See the full article here: SIM Magazine
I found this note especially helpful:
"To aid in clear thinking, we need to distinguish between the entrepreneurial poor and the poorest of the poor.
"The entrepreneurial poor are those who can be given the proverbial fishnet and taught to fish. Ministries such as vocational training, literacy, or income generation provide tools and knowledge that help free the entrepreneurial poor from cycles of poverty. Restoring dignity for them is visible, sustainable, and often measurable.
"On the other hand, the poorest of the poor—famine victims, the ill, orphans, etc.—simply and urgently need “fish.” In these cases, compassion is no less a partnership in dignity restoration. Sometimes the most profound and dignifying act of a human in pain is simply to accept—an enormous statement of hope."
Saturday, February 17, 2007
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1 comment:
this is a thought-provoking excerpt.
to me, it is rooted in us teaching one another to apply the apparently contradictory principles of 'carrying our own load' and 'carrying one anothers burdens'.
dignity is restored to the 'entrepeneur' until the fish run out.
another way to look at it is to say that there are 3 reasons for not having fish:
1. no fish
2. not able to fish
3. not willing to fish
compassion in all 3 cases is a wonderful thing. although the reciever of no.3 might not think so at the time :)
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