why do we fail at helping

WHY DO WE FAIL AT HELPINGBY ROBIN LOW

DEFINE HELP

Help is any form of assistance.-- Wikipedia

LIST SOME GOALS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

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• To have sustainable impact on the Eco-system

EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION

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• Government Subsidies

• Scholarships

LIST THE IMPACT THE “HELP” GENERATED

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• Enable the poor to survive

• Making higher education affordable to those who can’t afford

IS THE HELP ANY HELP?

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• If not, why?

CASE 1

Robin’s Chicken Farms

• 200 chickens, chicken coops.

• Skills building, breeding, feeding, transporting and selling eggs.

• Crop rotation

CASE 1: IMPACT

• Sold eggs increasing daily income from $7 to $60

• Repaid back capital of $2000 in 3 months.

CASE 1: RESULTS

• After 9 months.

• All chickens are eaten, no chickens remain.

• All villages back to what it was before.

CASE 2

El Limon: The Global Village

• Internet introduced in 1997.

• VoIP, Wifi, WLAN in 2003.

• Internet Chat available in village.

• $$$ spent

• Telemedicine available

CASE 2: IMPACT

• Good social engineering project

• Village grew local capacity for technicians

• Villagers learn how to code and program for additional source of income

CASE 2: RESULTS

• Village cannot afford commercial technician

• Paying for connectivity is still a problem (donation)

• Everyone under the age of 20 wants to be a developer when they grow up

• Many young villager develop simple technical skills to get online and use VoIP

“Philanthropy dollar” can only be used once, the “social dollar” can be used again and again.

-- Muhammad Yunus

LONG TERM VS SHORT TERM

• Do you want sustainable long term impact or focus on one off project?

• Will you run the project FOREVER?

WHY HELPING FAIL

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• No Respect

• No Capacity

• No Trust

• No Champion

Poor People are not Stupid

-- Muhammad Yunus

DANGERS OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION

Making life decisions for those we are helping

Is there “Over Helping?”

CURSE OF EXCLUSION OF LOCALS IN DISASTER RELIEF AND RECOVERY