its success. "More than 1.4 million landless women have taken loans averaging $75 from us to start tiny businesses, and we enjoy a repayment rate of 97%. We now lend more than $20 million every month and our program has been adapted in countries around the world.

"According to independent studies, our formerly destitute borrowers have increased their incomes by more than 50%, planted six million trees, adopted family planning at twice the national rate, and begun to participate actively in politics at the local and national levels. Most important, they now have the opportunity to build their own futures through their own labour -- perhaps, the greatest gift society can give a poor person."

The Grameen Bank's program has been adopted by the Calmeadow Foundation in Canada to help Native Canadians improve their economic conditions. Muhammad Yunus points to one important aspect of his bank's program: "It needs to be recognized that poor people -- rather than bureaucrats, consultants, or experts -- must be directly empowered by aid for it to have any impact on poverty."

Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit, non-government group that builds affordable homes using volunteer labour and donated materials. In 1993, the group built 40 homes in Canada -- 18 of them in Winnipeg. The Winnipeg homes averaged a little under 70 square metres in size and sold for $55,000. The low-income families are selected from applicants to buy the homes.

Of course, the families arenot likely to have a pile of cash lying around for a downpayment so they must put up what's called "sweat equity." This involves 500 hours of working alongside volunteers in planning and building their own homes, as well as the homes of others. Families buy their houses from Habitat with an interest-free mortgage that is repaid over a fixed period. The payments are then recycled to build more homes.

Worldwide, Habitat has built more than 18,000 homes since it began in 1976. The group gets support from churches, businesses, community organizations, service clubs, and individuals, but it does not seek funding from government.

Spare Change has hit the streets in a number of Canadian cities. It's a newspaper with the slogan: "Written by the famous and sold by the jobless." The formula for Spare Change comes from Britain and the U.S., and its Canadian originator is Michael McCarthy.

He drummed up financial support from the private sector and anti-poverty organizations to get Spare Change published. A former street person, Mr. McCarthy does most of the writing. It coverstopics of interest to the poor as well as material for more mainstream consumers. The first issue was handed to street vendors free of charge; their job is to sell copies of the newspaper for donations. "Self-reliance is the key," says Mr. McCarthy. He adds that instead of panhandling, Spare Change gives the disadvantaged both dignity and an opportunity to "put something back."

SUGGESTED ACTIVITY:

List a number of adjectives that could be used to describe the projects covered in this article.

FACT FILE

Ben and Jerry's ice-cream empire has awarded six franchises, free of charge, to organizations helping youths and homeless people.