Educational charity: giving the fishing hook to the poor

Nothing liberates the poor from the forces of poverty like enlightening them on how best to solve their problems with whatever is made available by nature within their environment. This is the best way to spend on the poor.

The best solution to the problem of the poor and the less privileged is not cash and material charity aimed as offering short term solutions to their perennial problems. The best way to approach the problem of the poor in a more definite manner that will achieve the needed common objective of eradicating poverty from among the poor populations of the world and give them access to a decent living is through the harnessing of necessary resources aimed at educating them on how best to overcome their various threatening problems. This is educational charity.

The concept of educational charity appears to be the parable of the villagers that once asked for a fishing hook from the benevolent fisherman who has always fed them with enough amounts of fish in moments of hunger. “One day we will wake up to meet the hard reality that this benevolent fisherman has gone off the way and we return back to the days of hunger and death. Nevertheless, the fisherman is good person that wishes to care” the villagers said to themselves.

The next morning, as the strange fisherman appeared again at the village square with a basket of fishes in his usual manner. The villagers thanked him in their usual manner, but they needed something more. “Give us the fishing hook and teach us how to fish, that we may fish for ourselves even when you are not there” the villagers requested. Fortunately, they had their request granted. Most interesting part of the parable of the fishing hook is that the next morning the villagers woke to the sad news that benevolent fisherman has been eaten by sea monster. What an escape by the whiskers!

We can’t keep living on the old concept of charity and intervention in the fight to reduce poverty among the poor. The need for world bodies and interest groups including governments to appreciate the fact that equipping the poor, especially women and youth with the basic education that will help them overcome poverty has become most urgent if the global object to half poverty by the year 2020 is to be an achievable global ambition. Liberating the poor from the factors that lead to poverty and high mortality through education remains the best. This goes a long way to explain the choice of Educational Charity by One Cause in its fight against poverty and disease among the poor.