Long Blog #2: Made to Serve

Why help the poor when our government can help them for us? I mean, it's not our fault they're in their predicament, why should it be our responsibility to pull them out of it?

I guess this is a valid point. We're busy enough with out own responsibilities and problems and neither have the time nor the desire to go out of our way to serve someone face-to-face. As long as the poor are getting help, what does it matter if the help comes in a personal form or not?

I personally believe that nothing can substitute personal help--help in which you meet the person where he or she is at. It's beneficial both to the helper and the helped. In this type of service, the helper can find out exactly what a person needs and can make sure they get it. Government help, on the other hand, is very iffy. Are all the changes in taxes really helping those who need help, or are the rich just simply getting richer? If we're really concerned with the answer to this, why not figure it out on our own? We can never truly find out the answer to this until we meet the poor where they're at. Until we go to their environment, converse with them on how life is going for them and what they would like it to be, we really can't know if they're getting the help they need.

Not only is personal service more direct and effective, on an emotional level it lets the person know that someone cares enough to do something about it. Imagine that you needed help with and assignment. Everyone around you sees that you need help, but no one offers a hand. But, you see, the school you're attending has a system in which you can get help by simply putting your request in a box. Excited, you write down your request and slip it into this box, anxiously awaiting the help. The next day, much to your chagrin, you return to school to find the assignment that you needed help on, sitting neatly on your desk, properly completed with your name on the top. You didn't want manufactured help, you wanted someone to converse with you, to work with you on the assignment, helping you help yourself.

I think government help works in the same way. Instead of having someone coming to where they live, and having a personal interest in them, the poor are receiving food where they live, and having a personal interest in them, the poor are receiving food stamps. Instead of hearing a kind word from someone, they're getting lower taxes. Although this help is better than no help, I suggest that we meet people where they're at, instead of assuming the government will take care of everything, like it always does or is supposed to do.

That's why I like organizations such as the Acumen Fund and the Peace Corps. The Acumen Fund is a global fund that recognizes that the poor don't need charity, they need dignity. In order to empower the needy, Acumen makes long-term investments with businesses to create patient capital. According to the official Acumen Fund website, "Patient capital is understood as a debt or equity investment in an early-stage enterprise providing low-income consumers with access to healthcare, water, housing, alternative energy, or agricultural inputs." The Peace Corps is a volunteer organization through which volunteers get to make enormous differences in the lives of others. From integrating new teaching methods, and promoting awareness about certain health issues, to working with small farmers to increase their food production, the Peace Corps is also restoring dignity to the poor. Organizations such as these, meet a person's basic needs while empowering them to live better lives.

Instead of focusing solely on charities, we need to find other ways in which we can better people's lives for the long run. Donations will always run out, but life changes will never die, continuing to impact generations to come.