Effects of Foreign Aid
An interesting concept that is a major topic of our video is that foreign aid was actually harming these poorer countries, due to those providing the aid not understanding the lay of the land. Us helping, led to some naturally producing nut bearing trees to be cut down. Had we left it alone, they would still have these trees as a food source.
I also found it interesting just how much the economy was changed by subsidizing products. They say in Haiti that rice used to be a delicacy, not eaten very often at all. Since being subsidized, the price of rice has seen a significant decrease, and farmers have altered their habits to farm for more and less of the other more nutritionally balanced food.
The textile industry has also been affected by aid. The influx of second hand clothing made it less necessary for clothes to be produced there, putting enough people out of business to see the effects.
Helping or Not?
Also, while the goals of helping feed more people and get them out of poverty are the same, the way that people go about it differs, and not always in good ways. For example, you can go and give someone lots of fruit, but what are they supposed to do once that fruit runs out? The best way to help people is very rarely through handouts but instead by teaching them. If you can teach people to grow their own fruit, then they become self-sufficient, and if they’re able to make enough of it they may even be able to make a profit off it too.
Something that needs to be addressed and very thoroughly looked at is that Herman Chinery-Hesse says, “I think that the World Bank and other such donor organizations have an agenda outside the development of our countries.” To me, this is such a disappointing statement to hear. Can it really be called providing aid, when they’re exploiting others for their own benefit? If we really want to help, the goal should be to go in, provide some assistance and then leave. But we continue to stay, and they continue to rely on us, and that puts the omes providing the aid in a really warped position of power. This may be because, while these consultants are sent abroad to help the people, they’re still doing their job and are more concerned about pleasing the people who pay their salary rather than helping those around them. This creates a broken system for aid.
Now, things get much trickier when trying to determine who benefits the most here. Those receiving the aid or those giving it, and I truly believe it is more a matter of perspective. If I was in a position where I was very hungry, and didn’t have the means to feed myself or my family and someone were to offer me food without any strings attached, I would happily take it and be very grateful. Depending on the level of hunger, if you’re just trying to make it through the month, or maybe even the week or day, I’d be much more concerned about the present than the long term. I think it’s easy to say that yes, people should be taught to fend for themselves, but in reality I’m sitting here in a nice room that has heating and air conditioning, on a full stomach where my biggest concern is completing my homework for the night. Someone who’s starving won’t be thinking like us, they’re going to be more focused on survival. So as a whole, those providing the aid may benefit more but for the individual that little bit of food could mean everything to them.
A Story That Leads to Help
When hearing the story about the couple who planned on starting an orphanage but started a business instead to help people keep their children I thought that it was wonderful. I think it’s a common misconception that a lot of people have the desire to abandon their kids. Raising children is expensive, no matter where you live and unfortunately it’s the sad truth that not everyone can afford them.
Conclusion
I think overall, this was a very educational video that really affected the way that I view poverty as a whole. The steps that are in a way of a nation overcoming poverty are so complicated, but being able to break it down into a process where we can see why it’s so hard to break this cycle helped make it make sense. The new definition of poverty that I have isn’t based on making very little money, but more on people being excluded from a system that allows networking and connections.
