How do we approach poverty?

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.

Social justice internship 2009-2010

The internship application is here! Just click on the link. Returning interns need to fill out some parts of the application form while new applicants need to fill out most parts of the form.

Expansion of Transportation Infrastructure

This is something I learned about just today:

My dad's parents have a nice little house, near Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a beautiful yard that is huge by city standards. They were recently notified that the county government wants to expand the road that marks the edge of their yard to accomodate three lanes of traffic. In order for the road to be expanded, it needs to encroach on my grandparents' (and other residents') yard(s). So the county is forcing them to sell part of their land (for less money than it was originally worth) and rent out space in what remains of their yard to make room for the county's trucks during the more than eight months that construction will continue. On top of all of this, the value of my grandparents' land will decrease because their house will have a smaller yard and be closer to a busy road. Why does the county want to widen the road? Because they have the money and they can. There is no particular reason why the road should be wider; the airport that used to function nearby closed years ago. The county is simply afraid that if they don't spend their extra money, their budget will be cut for next year.

After a year or so, it will be much more difficult to walk along the creek that borders my grandparents' yard because the creek will be covered by a bridge. My grandparents and I will harvest only a fraction of the black walnuts that we used to because the trees will have been cut down. My grandparents will have to create a new layout for their flowers, trees, and yard waste heaps, and a couple summers ago they had to spend thousands of dollars to re-lay their sewer piping to make room for the expansion. Is this fair? Is this a justice issue? I have never felt the negative effects of the expansion of industry and transportation personally, but this hit home. My grandparents have done nothing to ask the government for trouble, and all of a sudden they are asked to spend lots of money and recreate their property to accomodate the purposeless plans of the county. This incident makes me think of everyone else who is facing much more dire circumstances: there are people who are forced to leave their jobs and homes because of industrialization and urbanization. On the other hand, advocates say that such unfortunate events are a necessary evil in order for everyone to be housed, fed, transported, etc. Who is right?

Mr. Chen, if you have time would you please put the article on the blog, i don't know how to do it myself. it's not working somehow. thanks.

response to the article racism in japan

I just wanted to hear your opinions on the article that Mr. Chen sent us. I don't know if you guys have read the article or not, but i post it just in case. It's about racism in Japan and i think this is a great article because asian racism is usually hidden under. and that being revealed out in the world is probably making japan go crazy right now. anyways, i did not know that there was a discriminated group in japan. it's like india and nepal's untouchables. i also like how the article talks about how nepal's discriminated groups (india's influnce) because it shows that some awareness about nepal is there. ok, back to the article, the buraku who were rejected to be the prime minister by all the other members of the government just because he is a buraku is extremely unfair. it says that the person is really talented and is fit for the job and being denied a position just because of what group you belong to is sad. discrimination is wrong because we are born into something we did not choose to be and to be pointed fingers at because of that is not fair and right. i cannot help, but think of the hardships the buraku went through to be in the political position he is in now, then hearing that his coworkers discussing ethnicity or background to decide his right to be a prime minister must have been awful. if the speech was not leaked out, he may not have known. i also like how the article compares japan and america in its struggles of overcoming slavery, discrimination, in their history. but it also tells blunt out that america overcame it and japan didn't, which i think is a little too confident to say. racism and discrimination still exists in america and just because barack obama became a president doesn't mean all racism is gone. it is definitely a step forward, but we are not done yet. wow, now my response is becoming too long, i hope it was not too boring to read. ok, my main point, i really like the article. thanks mr.chen

Rick Warren

Hey guys,

I just wanted to hear your opinions on all the outrage over Obama's choice of Rick Warren to give his inauguration speech. Do you think the outrage is merited, or is it overblown? Do you love Rick Warren or hate him? Personally, I think it was a completely legitimate choice. I strongly resist any accusations that Warren is homophobic or opposed to women's rights, but then again, I am coming at this from a Christian perspective, so I realize that I have somewhat of a bias. But I want to know what you guys think.