I like this quote that was included in an email debate I enjoyed recently. The debate raged for and against the health care reform proposed by President Obama. The last line is the part that I think people forget too easily. Rather than feel the need to provide for those who have not, wouldn't it make infinitely more sense to invest in them, teach them to provide for themselves, and allow the reward to be the fruits of their own labor? I'm not against health care reform. In fact, I think we desperately need it. But I am against welfare programs that are infinite in length, without responsible safeguards in place to steer participants in the right direction. Programs like unemployment are great. It's important for us to have bridges in place to help tide someone over from a difficult time in their lives to a place where they can begin providing for themselves again.
Now that I'm blabbing, read the qote:
"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."......Abraham Lincoln
This reminds me of an NGO that I really love which I got to see firsthand when I studied in Southeast Asia for a summer in college. Heifer International provides cows, bulls, chickens, goats, fish, seed, training, etc. to people who desperately need them. The program works on the premise that 1 bull and 5 heifers will create X number of offspring which must be GIVEN to another family and/or tribe. These offspring then yield their own and the giving continues. In theory, one gift provides for an infinite number of people over time. People get cows that provide milk, labor, and babies and bulls that provide labor and babies. Chickens provide eggs and more chickens, and goats provide milk and more goats. Seed provides food for people and animals and yields the seed to continue the process beyond the initial gift.
This is from the Heifer website regarding Thailand, where I studied briefly in college. As of September, 2009, there are currently 20 such projects from Heifer active in the country, and countless others all around the world (including all over the US):
"The Gift for Life Foundation in conjunction with the Department of Livestock Services will work to improve the standard of living for 89 poor families in ten rural communities within the Chiang Mai province through the government project, Royal Initiated Buffalo-and-Cattle Bank. The project will provide 106 water buffaloes, 8 bulls, 500kg of grass seed, 13 chickens, 25,000 fish, four bio-gas units, 31 fish ponds, 50 kitchen gardens, and 1,250kg of crop seeds. An additional 89 families will benefit from "passing on the gift." The families will also receive agricultural supplies (such as animal feed, fencing, saplings) and participate in a series of trainings related to Heifer's value-based holistic development approach. These trainings include sustainable community development, economic sustainability, gender equity and environmentally sound farming."
Like what you hear? Go to heifer.org and sign up for the email list. You'll get updates on projects and current goings on. Maybe some of you will be inspired enough to spend a few days helping when you vacation in one of the areas they are active in (which is everywhere but Australia...they're doing fine). Or maybe you'll write a check or donate with Paypal. A lot of people's lives would be affected in a tremendous way by your generosity.
Remember, "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime." -Anonymous
