the root of the issue

In my opinion the problem is complex and cyclical. It is true, poverty (and SES in general) is closely linked to the health of a community yet it is in my observation and opinion that poverty is not the root of poor health. Looking back at history, the poorest were not those who had the worst health, but some of the best. For example, my relatives were poor farmers in Iowa and North Dakota. They were poor and had little more than an 8th grade education yet my grandparents lived well into their 90’s. They lived full and happy lives. Though they did not have money, nor access to education they did have ambition to learn, desire to live, worked hard and took responsibility for their actions. In my travels abroad spending 6 weeks in Ecuador, 6 weeks in India, and a 2 week intensive medical relief trip through Peru I have seen some of the poorest places in the world. My time in Peru and India was spent extensively in shanty-towns and slums respectively; I have seen some of the worst of the worst. It is not their poverty that gives them poor health but a presence of evil, a lack of understanding and education and a lack of desire to want change. This is where, in my opinion, the complex cycle begins rolling. It seems most logical to me, observing the communities and being able to interview the women in both places, that the root of the problem is something other than poverty.
Everyone has the right to clean water, healthy food, and a full life yet I had a difficult time with the last phrase “decent health care.” What does this mean? As health care educators we need to remember that life is not fair, anyone who says otherwise is a liar and is himself deceived. The root of the problem, to me is the presence of evil in this world. The postmodern-mind will not agree yet I firmly believe there is right and wrong as well as a natural order and law established at Creation. It is in my opinion this root of evil is the cause for disparity in health around the world.
It seems most logical to me that as health educators we ought to advocate for the restraint of evil and campaign for doing good to mankind. We campaign doing good through the work for increased equality among ethnicities, reducing the racism and other inhibitors (therefore restraining evil) and encouraging education among the impoverished and encouraging compassion and mercy upon those who are more wealthy. As health educators we can be community leaders and advocators to equality and compassion yet we must lead by example. We can use a participatory approach to education and as it was mentioned previously in a blog, as teachers, we teach others to teach. These trained community health teachers in turn teach and train others. There is dignity and honor in true leadership where the lives of people truly matter. This is my approach.