Philanthropy, Aid, Etc.

I just purchased my first pair of pretty TOM's shoes yesterday. After I ordered them, I sarcastically said to my husband how "proud" I was, and how good I felt, for having bought them and thus "given" a pair of shoes to a person in need.

*Gasp!* How could I make fun of such a worthy cause, one might ask? Well, it certainly is complicated, but...my views of aid have changed drastically in the last two years or so. I have read a few books, listened to a few radio programs, and read several articles that have slowly begun changing my mind about what is and what isn't "good" aid. When it comes to TOM's shoes, essentially, the reason I'm not going to pat myself on the back for the BOGO is because shoes aren't the true need for most people living in poverty. If we really wanted to help change things for those who don't even have shoes to grace their feet, we need to give them the means to buy shoes, or even make them. The issue is much more complex than that, but here is a start-off point if anyone is interested in reading further.


I definitely have more reading to do on the subject, and I plan on it. As someone who is drawn very deeply to the African continent and its people, I question my own and others' intentions and effectiveness when it comes to helping. It seems as though all of our helping has not truly made a significant impact on the lives of those who, unfortunately, remain in dire need. I cannot, of course, place blame or point fingers, but I think, as the article (see link) discusses, we need to examine the ways in which we go about aiding poverty-stricken nations and our own intentions and desires. I tear up every time I read something or watch something that is a detailed view of life for most people in Africa. Why? I don't exactly know. I know part of it is that I am ashamed of myself, honestly. Ashamed of my discontent with all that I have, ashamed of my luxurious way of life and how I feel as though working with people in need might somehow make up for all the years of blissful ignorance I've spent complaining and wanting more.

Yet, it's not all of that, I know. I definitely have a deep desire to help. But I and my husband hesitate to just jump across the ocean and start doing something in Africa because we want to know what it is God would want us to do there, and to do that--not something we think will be helpful or good. And finding out what that is, exactly, if anything, is not an easy task. In the meantime, we need to step it up and live out our calling here, in Tennessee, because whoever is given much, from him much will be expected--and if he is faithful with what he is given, he will be given more to manage and steward.