Made for Aid

In the past two weeks I've read a series of books and articles about Africa and Haiti and other impoverished areas of our world, and how foreign aid (including, of course, U.S. aid) is actually holding developing nations back and is the key factor in perpetuating the cycle of generational poverty and is the primary factor in political corruptions of every assortment.

The best of these books, and the most compelling, has been Dambisa Moyo's book, Dead Aid, a national bestselling book that not only points out the mistakes of foreign aid to Africa, but also offers compelling solutions to the problem. Moyo has many credentials to her credit, including growing up in Africa, a Harvard and Oxford education, and work as an international economist. What she says about Africa is not only troubling, but is sure to raise the hackles of those who see more aid as the key to solving Africa's problems.

The book also troubled me, as it helped me to see the many mistakes that the church in America has made (and continues to make) in our mission and activities on that continent. In essence, it is time for other nations to get out of Africa so that they can get out of the way and allow African nations to rise and walk, to develop their own economic futures, and find the solutions that will lift a people out of the dirt and into a new life.

This is an oversimplified response, of course, but it can be accomplished in a relatively short period of time if the world was willing to stop the cycle of aid ("free stuff").

Not much to laugh about here, but reading these books and articles reminded me of what my grandfather used to tell me, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get on with it." Perhaps entire nations need to hear this word too.