The Land of Opportunity

The Land of Opportunity

My white skin turned black as we shook hands. His bare feet were as black as the coal that he was refining and speckles of coal dust laced his teeth as he smiled and thanked us for visiting. He couldn’t have been more than 40 years old and we were standing in his thatch warehouse in the slum village of Dagon, Myanmar. In the 1990’s he took out a $100 loan from the Micro Finance Program of World Vision in hopes to sell three bags of coal a day to provide food for his family. Fifteen years later he is selling 100 bags of coal a day, paying his son to deliver them, and is sending his oldest daughter to college.

Jack and Marylin DeBoer had invited me on my first trip to the developing world and my perspective of humanitarian aid was changing from handing out water, food, and medicine to creating a land of opportunity. My first instinct as I visited was to give what little money I had to increase the quality of life for people that I met. I brought in spending cash what many people would make in a months wage and I struggled to understand why our World Vision guides forbid us from making such handouts. The staff informed me that although my good will was generous it would create an expectation that would not be sustainable. The consequences of creating that expectation would cause the people to depend on foreign aid rather than their own advancement, which paralyzes their ability to progress rather than aid it. People would turn to the organization of World Vision for help, which in time would inevitably fail to meet those expectations and by letting down the expecting public, they would lose credibility in a community, and people will grow resentful of its presence.

As we toured 10 different villages and townships I learned how this was true. In many of the villages I saw old UN water pumps that had been installed years ago to provide suitable drinking water. The pumps were broken down because the indigenous people could no longer find the parts or the knowledge to maintain them and the UN was cursed for it’s failing efforts. The UN continues to provide amazing aid in the regions, but the attitude of the people is often negative towards their good will. My observation is simply that the act of charity can fail in the long term.

I have seen how World Vision has created opportunities that have truly aided the development of the Myanmar people by rewarding their initiatives.

The Food for Work Program - In most rural areas food and nutrition is an immediate need. There is also a need for teachers, roads, and labor. World Vision sets up projects that if you build a road during the day, they will provide healthy food for the day. These programs are established in the fundamental development of a community.

Micro Finance Loans - As a community develops they create a lending institution which currently doesn’t exist. The only ability to currently get a loan is from a loan shark, which lends at rates between 15-25%. World Vision has established micro finance loans, which is set at a rate between 3-5%. Over a decade and millions of dollars in loans they have a 99.2% payback rate. We were able to visit doctor’s offices, water crest farmers, and many other businesses that have been started with these incentives. Again, World Vision is creating opportunities.

Sustainable technological advances – As the cyclone has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions rebuilding they have introduced new construction technologies. They have developed a concrete that is based upon their own sandy soil and crushed rock. They have trained people to construct rebar with their own materials. Agriculture advances are also used to train people to develop a better farming industry. The western temptation is provide a tractor and see them leap into the 21st century, however it must be incremental development if it will sustain.

There are areas that deserve unmerited aid. I agree with World Vision’s stance on children. We have a responsibility to provide water, food, shelter, health, and education for children regardless of the positive or negative decisions their parents have made. I’m not clear as for determining when a student should be held responsible for their own pass or failure, however I do believe as they progress through an academic system they assume responsibility for their ability to continue. The also work with the disabled community to provide for them what they are not able to do for themselves.

In summary, the paradox of humanitarian aid is to provide the basic opportunities that allow people to progress in health and safety, while being careful not to create a dependency that perpetuates powerlessness. As I have reflected on these observations I can’t help but wonder how this applies to our community.

I believe the fundamental of the American dream is an individual’s opportunity, not entitlements for a relative standard of living. After seeing people in the developing world, I believe that everyone in our country is given the freedom and enough opportunities to determine their own success.

I am also fearful when I hear so much criticism of our government, that we have resentment from our unmet expectations. This resentment is from our decisions to expect unsustainable benefits from a foreign source that has crippled our own advancement.

My final thoughts leave me thinking...
1. I don't know a country that provides more opportunity than America.
2. We have a government that we can petition, change, and influence.
3. If there is a missing resource in America it's vision and leadership.
4. I firmly believe that it doesn't take that many people to pull together to have a positive influence on Wichita.

Matt