STOP "HELPING" THE POOR

What if you visit an orphanage home and you discover that they do not have food, clothes, and books for school…... I know what you want to do, indeed it is what I want to do too! Raise money for books, for food and gather some clothes for them.

After doing this, I will return home fulfilled with the assurance that I have done the best that I can do for them. And yes, I will feel fulfilled. I have made a difference in the lives of poor orphans, and I have “changed the life of someone today”.

This is a noble thing. And indeed we are helping some people who do not have enough.

But is this truly a solution?

Within days, these clothes will be torn and they will need new ones, the food will be exhausted within a day or two and they will need books next year for classes, how will they get those ones? You might say that someone else will donate that, and you may be right, but I want to remind you that there are very few people like you who are kind enough to forget their personal needs to even remember the needs of some orphans whom they do not even know. So, the chances of them having that are very low.

Apart from this, another possible of the effect of your constant giving to them is that it could create a mindset of being the receiver, the helped. This is what is popularly referred to as inferiority complex. For the rest of their lives, except if there is a change in mindset, (and experience show that very few truly experience a change of mindset during their lifetime), these people believe that they are loved and deserve to be taken care of, and not to them taking care of others, endorsing a form of self-pity whenever their need is not met.

Such material giving is good, but giving such in every circumstance is not good. For instance, in many cases, it is not relief that many unprivileged people need, what they need is development. But we are quick to offer relief because relief is easier and brings an instant feeling of “satisfaction”. However, if what we are interested in is helping the less privileged then we must reconsider what we are doing.

And that is exactly what this new friends from Zambia did.

In 2016, the minds for change team visited an orphanage called Fountain of Hope. On getting there they realized that many of the children, most of them street children, do not have basic necessities. There was no means of income to sustain it as well. It was just a place that existed by faith. Instead of going around and mobilizing for food, clothes, and shoes, they asked themselves what they could do together with the orphans in order to ensure sustainability. The orphanage had a small car park which was generating some meager some for them. Seeing that, the Mind for change team got an idea.

In 2018, they applied for selfless 4 Africa and Global Shapers Community grant which they used to build a car wash for the orphanage. All this was done together with the orphanage kids participating. Just yesterday they completed their project. Currently, they have increased the number of children in the orphanage from 120 to 160 and created 10 jobs in the process.

Fountain of Hope Car Wash

For these kids, they have built something themselves and they understand the dignity of work. They will never be the same. Apart from the new mindset implanted in them, they will forever see the world different simply because they are not dependent on someone but they are creating a means of livelihood by themselves. Of course, they were helped. But helped differently!

Orphans from Fountain of Hope at the Car Wash

This is the kind of help I want to be offering for the remainder of my life.

Many poor people around us do not need relief, they need development and we should not harm by offering relief.

May God grant us the wisdom to see the difference and what we ought to do in different circumstances, and may we find the courage to do it even when it is hard!

Fountain of Hope Car Wash Funded by Selfless 4 Africa and implemented by Minds For Change in Zambia

P.S: There is a book titled “When Helping Hurts”, it explores many of the themes in this article in-depth! It is a highly recommended book from me.