Dedicated to the Co-Founders of OPHI
Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative:
Sabina Alkire & John Hammock
THE SONGS OF sOPHIa
- Wisdom
Sophia, wisdom, she comes to us *
And gently holds our hands.
With your hands *
Count and number things,
Shake hands to make friends, *
Make things that create a better world.
She places her hand on our hearts *
Feeling the number that pulses our life.
Live in your hearts *
And see the lines
That make out the lives *
Of the rich and poor alike.
- The Poor
Accompany me to be welcomed *
Into the home of the poor.
One room with a kitchen behind *
One seat, set aside for you.
You’re offered more food *
Than you can eat,
Wondering how to say “enough” *
Without being rude,
Wondering if you’ve been offered *
The family’s food for a week.
Sophia asks our host to tell her story *
A farmer’s daughter whose
Grandfather gave her *
Her dowry for her education.
She now supports the education *
Of a hundred young women.
How she can afford that? *
You wonder, and she in joy replies
It is the great happiness of her life *
To share what she has.
- The Rich
Come into the place of the rich *
Who are blessed
To live by a number *
The amount of money that they have.
They desire to make a difference *
And are measured in their response.
Asking, “How can I know *
How to make a difference?”
- When We Are Blind
Know when you are blind *
And cannot see
You have your hands to count *
And ears to listen.
You don’t know what it is like *
So you are in the dark,
Like Justice you are blindfolded, *
So live like the blind,
Use your hands *
To count your surroundings.
Gently feel around. *
What do your fingers find?
- Know Your Poverty
Do you find walls in front of you *
Or are you living outside?
When you kneel and touch your floor, *
Do you touch dirt, concrete, planks or carpet?
What food are you preparing? *
Do you have enough for the day?
For the week? For your family? *
Careful! Don’t burn your hands,
Are you cooking with dung? *
Or wood or fuel of another kind?
You eat a palmful, *
Are you still hungry?
Checking your child’s head for fever. *
How far is the hospital?
In your pocket you feel for your money. *
Can you pay the bill?
How much schooling do you have? *
Does your work speak of learning?
Can you fumble around to find some tools. *
Do you have any for earning?
Thirsty, feeling for a tap, *
Do you have running water?
Is it safe to drink? *
Or you are reaching for your kettle?
Do you boil the hottest tea *
Your mouth can bear?
You need to go so bad.
Do you have a latrine?
Or do you go outside? *
Or pay to go to the village loo?
Outside you stumble on something *
A piece of rubbish,
Rubbish that is never collected *
And is strewn everywhere.
Blind, you know you’ll trip *
Whichever way you turn.
- Know Your Un-Wellness
Even in places where more money grows *
Other forms of poverty emerge,
Is there sickness of the mind? *
Is there sickness of work?
Is there crippling over-indebtedness? *
Is there growing futility
Numbing the senses with despair? *
Is the rage doped up,
Or intermittently lashing out *
In growing cycles of violence?
And know that there are hands *
That measure this lack of wellness too.
- See and Make Progress
When you have counted all these things *
The blindfold will fall from your eyes.
Light will fill your vision *
You will see all the things
That count towards poverty. *
The number Sophia counts
That paints a vivid picture *
For the rich to see the poor,
That says that there is much to do *
And many ways to help.
Sophia returns again and again, *
Counting again and again
For all to see progress *
That delights rich and poor alike.
- Who Comes to Help?
Now the rich can see, *
They wonder how to help.
Sophia kneels in the dirt *
At the unshod feet of
The poorest of the poor *
And with her numbers
She holds the hands of the rich to be there too. *
The rich come as rulers,
People of trade, *
People of medicine,
People of learning, *
And people of building,
All united by Sophia’s number *
That captures the demons of poverty.
- How Can We Help?
First remember, don’t even count *
Unless you plan to make a difference.
Find ways for poor and rich to sit together *
With the numbers as they sink in.
Ask how are our minds opened? *
Do we have space to play with new solutions?
Ask what does Sophia’s counting *
Say about our priorities?
Are we ready for her to come back in *
To measure the difference we’ve tried to make?
As leaders do we give weight *
To Sophia’s equal measure?
- An Alliance of Rich and Poor
Now there’s an alliance of rich and poor *
Who understand one another
To ensure that there is enough *
To make a difference.
This alliance knows that there are *
Three great measures of mankind,
A measure called your heartbeat, *
Counting how we are all equal.
A measure called money *
Counting how we go up in the world
And a measure of Sophia *
Counting how we go down into poverty.
With these three numbers *
We grow in compassion
Together counting *
What truly matters.
- The Balance Scale Breaks
People love to compete *
With one another
To tip the balance with money *
Up in their favour.
Does the other end of the balance *
Tip down?
Showing a decrease in poverty? *
If not what do we see?
A balance scale tipped up with money *
Just for the rich
And the other end that measures poverty *
Not tipped down for the poor.
We see the balance scale is broken *
And Justice weeps.
- The Balance Scale Pivots
Sophia asks those with money *
To set aside enough
To always be able to count poverty *
And ensure the balance scale measures
Increased wealth *
With decreased poverty.
So in the cathedrals of learning *
Sophia invites the rich
To sets aside money *
To keep the brightest minds
Finding counting ways *
To hold the poorest of the poor
In the minds of the richest of the rich *
And to create an alliance between them
To celebrate *
That we all have a heartbeat.
Theme for 2018
Jamie Coats
