On Charity

Why is it that when it comes to working with the less fortunate, people seem to lower their standards? Here's an example:

At the end of each week here at Esperanza, the volunteer groups often leave some used clothing as donations to distribute to the communities with which we work. It's a wonderful gesture to re-use products in a way that might aid someone who needs a little extra help. Why then, do people donate used but unusable items like gloves so caked in cement that all the fingers are stiff or underwear with blood stains? It's Charity, not trash.

In working for an organization that's trying to build community and a dignified life for economically poor families in Tijuana, I've learned a lot about Charity. Unfortunately, the modern use of the word Charity as giving seems to distort it's original meaning as a love of fellow humanity. Charity, is really about respect, justice, and love. If I'm giving something to Charity, that should imply that I am participating in a mutual partnership. If someone is giving used, and unusable, underwear to another, it's not Charity. If one person is giving more than another, it's not Charity. Charity, giving, donating...all these things are two-way streets that many people see as two-lane, one-way freeways.

After decades of "charity," the coming of white, rental gringo vans to the barrios of Tijuana often brings blinds of dollar signs and gifts to the eyes of economically poor Mexicans struggling to live here. The metaphorical cat in the bag is that this form of charity doesn't solve any problems, and indeed causes more as the exportation of dUS band-aid policies penetrate ever deeper into the social fabric of the poor.

What I am asking for is a far-spread re-evaluation of Charity. If you are going to help someone less fortunate than yourself, you have a responsiblity to establish a relationship with them beyond the money or material things that you give. You have to teach them to fish instead of teaching them to beg for fish scraps. Doing the opposite doesn't help the cause, it only perpetuates the difference, materially, psychologically, socially, etc.. We want the receivers to become givers. So please...the next time you buy, buy used and the next time you give, give new.

"One love. One heart. Let's get together and feel alright."
-Bob Marley, One Love/People Get Ready