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At the heart of every human experience is the desire to survive and prosper. To live without fear, hunger or suffering. To imagine how your life could be better and then have the means yourself to change it. Yet, every day, 1.2 billion people – one fifth of the world’s inhabitants – cannot fulfil their most basic needs, let alone attain their dreams or desires.
IFAD prepared an exhibit for its 25th anniversary in 2003 to honour the achievements of rural poor people. The exhibit is about the largest segment of the world’s poor – the 900 million poor women, children and men who live in rural environments. These are the subsistence farmers and herders, the fisherfolk and migrant workers, the artisans and indigenous peoples whose daily struggles seldom capture world attention.
What meets the eye, a collection of photographs, records the lives of poor people in rural settings around the world. The exhibit illustrates that poverty isn’t always what meets the eye. For in each photograph, in each face you encounter, there are glimpses of determination, moments of joy – signs that even when there is nothing else, there is always hope.
Although the photographs were taken in just 10 of the more than 100 countries where IFAD is working to eradicate poverty, it is possible to see how the lives depicted are representative of all who are poor and live in rural areas. As a whole, these photographs are more an anthology of self-determination than destitution.They evoke empathy and compassion while reminding us that poverty isn’t always what meets the eye.
If you are interested in hosting the exhibit, kindly contact Ms Susan Beccio
What meets the eye: Images of Rural Poverty
- The book
- The exhibit
- Photographs of the launch
