Our View: Locals provide needed help half a world away

Published 6:15 am Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Last week’s editorial described how students in FFA can restore our hope for humanity.

Today, we want to highlight the subjects of two stories in today’s Chieftain — Emily Sheahan and Olan Fulfer — as another reason why, in spite of the insanity we see today, the world may not be 100% doom and gloom.

The stories highlight different ways these two individuals have helped half way around the world in Africa — Sheahan by running marathons to help support World Vision (and also seeing their work done in Africa), and Fulfer by taking a trip this summer to Tanzania to teach and provided needed support for residents in and around the city of Arusha.

Many people in Africa live in conditions that are unthinkable in America, a level of poverty that really cannot be understood unless you see it firsthand, as a member of this editorial board has. Pictures only show so much.

You see those photos, hear those stories, have your heartstrings tugged at and want to help, which is good.

Yet what Fulfer said was true in that providing help cannot be done by just giving money and walking away, or giving supplies. Supplies and funding, to be sure, is needed at times.

But this is also a moment where the proverb of giving a man a fish versus teaching a man to fish comes into play. Do you give somebody what they need just for a day? Or supply them with what they need for a lifetime? Do you give to the point that they become dependent on what you give, and find they are worse off in the end? Or do you find a way to empower them?

The book “Toxic Charity” delves into this issue, explaining how the best of intentions can harm as opposed to help in the long run. It is a book that really causes the reader to think, and does bring into question what we see as the best way to help, while also giving its own model. It’s worth a read for anyone interested in philanthropy or missions trips.

But that is not the point of this editorial. The point is that many millions — not only in Africa, but around the world — are in desperate need for essentials that we take for granted in America. Food. Water. Clothing. A bed. Health. Warmth.

The fact that, as Fulfer shared, he was able to buy a family of six a week’s worth of food for $4 says something about how blessed we are.

And how much we should be following the lead of these two, and many others who donate time and resources, to help the less fortunate.

What Sheahan and Fulfer are doing, in two different ways, is a good work — one that should be emulated by more people.

And it’s a work that should help restore a semblance of hope for humanity.