“Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth.”
In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, Acumen Fund has published ten of the most important lessons it has learned from the field. The first lesson is, “Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth”. It lies at the heart of Acumen Fund’s core message that people seek dignity, not dependence. After reflecting on this, I asked myself if I truly understood what is meant by ‘dignity’. How do we place dignity at the center of development initiatives?
In this first lesson on human dignity, Acumen Fund says, “What keeps people from realizing their full potential is lack of choice. And it is this choice - this dignity - that human beings crave. Working towards dignity requires letting go of the notion of solving problems for the poor. It requires listening to the poor as agents who want to change their own lives. Most importantly, it requires that we unfailingly, uncompromisingly address people’s full humanity.”
Dignity and opportunity go hand-in-hand. Through enterprises that provide affordable and critical goods and services, Acumen Fund’s goal is enable the poor to live and express their lives uniquely through choice. Enabling opportunity is therefore an approach where we celebrate the right of every individual to truly live a dignified life.
On December 1st, Toronto for Acumen brings this celebration to the Toronto community. The chapter has partnered up with the Nuru Project to present Dignity in Focus, an annual photography auction and exhibition benefiting Acumen Fund. Featuring stunning photography from areas where Acumen Fund invests, this night is a celebration of humanity and the multiplicity of stories from the countries where the Fund invests.
Just as the term “dignity” asks us to see people holistically and address people’s full humanity, each photo at the auction will invite us to challenge our own assumptions of poverty alleviation. Individuals in every photograph are captured against the backdrop of their own communities. And each photograph speaks to dignity by portraying them as active, autonomous agents within their communities.
Ultimately through the use of photography, Dignity in Focus calls on us to see dignity as the common thread between all of us in this global, interconnected world. Of all lessons to be learned in the past ten years, it is apparent to me that the lesson to uphold and celebrate dignity lies at the core of Acumen Fund’s work. It is an idea that should be a driving factor behind development initiatives. In whatever way we choose to acknowledge it, whether through increased personal awareness, in our interaction with others, or in the work of poverty alleviation, we must always strive to celebrate the dignity of every individual.
“Dignity is more important to the human spirit than wealth”. Join us on Thursday, December 1st as we celebrate this idea within the Toronto community.
