The primary motive for the birth and existence of the Economy of Communion is poverty: in fact, the EoC was born as an attempt to respond to the stark economic contrasts and inequalities that characterize contemporary society, with the aim of making it more equitable and fraternal.
The EoC does not intend to eliminate poverty tout court, but rather to counter "misery," a word that describes the form of poverty still "suffered" by millions of people in the world, through the enhancement of another form of poverty, the one "chosen" by entrepreneurs, consumers, citizens... who decide to give up something of their own, use goods soberly, choose them responsibly, in the idea that "goods [...] become [...] roads to happiness only if they are shared with others" (Bruni 2004)
In this perspective, misery, resulting from the lack of material goods, and the possibility of its resolution are closely linked to the promotion of a series of other conditions (education, health, work, a home...) that allow a human being to "flourish."
Prominent among these conditions is the quality of the relationships one experiences: in fact, relationships in the EoC vision are understood as a fundamental capital for human development.
This idea also implies an original way of understanding the strategies to combat poverty, implemented in the projects that the EoC supports and promotes: they are designed in such a way as to avoid the establishment of asymmetrical forms of aid, -as has often happened in history- in which there is someone, who has, who gives to someone who does not have, emphasizing a state of inferiority and often feeding dynamics of dependence.
Rather, the anti-poverty strategies implemented by the EoC seek to enhance dynamics of reciprocity, where everyone can offer the wealth they possess, placing everyone on the same level of equal dignity: brothers, members of the same family.
After a feasibility study and a training on project management, communion and reciprocity, activities start. From that point on, people begin to pay back in cash, through fortnightly instalments, 50 per cent of what they receive in goods to start up their activities, while the remaining 50 per cent is paid in the form of services that these people undertake to offer to the community. In a dynamic of enlarged reciprocity, gratuitousness and communion, each person in charge of such a start-up willingly offers free - to make a few examples - training courses in their own field, or a job, so as to support those still in need and to spread the culture of communion.
In three years, we have implemented 83 micro-projects in three different cities, with a success rate of 90%, and there has been no delay in the payment of instalments for any project so far. In the next month, another 35 activities are going to start. The investment for each one is about €3,000, and part of this investment comes from the EoC, too.
In this respect, the monthly economic income of the projects in Homs increased considerably in three years, from about EUR 36.00 to EUR 170.00 per month. Also in Homs, we evaluated the impact of RESTARt on people's ability to run a start-up more efficiently: we started from a baseline of 2.91 and had a target of 7.00. In three years, we arrived at 7.44.
