Religion as a dimension of well-being

Religion as a dimension of well-being

The World Bank study Voices of the Poor (Narayan et al, 2000) gathered the voices of thousands of ‘poor’ people throughout the world in order to understand how they themselves understood their own respective poverty and well-being. One of its major findings was that religion permeates people’s conception of well-being:

For many, a spiritual life and religious observance are woven in with other aspects of well-being. Poverty itself could get in the way. An old woman in Bower Bank, Jamaica says, ‘I got up this morning and all I want to do is read my Bible, but I share a room with my son and my grandchildren and all they do is make noise,

I can’t even get a little peace and quiet.’ In Padamukti, Indonesia, being able to make the pilgrimage to Mecca means much, as does having sholeh (dutiful and respectful) children who will look after their parents in old age and pray for them after they are dead. In Chittagong, Bangladesh, part of well-being is ‘always [being] able to perform religious activities properly’. For older women in Cassava Piece, Jamaica, their church gives them a spiritual uplift and physical support. The importance to poor people of their sacred place – holy tree, stone, lake, ground, church, mosque, temple or pagoda – is repeatedly evident from their comparisons of institutions in which these frequently ranked high, if not highest. (Narayan et al, 2000, p38)

Another empirical finding of the study’s participatory exercises was that poor people trusted religious leaders more than politicians because they listened to them, unlike the latter. Also, poor people rated faith-based organizations much higher than state institutions. In rural areas, religious institutions were often valued as the most important ones in people’s lives. Given the prominence of religion, then, Voices of the Poor includes a section entitled ‘churches, mosques, temples, shrines, trees, stones and rivers’.

The study argues that this finding about people’s valuation of religion as a central part of their lives has considerable consequences for the way development has been conceived and practised thus far:

Reflecting on poor people’s perception of poverty has driven us to revisit the meaning of development. What is significant change, and what is good? And which changes, for whom, matter most? Answers to these questions involve material, physical, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions. […] The increments in well-being that would mean much to the poor widow in Bangladesh – a full stomach, time for prayer, and a bamboo platform to sleep on – challenge us to change how we measure development. (Narayan et al, 2000, p234)

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Voices of the Poor presents a challenging conclusion. If religion is central to how people conceive of a ‘good life’, along with health, education, shelter, material security and other needs, then conventional development practices which have hitherto ignored religious dimensions will necessarily have to be transformed. Alkire (2002) describes a case study of a development project in rural Pakistan that fully integrates such values, including religious ones. A group of women had to decide between a goat- rearing and a rose-cultivation project. Although the goat project yielded more income, the women opted for rose cultivation because this enabled them to do more things they valued, such as the ability to use the roses in their religious ceremonies, and the ability to walk in the rose fields and experience peace of mind and unity with their Maker. The spiritual dimension of well-being was seen by the women as being as important as the material dimension.