Poverty In The Blue Sweater, By Jacqueline Novogratz

Since the dawn of time, poverty has been the number one problem in the world. In this world, how many people would take upon themselves to help change the poverty situation in Africa? Jacqueline Novogratz, the author of The Blue Sweater, had many unique characteristics, which she used to help focus on her difficult task in Africa. There were many obstacles she encountered, but Novogratz is a visionary, compassionate, and courageous woman. To begin with, Novogratz is a visionary. Novogratz, who is among other visionary leaders trying to solve the problems of the 21st century, works with imagination, insight and boldness. These visionaries present a challenge that calls forth the best in people and brings them together …show more content…
Novogratz shows a genuine love and appreciation for Ugandans. This proves that Novogratz has a heart for others; she has compassion. For instance, during Novogratz’s stay in Uganda, shortly after its destructive civil war in 1986, she felt sorry for the Ugandans because they had gone through a lot. Novogratz saw that even though they had lost everything through the war, the Ugandans were still pushing towards the future. She realized that she wanted to help the people of Uganda to make their life much easier. Next, when Novogratz went to Uganda, she saw a young woman named Marceline. Novogratz saw that Marceline had a promising future, so she took Marceline to the bank and opened a bank account for her. By doing this, Novogratz saw that the middle and poor citizens were not given the chance to get a loan from the bank. Novogratz also saw that showing a little compassion helped Marceline’s living situation improve. Jacqueline was ready to change the status of the poor people in the …show more content…
Courage comes in many shapes, sizes and forms. While racing into a burning building to save lives and helping out a person who is being robbed are certainly courageous and admirable acts, even smaller occurrences can count as acts of courage. When she first got to Africa, the African women treated her badly. They thought that she was young, naïve and did not know what she was doing. The African women who worked with Novogratz brought up the problem that she could not speak French. They intentionally misplaced the important documents that Novogratz planned to use in the meeting. Jacqueline noticed the document were misplaced and went to write the documents again. She had courage even though the African women tried to block her goals. Also, a certain Nigerian woman threatened her with voodoo. The woman said a lot of things about the voodoo, which Novogratz did not believe. She thought that threatening with voodoo Novogratz would drive her out of the country. Still Novogratz overcame all obstacles and forced herself to pursue her goal in Africa. To sum up, being a visionary, compassionate and courageous, were some of Jacqueline Novogratz’s unique characteristics, which were stated in The Blue Sweater. All these things strengthened Novogratz to push towards her goals in Africa. Some times in life people are bound to hate a person who is making an effort to change the poverty situation in a country that he or she