{"id":2155,"date":"2012-01-27T08:52:55","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T13:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/redletters\/?p=2155"},"modified":"2012-01-27T09:06:33","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T14:06:33","slug":"what-causes-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/what-causes-change.html","title":{"rendered":"What causes change?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Muhammad Yunus–one of the earlier pioneers of microfinance in the developing world–gets right to the heart of the matter in less than two minutes.<\/p>\n

The current framework is completely broken …<\/p>\n

It focuses too much on money…<\/p>\n

We need businesses that exist to solve human problems…<\/p>\n

It is people that cause change, not money. If you look at a microfinance model, it is heavily dependent on the role of people to create change by creating businesses that create revenue. It relies on the role of community, accountability, economic incentives, and ownership.<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1exXcG1mqI8<\/a>\n

Aid typically does not create community, accountability, economic incentives, or ownership. But we are still so in love with aid. <\/strong>Why?<\/p>\n

Peter Greer, President of the microfinance organization HOPE International, offers some excellent conclusions in this post<\/a>. Greer concludes the aid model prevails…<\/p>\n

“Because it\u2019s easy.”<\/em><\/p>\n

“We can go in and solve problems.\u00a0 It\u2019s fast.\u00a0 It makes us feel good.\u00a0 And we get to see results.\u00a0 But anyone who looks at macroeconomic data recognizes it\u2019s not a quick fix.\u00a0 Long term, it\u2019s a poverty trap.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Anyone who looks at the macroeconomic data WOULD agree that aid is not working as well. But most of us DON’T look at that data.<\/p>\n

Instead we look at the faces and bodies of\u00a0 hungry children who are being robbed of a childhood in a vicious and systematically cruel way. Our parental instincts go into overdrive when we see children trapped by slavery or dying from malnutrition. These issues hit us in the gut like a cannonball. <\/strong><\/p>\n

But as Greer states in his post, “We need to get beyond pity, and move to real partnership.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

That happens when we focus on the potential those hungry children represent. Each is uniquely created and possesses skills, talents, abilities, and interests that if properly nutured and supported will be all they ever need<\/strong> to release themselves from the grip of poverty.<\/p>\n

Pity is what happens when we want to scrub that image of a hungry child out of our memory and replace it with a happy picture of kids eating for a day. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Partnership happens when complementary strengths are aligned between Western communities and African communities. When common goals are pursued that result in a long-term strategy to feed, educate, and care for children–all the while training them for self-sufficiency and independence from aid as adults.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

What causes change?\u00a0 People releasing potential through partnership.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muhammad Yunus–one of the earlier pioneers of microfinance in the developing world–gets right to the heart of the matter in less than two minutes. The current framework is completely broken … It focuses too much on money… We need businesses that exist to solve human problems… It is people that cause change, not money. If…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat causes change? - Red Letters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/2012\/01\/what-causes-change.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What causes change? - Red Letters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Muhammad Yunus–one of the earlier pioneers of microfinance in the developing world–gets right to the heart of the matter in less than two minutes. 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The current framework is completely broken … It focuses too much on money… We need businesses that exist to solve human problems… It is people that cause change, not money. 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A tireless advocate for fatherless children, Davis has spent most of his adult life calling U.S. believers to become the hands and feet of Jesus Christ to the 143 million orphans living around the world. Through those connections, thousands of orphans now have the bright and hopeful future--one that is filled with opportunities and the love of the one true Father. Davis speaks hundreds of times each year at churches and conferences, mobilizing the church to action on behalf of the poor. He is the author of four books. His most recent novel, SCARED is a fictionalized account of his first-hand experiencing living and working with orphans in Swaziland, Africa. Davis' blog is the premier resource for the latest developments in Christian orphan ministry. Davis also currently teaches courses as adjunct professor at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. When not traveling the globe, Davis resides in the mountains of Colorado in the small community of Palmer Lake. He and his wife Emily have seven children, including two adopted daughters from Russia.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/author\/tdavis"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2165,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155\/revisions\/2165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/redletters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}