This past summer I had the incredible opportunity of going overseas to Liberia. For those who don't know, Liberia is a country in West Africa that suffers from extreme poverty. In fact, 80% of the people live below the poverty line. It was a shock to enter a third-world country for the first time. Actually being in this setting showed me what poverty really looks like. It is real and terrible. It sucks the life out of people and is a source of constant fear and suffering. It preys upon people who are already disadvantaged, and traps people in a web they think they can't escape. It stirred my heart to see poverty ended not only in nations like Liberia, but in every nation where people are living in poverty, including the U.S.
Many times we as "rich Americans," along with most of the Western world, feel like because we are wealthier, giving away money is what is going to solve these problems. We think that donations are what will stop this huge, extremely prevalent issue. What many of us don't realize, however, is that we are creating a culture of dependence on our wealth that is very real, and extremely unhealthy. I recall many people in Liberia asking members of our team for this amount of money, or this thing, or that stuff. They have come to expect that we are there to give them something.
I believe we have been in the wrong by just handing out money, in fact we have been enabling them in a way that makes it even harder for them. Some of them don't have inward motivation, yet many of them simply lack a clear vision, an idea of how to go about this. They lack skills, knowledge, support, training, and the list goes on.
I think that when we'll really start seeing poverty come to an end, really see our world changed, is when we start reevaluating the way we use our resources to help those in poverty. We need to start focusing on long term solutions, rather than short term solutions. There is a saying that goes, "If you give a man a fish he'll eat for a day, if you teach him to fish he'll eat for a lifetime." We do have the ability to help them, but we will not ever help pull them out of poverty until we and they realize that they are the only ones who can end this cycle. We can use our diverse talents and knowledge, as well as finances, to train them, teach them, and guide them through this process. We can help build the infrastructure necessary to help them achieve. The first thing we must do, however, is let them know that, while we can guide them and give them a vision for change, they have the ability to fight this battle themselves.
