To break cyclical family poverty,invest for grandchildren
“Wabwino asiyira zidzukulu zake cholowa chabwino…” Miyambo 13:22
“A good man leaveth an inheritance for children’s children…” Proverbs 13:22
There is nothing as saddening and dispiriting as poverty. Like wealth, poverty can be cyclical until that cycle is broken.
The majority of the world’s poor people were born into poor families; families without property, money and land. Most of them are also illiterate and unskilled. As a result, from one generation to the next, ad infinitum, poor families have known nothing but grinding poverty. Their poverty circulates within the families. Some even fatalistically justify it.
Kumwamba kulibe olemera kapena osauka; imfa sisankha. Aliyense adzafa basi. Olemera sadzafika pafupi ndi Mulungu (Say to your neighbour: Neighbour, can you translate these for me?).
Cyclical poverty is broken when some sort of revolution happens. We have heard many cases of poor people who became extremely rich through corruption (we don’t encourage this route), political power, business, sport, music, innovation, employment (because they had the right education and skills), or being in the right place at the right time (kutola chikwama) such as winning a gambling game (sports bets, and lotteries).
The few wealthy people have continued to be rich generation after generation. They have not known poverty. In their families, wealth is as cyclical as poverty is in poor families. Wealth is passed from parents to children to grandchildren ad infinitum until or unless an upheaval happens such as a political revolution, a natural disaster, or foolishness in decision making and spending and lack of foresight. Children born in wealthy families are said to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth.
Many development specialists and researchers have identified investment with a long term goal as a panacea to cyclical poverty.
The Proverbs 13:22 we have cited states and advises, in part, that a clever or reasonable and visionary person leaves behind an inheritance, what the Tumbuka nation calls Chiharo not just for his children or immediate family but for his or her grandchildren.
This inheritance, if well used by future generations, will generate more wealth creating a wealth cycle.
Donald Trump, the flamboyant US former president and presumptive presidential candidate for 2024, is said to have inherited 100 million USD from his parents and built a billion-dollar real estate out of it. His children are enjoying the fruits of their grandfather’s wealth. If Donald Trump had spent his father’s largesse carelessly, he would have been a poor person today.
In Malawi, there are many that squandered their inheritance and are with us in the poverty basket. You know them. Just turn right and left.
Donald Trump inherited something to stand on. Kamuzu Banda is perhaps one of the few Malawians that broke the poverty cycle through an education, business and political power. Despite having no official children of his own, he bequeathed his wealth to his family members through a will. Thus, the Kamuzu Banda family has moved from cyclical poverty (almost 100 years ago) to cyclical wealth through the vision of one family member who invested his wealth and thought about future generations.
There are many men and women who are toiling today, night and day, to build a future for their children and grandchildren.
They have a long term vision. They have hope. They dream big things. They innovate. They hunt for greener pastures consistently. They rarely give up. Almost never give up.
Most of those who are wealthy today started off as poor people armed with a dream. Do we have a dream? Some inherited chiharo from their parents and grandparents. Are we investing for our children and their children?
Some invest in wealth regeneration while others invest in poverty cycling. The choice is ours.
Remember that no politician or government is interested in making people wealthy. Don’t be cheated. The poorer the people, the easier it is to manipulate them politically.
Apikene?
