Helping poor countries?

"BaconSandwich is tasty." (baconsandwich)
10/26/2015 at 11:51 • Filed to: None

This is something that I’ve been thinking about lately: what’s the best way to help out poorer countries? My parents have recently arrived in the Democratic Republic of Congo for an 18 month mission. One of the things that they have commented on is the poverty. They’ve travelled to other places and have seen poverty there (e.g.: Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia), but nothing to quite this extent.

This got me thinking - what’s the best way of combating poverty in a developing country? It seems like no one has money for major infrastructure projects (even for important things like water treatment or water pumping stations), let alone roads or bridges. So if no one has the money for infrasctructure like that, what’s the best way to help people? Is it better to work with individuals? Villiages? Or is it better to raise the captial for larger scale projects and hope that the economies of scale provide better returns? There’s roughly 80 million people in the DRC. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, a lot of water to treat, a lot of sanitation to deal with, and a lot of healthcare needs.

I have to hand to to Bill and Melinda gates for trying to tackle some of these issues.

DISCUSSION (9)

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 11:56

All of the above. Also, don’t start/get involved in wars in one.

BurnBabyBurn > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 12:02

My parents did an 18 month mission in DRC as well. They were working with a program/fund that helps students pay for college (PEF).

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 12:04

We had a discussion in a class of mine recently about a guy that who won the Nobel prize is economics recently. He started a bank that specialized in giving out microloans in highly improvised nations. The idea was that you would front $20 or $30 to someone with a “business” like basket weaving, or rug making. The idea being that with more capital they could buy more materials, there for make more, and then sell more.

It worked fantasticly, and the loans had a repayment rate close to 100% with zero original collateral put down. So maybe an expansion of the idea of working bottom up instead of top down.

Needmoargarage > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 12:11

I spent a few summers down in El Salvador doing humanitarian aid work. In my observation, simply giving poor countries money does no good. It is misappropriated, squandered, and teaches dependence. What seemed to work really well was working with individuals and/or local groups to develop long term, self-sufficient programs and only provide resources for those programs as needed while they are in development stages. The goal is for an organization to reach complete independent operation.

I’m going to stop there and avoid getting political :)

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 12:19

I think finding a trusted private nonprofit with open books is a good way to start. I’ve been sponsoring a child with Compassion International for several years. He’s been growing up in good health and getting a great education. He’ll eventually learn a trade and be able to support himself and his family. A generation of those kids could stabilize and strengthen an economy. It’s about $40 on my end. Money well spent.

yamahog > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 12:27

Stuff like this comes up a lot, we as Westerners want to genuinely help without being “charity tourists,” or the type of people who show up just to get a smiling photo op with a local kid and return home to wax poetic about “their beautiful way of life” or whatever.

Number one: Support the local efforts. How are the people there helping their own, and how can you join in their efforts? Related reading, feminist-focused, but item #1 is very pertinent.

http://feministing.com/2015/10/13/so-…

duurtlang > BaconSandwich is tasty.
10/26/2015 at 13:43

Help building the right infrastructure for people to help themselves. Education first and foremost. Reading/writing/calculating. The scientific method, economics, agriculture, law. Microloans are very useful as well.

You could add gender equality to education, as cultures run on testosterone don’t tend to fare well. Having said that, paternalism should be avoided as much as possible. Offer options without force. And, to be honest, I’m rather wary of missionaries.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
10/26/2015 at 13:53

Came here to say this.

Also, donating animals that be a source of income seems to be a good way, too.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
10/26/2015 at 14:55

That’s pretty neat.

Economics is a strange thing. Someone once gave me an example of a small economy that was essentially in a loop. An outsider injected, then removed capital, and the loop was changed. So there was no net change in the economy, but there was an internal change. Strange stuff.

One of the things I’ve heard of more recently is a lot of phone based banking - especially for women in countries like the DRC. The women were more likely to spend their money on things that had bigger impacts, essentially multiplying their original investments.