Helping or hurting

[sarah]

Ok so I've been thinking about the ways we (Americans) try to help other countries and people and wondering if there is a better way.

I caught a clip of a news program and did some further reading regarding Haiti's government making a request that free food and medical care cease because it was further destabilizing their economy. Now mind you, there are still a lot of people going hungry and lacking basic shelter and medical care so the request isn't because the problem is over, just that the giving is not helping.

It reminded me of the town in Romania I lived in. There were three major factories in town that employed the majority of the population. One was a bread factory that supplied the area, one was a brick factory that was shut down after being purchased by a competitor in France, but the third was a clothing factory that was driven out of business due to the glut of used clothing being shipped by American churches! (talk about the help hurting!)

So all this leaves me thinking that there must be another way. Now I love helping, serving, and giving but what if in those things I am inadvertently harming?

(For those who don't know me I tend to fall on the Democratic philosophical political side.....even socialist at times, so this is a bit of a departure for me)

[christopher]

Wow! That's something I've never thought about.

It's almost kind of like a war, where you have the immediate threat to deal with, but then you need a stable presence there to help the infra-structure recover as well.

How do you balance all that out?

[Kirby]

Loving our neighbor should have nothing to do with political or economic ramifications, BUT we should know how our help is going to (or not going to) help. In other words, we shouldn't give just to give, but be educated about to what extent and how your giving will help.

It's kind of like giving spare change to the beggar at the freeway onramp...I would think it would be more important to build a relationship with that person than to hand over 63 cents. In vestigate and find out how you can best help the individual, then do it.

[sarah]

I think that there are two realms of helping and giving. (probably more that I am not thinking of at the moment)

The first is individual and based in relationship. (IE Joanna has a friend who has a need and she works to wards helping that need through her resources and contacts) (hopefully as guided by the Holy Spirit!)

The one I am pondering is more global, encompassing the national and church's response to crisis. So much of our American cultural value (not ours exclusively to be sure!) is to send stuff. Dollars, food, clothing, equipment. It is our immediate response, (and in some ways I think triggered by an undercurrent of guilt brought about by our awareness of how very much even the poorest among us have comparative to so many areas of the world) But it seems that in so many places, that doesn't really help in the long run. Meeting immediate needs is important, but finding ways to do just that while also encouraging the long term health and economic stability of the people/nation is equally important I think.
In many ways I think Chris's military analogy strikes close to the heart of the issue, although there is then the issue of creating dependency on the "helpers." Perhaps the rebuilding of post WWII Japan is a good blueprint??

[michelle]

This is a great question and it very close to my heart. This is one of the questions that I will be exploring when I leave here. There is an organization in Uganda called "Village of Hope Uganda" that has a good take on this on a small level for refugees from northern Uganda. They have identified and work to meet needs on 4 different levels: 1) immediate solution - food, clothing, medical aid, school fees for orphans in refugee camps; 2) intermediate solution - safe houses near the refugee camps where kids have a bed, a "mom", running water, food; 3) long-term solution - building a village outside of the war ravaged area where the orphans will move; 4) global economic plan - orphans make jewelry (necklaces and bracelets with paper beads, beaded bracelets, etc.) and receive food, clothing and education fees for them and their siblings and the proceeds from the jewelry go to supporting projects for Village of Hope.

I think these are the kinds of ways we need to be thinking. One of the best things that we can do is to buy stuff from these kinds of organization. The next time you are Christmas shopping, don't go to Target to find your wife a necklace, buy one from an organization like this. It's a good way to invest in people's futures, but also forces those in need to use their own resources.

I think that at first there will have to be a dependency on the "helpers". I don't think there can be a way around it, but we can teach people how to meet their own needs. But it is something that takes much more patience, which can be difficult for a country that likes immediate results. It's an investment, not a quick fix.