Relationship needed

In the First World, absolute poverty is something that we simply do not understand. We have a tendency to think that as long as we give to charity, or go on a summer trip to build a school, we will have done our part to alleviate poverty, and it will resolve itself. However, poverty is not something that can be conquered so easily, and many of these attempts to lessen it may in fact worsen the lives of the very people they were intended to help.

The trouble with charity is that it is often given blindly to whichever organization makes the best sales pitch. Not knowing exactly where your money is going can be a really big problem. Too often, well- meaning Americans will give money to a charity that pushes funds through a developing nation’s government first. Corruption is a massive problem in many of these countries, and an opportunistic bureaucrat may capitalize on a large inflow of “charity cash.”

Many Americans feel that they can bypass this problem entirely by going to a developing nation themselves to directly affect the well- being of the country by building a school, or making short- term friends with the local populace. Unfortunately, the bulk of people who do so are amateurs in construction, and produce a subpar product which falls to pieces in the coming years.

Perhaps the big lesson is that charity requires more than a dollar bearing a positive thought to be effective. If you want to help a developing nation, you have to want a long- lasting relationship with that nation. You have to know where your money is going, who it’s going to, and be willing and able to follow up. It’s not a well- meaning two- month vacation, but a lifetime of asking questions and resolving problems as they come. If you don’t see yourself talking to the people you meet next year, then you’re probably only making things worse. CHRISTOPHER A. NOONER

Conway