We hear of scandals relating to our foreign aid budget, education programs where there are not enough properly trained teachers to carry them out, countries who have a space programme receiving aid and the recent one concerning consultants.
I have two basic theories relating to aid and charity. If you give a man a fish you feed him for a day but if you give him the right equipment, teach him how to use it properly and then support him, you feed him and his family from then on, as well as giving the man some pride and self-respect, and charity begins at home.
People who are hungry and on hard desperate times do not need money and they do not want to be dependant on hand outs for their future survival. What they do need is short-term help and a long-term solution so that they do not end up in the same position again in the future.
One of the main problems in most of the disaster areas of the world is a regular supply of clean and safe drinking water and we have the technology to provide that. We could manufacture and supply desalination, filtration, purification, borehole and distribution equipment to cover individual needs as well as whole communities. This could be followed up with pumps, pipe-work, irrigation equipment, tractors, agricultural implements and seeds that will grow in some of the hostile environments. We could give communities independence and pride and provide thousands of jobs in the UK.
No more money should be sent abroad. Aid should be provided in the form of British manufactured equipment and services. Giving the poor people of the world a chance to get out of poverty and the British people pride in the fact that they are part of the long-term solution.
We have already had “ FEED THE WORLD “, now lets get behind
“ HELP THE WORLD TO FEED ITSELF “.
James Hancock.
Lancashire.
