Short-term Solutions = Long-term Disasters

(Disclaimer: Because various nonprofit organizations operate very differently, this blog post is meant to only apply to international humanitarian nonprofit organizations.)

Here’s the thing:

Most humanitarian nonprofit organizations (NGOs) are founded on the good intentions to improve people’s quality of life in one way or another.  NGOs feed, clothe, educate, vaccinate, and relocate people all over the world in order to fulfill IMMEDIATE needs and with the goal to make their lives better… in theory.

MANY, maybe even MOST, international nonprofit organizations fix short-term issues (hunger, thirst, bare feet, sickness) while ignoring long-term benefits for the target community.  These short-term solutions typically WRECK the long-term growth and benefits to the target people.

Short-term solutions are like near-sighted vision: DANGEROUS.

How?

Short-term solutions are inherently near-sighted.

(These are generalizations, but the principles are true).

NGOs give people food without helping them plant their own crops to eventually feed their own communities.

NGOs drill wells to give clean water without providing the skills among the local people to drill more wells.

NGOs give shoes for bare feet without providing communities the profit from local shoe industry and shops.

Finally…

NGOs provide medical services without providing medical education to train future, local doctors.


After decades of receiving aid from NGOs and foreign humanitarian workers, communities receiving aid become dependent on aid.  Although the aid helps feed/clothe/care for people today, the people are no better prepared for tomorrow.  

If the aid were to stop today, people would die tomorrow.

Under this system, in 10, 50 or 100 years, the communities will still be needing the same help for the same problems.

What are the effects? 

After decades of receiving aid from NGOs and foreign humanitarian workers, communities receiving aid become dependent on aid.  Although the aid helps feed/clothe/care for people today, the people are no better prepared for tomorrow.  

If the aid were to stop today, people would die tomorrow.

Under this system, in 10, 50 or 100 years, the communities will still be needing the same help for the same problems.

This satirical clip refers to Americans receiving Food Stamps on the welfare program compared to the National Park Service's request for guest to not feed animals because they "will grow dependent on handouts and will not learn to take care of themselves."  

  The next post is about the reasons NGOs like short-term solutions better.