Contests and Competitions to Eliminate Poverty
Written by Martín Burt, CEO for Fundación Paraguaya
The Inter-American Development Bank, one of the most significant entities on our continent, has just awarded Fundación Paraguaya the Juscelino Kubitschek Visionaries Award. It is the most important award granted by the IADB to organizations that are improving lives in Latin America and the Caribbean in an innovative and effective way. Out of almost 600 organizations in 25 countries, ours won.
The award caused great joy among all the employees of our institution, and of course, increased our motivation to achieve the mission of developing innovative solutions to poverty elimination and securing a decent life for each family we strive to help.
This is a normal reaction to winning an award, no matter the size or prestige. From school contests to distinguished prizes like the Oscars, all awards motivate and inspire those who win, as well as those who want to win in the future.
But why?
Why does any kind of competition move us in an extraordinary way? The answer seems to be in the theory of Positive Influence, which Joseph Grenny formulated upon the work of Albert Bandura, a prestigious Canadian psychologist of Ukrainian origin. This theory proposes that all human behavior can be changed if the person “answers” affirmatively to the questions: Is it worth it? Can I do it?
The Poverty Stoplight uses this theory to motivate families to solve their poverty indicators. It does this in several ways, one of which are contests to get out of poverty. In alliance wih the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), we have more than twelve contests in which adults and adolescents compete to improve the quality of life of their respective families.
For four years now, the contest “My Bathroom, My Kitchen, My Pride” has mobilized thousands of families (more than 12,000 last year for instance) to build bathrooms and kitchens for neighbors who have this indicator in Red or Yellow. The mechanics of the contest are simple: each committee starts by choosing a participant (Doña María in this case) and then takes a picture of her bathroom or kitchen. The committee commits to modernizing these spaces and, after finishing their work, takes a new photo of the bathroom or kitchen. Both photos are uploaded to Facebook and the winner is chosen by the amount of “likes” they receive. The winning committee then receives a group savings account as their reward.
“It is worth it” and “I can do it” can be achieved through the six sources of influence, which can all be seen through the course of the competition. For example, it may be that Doña María on a personal level does not have the motivation to improve her bathroom (individual motivation) and perhaps she does not know how to build it (individual ability). But with the contest, the pressure of her peers (social motivation) and the skills of the group (social skill) combine with the motivation of the reward (structural motivation) and changes in structure (structural ability) to transform behavior. To put it simply: as a result of the competition, the bathroom gets built.
“My happy smile”, “I take care of cancer”, “Poverty Stoplight Olympics”, “My neighbor takes care of me”, and “The singing entrepreneurs” are some of the other contests that have helped inspire participants to achieve incredible transformations in their lives.
Poverty is not a game, but games and competitions can help people get out of poverty, and that is the contest we all want to win.
