Helping the Poor

With the exception of people who are hungry, what if what we call "poor" is just really living simply? When I went to Costa Rica a few years ago, I got to go to an island that few Americans go to. We were told that the people there would be poor. Having little material possessions. When I got there, I saw farmers and fishermen. No one was hungry, but few had electricity. But they didn't mind - this is how they had lived for a long time. I also saw people who laughed easily, extended hospitality and who were not materialistic. We had been instructed to bring toys and clothing to give away. But no one there was naked and the kids played with sticks, rocks, built forts in the woods and enjoyed games like tag. I actually felt like we were insulting them by assuming they needed the things we brought to be truly happy.

Someone recently told me, that with the exception of hunger, clean water and shelter, we should judge what we call "poverty" by the standard of "how does this person live compared to his immediate community?" instead of "how does he live compared to me back in America?". I am still processing how I feel about this, but after my Costa Rica trip, I wonder if this might be a better way to look at aid.

My mother grew up "poor" in what was once an "off the heated path" part of Hawaii, but she always says that she never knew she was poor because everyone in her part of Hawaii lived the same way. She has memories of fishing and climbing coconut trees and not wearing shoes to school or anywhere until she was about 12 and feeling like she had a great life, even though money was always tight. She lived the way everyone around her lived, so her poverty was her "normal". It wasn't until she went to the University of Hawaii in Honolulu and heard how people talked about her section of Hawaii and saw how others grew up that she found out that she had been considered "poor".

So, if someone has shelter, clean water, basic clothes and food, and lives in a rural environment where everyone lives simply, are they poor?