I was just thinking about that this morning. Too often we give in ways that feel good to us but are not the best for those we are trying to help.
For instance, we send a group of volunteers to build a community center, instead of using the money spent on airfare to instead hire local people to build the center. We then stock the center with goods purchased at Walmart or donated from half a world away instead of spending more to buy goods locally, thereby putting more money into the local economy.
In America, we are so worried about protecting our jobs from outsourcing, yet we actively undercut economic opportunities for those we are trying to help.
Funny. I was thinking about your choice of words, and was wondering how they connected or conflicted, and never quite came to a conclusion. I think this series has a lot of potential because its such a simple concept, but leaves enough for people to think about. We need to be challenged to think, and what better way than this? (Awesome photo, btw)
@Alasdair – Don’t worry. Plenty more where this came from 🙂 As for the photo, I took that a couple of years ago outside Stanford University. Walked past it and had to run back to get my camera. Really like the shot, too. Seemed to fit #2 for some reason
@Saundra @Jamie – It’s certainly easy to see any kind of aid or assistance as a good thing, but what’s really needed is ‘genuine’ opportunity. And Jamie, I did think about the choice of words a few times, but decided they were sufficiently ‘vague’ to generate some kind of discussion or thought process
->@kiwanja: Development best practice for beginners. #2 http://tinyurl.com/mvolhn
I’m looking forward to number three
Great pic.
I was just thinking about that this morning. Too often we give in ways that feel good to us but are not the best for those we are trying to help.
For instance, we send a group of volunteers to build a community center, instead of using the money spent on airfare to instead hire local people to build the center. We then stock the center with goods purchased at Walmart or donated from half a world away instead of spending more to buy goods locally, thereby putting more money into the local economy.
In America, we are so worried about protecting our jobs from outsourcing, yet we actively undercut economic opportunities for those we are trying to help.
Funny. I was thinking about your choice of words, and was wondering how they connected or conflicted, and never quite came to a conclusion. I think this series has a lot of potential because its such a simple concept, but leaves enough for people to think about. We need to be challenged to think, and what better way than this? (Awesome photo, btw)
@Alasdair – Don’t worry. Plenty more where this came from 🙂 As for the photo, I took that a couple of years ago outside Stanford University. Walked past it and had to run back to get my camera. Really like the shot, too. Seemed to fit #2 for some reason
@Saundra @Jamie – It’s certainly easy to see any kind of aid or assistance as a good thing, but what’s really needed is ‘genuine’ opportunity. And Jamie, I did think about the choice of words a few times, but decided they were sufficiently ‘vague’ to generate some kind of discussion or thought process
Very thoughtful. Thanks for your contribution to the discourse.