Being merciful without increasing dependency

The Global Orphan Project has a great program, GO Threads, that is a wonderful way to help orphans in Haiti and Uganda. For $20 you buy a school uniform for an orphan but, and here is the key, the uniforms are made by local businesses in Haiti or Uganda! This is not only providing clothing for orphans but also creating jobs for Haitians/Ugandans and best of all any profits go to helping those same orphans with other expenses! What a great system!

One of the things I noticed right away in Haiti (and you can see the same thing in any pictures of countries in economic distress) is that there is this jarring image of people in a foreign country wearing American name brand clothing. Lots of men I saw in Haiti were wearing Brett Favre gear in Green Bay colors. Apparently there is not a lot of nostalgia for the Favre days in the land of frozen tundra. That is great that they have donated clothing but the downside is that free is always the cheapest. There is no way for little clothing companies to get off the ground. The GO Threads project helps in several ways. Here is why this program is a “better” program that some others….

Simply throwing institutional aid at poverty has never ended it. Never catalyzed personal and lasting transformation. Not even once. To the contrary, it tends to create dependency, rather than dignity.

So our desire through GO Threads is to help pay for orphan care in a way that promotes dignity and production, not institutional dependency. To promote grassroots change. To promote personal connections that matter.

We launch sewing centers that, in their own small way, can begin to change the cycle of poverty in some of the poorest villages of our world. When you send an order to us, you’re not only clothing a child…you’re also giving the men and women doing the work a chance at a better life, with the dignity that comes with having a job and providing for family. These men and women then spend the money they earn in their local economy, helping to create more jobs and giving others a chance to improve their lives, as well. They help put local clothes on the backs of their own precious children. They get out of aid lines and become part of solutions.

Plus, your order helps build a business…one that can invest in equipment, raw materials and employees to compete with large sewing mills…and one that can thrive right there among the poor.

The ripple effects are profound.

That is outstanding! (As an aside there are some important lessons in there that can be applied to America as well.) I appreciate so much the hearts of people who desire to help but how we help can be almost as important as desiring to help in the first place. One of my big concerns is that eventually these orphans in Haiti, Uganda and around the world are going to become adults and then what do they do? By creating small businesses and helping to build a sustainable economy we can help with immediate needs as well as long term financial security and independence.

Of course straight cash contributions are always needed. Orphans need food to eat, places to sleep and schools to attend today. Contributions to the Haiti Orphan Project go directly to providing for the needs of orphans without paying for a bunch of overhead. I would encourage you to give as you are led and are able to both to the Haiti Orphan Project directly to care for the immediate need of orphans and the GO Threads project to help build a long term sustainable economy in Haiti and Uganda to help break the cycle of poverty.

I contributed $20 this morning to send an invoice for a school uniform. Do you have $20 you can spare today?