Immigration, World Poverty and Gumballs

[spookyturtle 9,465]

On 2/7/2017 at 7:53 PM, Transborderwife said:

Indeed.  But I do wonder how we go about that?  Do we change our military to include more of a peacekeeping and goodwill model?  Do we work with the UN?

No, Trump is throwing the UN out of the country. 

[eieio 1,594]

13 hours ago, JJGussiaas (Gush) said:

Oh I like this vid! First saw it on facebook and puts things into perspective.

 

My favorite country and my husband's country, Nicaragua, is considered the 2nd poorest nation in the western hemisphere (Haiti is #1). Go down there nowadays and things have gotten much better since the decade that I have been going down there. There is actually an emerging middle class and there are far less corrugated-tin and plastic tarp houses than there was. From my first missions trip in '04 until now I've certainly learned a thing or two about poverty.

    Poverty is so complex with many causes and people often treat the symptoms but not the cause. Take short-term missions: a bunch of people go somewhere for 10 days or so and spend a butt ton of money on construction supplies to build houses or medical stuff. Some go with this super-inflated superman attitude that "I'm gonna save people from their own squalor". I've worked with people like that and quickly try to stop that line of thinking; and that's a whole other issue. I digress. Disclaimer: NOTHING WRONG WITH MISSIONS TRIPS (especially after natural disasters where the need is immediate) so don't misunderstand me because I love going on missions trips; but how often are they creating a temporary fix for an issue that runs deeper? Sure maybe they need a better house, but perhaps people could build up their confidence that they have skills get their own selves out and provide for their family instead of waiting for the next missions team to come. Break the poverty of being (for lack of better words) that  "my gpa lived like this, my parents do, so I guess I'm destined to as well so what's the point if this is how things are" which manifests as material poverty. Building a house or giving them medicine won't fix a mindset like that! You'll fix the symptom but not the real root cause. It's important to find people that host missions teams that treat people holistically. Not just physical needs but social needs, spiritual needs etc. Don't give them money without helping them be a good steward of that money.

 

     From '04-'09 a group of us went to the same area doing a lot of construction work with some food distribution all in the same little community. Over time, I noticed that we actually caused more harm than good - our continual presence created a dependence. Get a house halfways done, leave, come back with another team 7 months later and the house is still sitting there untouched. The men of the community that were happy to help us lay block and tie rebar (perfectly capable and knowledgeable about the work) but simply went home when we would leave and sit on their porches until we came back. There was a family who couldn't "afford school uniforms" or shoes so the team would get them some every year. If you don't have a uniform you can't go to school. Yet they had the best TV and phone money could get in those days. That's when I realized that the way we were approaching poverty wasn't right and wasn't helping. We created a dependence. We cared for all their physical needs while they spent what money they had on wants. Of course, this is one example out of many trips and from my own personal experience.

     Poverty is on so many levels. I have often said that there are people that are so poor that all they have is money. And yet there are people who are material poor yet quite satisfied with what they have...hmm. There's something to that. Someone mentioned the value of family and relationship...things that money can't buy. That's definitely true. 

  Are those in poverty happy or at LEAST satisfied? Sometimes yes it does but many instances I would say not. Ask those Nicaraguans families (sometimes kids with no parents) that literally live in the city dump digging through the trash to find metal to sell so they can eat today if they are happy with life. No. They are not. They watch TV and facebook; they know what life is like for others, even if it's the false sense of US living that TV gives; they want that...words my husband has said before. 

 

I think the best and cheapest way is to train people where they are not only so they can better their own life but also their community and ultimately their country.

 

These are just my opinions, observations, and experiences so don't take it as fact or truth. Working alongside poverty is near and dear to my heart so I had to jump in here  

That was an excellent post.  Teach them to fish, instead of just giving them fish.  Your first hand account of doing this through out the years is more valuable than some writer just giving their theory on how things work

[TBoneTX 43,058]

Agree with the excellence of that meaningful post.