CARE

one of the reasons i respect this organization so much is that they don't assume the role of the rich first-worlders coming in to help the poor third-worlders; they employ people from within each country, from the community itself. it results in a greater reach (they have ongoing relief efforts in iraq right now that are possible because many of the CARE staff in iraq is iraqi). beyond that, it makes each program more about people helping themselves. when the people themselves are given leadership positions and the skills and information necessary to those positions, and the funding to get the programs off the ground, then the effects are long-lasting. this is a world apart from simply distributing food for a while and then departing.

if you haven't already, just check out the website. it's www.careusa.org and it's just inspiring to look through the site and see what people are capable of doing. i know this sounds like an advertisment but really it's not that- it's just that so many people ask me what the org is about, what i'm writing, why i want to be a part of this movement, and i just cannot sum it up. but if you look through the site a bit, you'll begin to see how positive the whole thing is. it actually feels celebratory to me instead of woeful; it's all about victories over poverty instead of victimization...