Does Our Money Really Help?

Africa is perplexing. It is an incredibly beautiful continent and it has many valuable natural resources. Its inhabitants can be charming, conscientious, amusing and selfless. However, there are desperately poor parts of the continent and, despite much help from richer countries over the years, many people still do not have access to the basic levels of food and water necessary for survival.

This conundrum can be exasperating. Is it caused by corrupt governments siphoning off money that was designated to help their populations? Is it that the people have become too dependent on outside help, losing the motivation to help themselves? Is too much money spent on conflict and strife between and within countries rather than on the development of health, education and economic growth? Are the trade rules, as defined by rich countries, harming business development in Africa’s poorer nations?  These are a few of the many questions we ask of ourselves; they shape attitudes towards the continent and influence the individual’s decision as to whether or not to donate money to help.

Although they form a constant backdrop to this book, I shall not attempt to address these macro-level issues; there are many others who are far better placed to be able to offer improvement strategies for the prospects of Africa’s large and diverse population in the longer term. However, I do propose to answer the question I am most frequently asked; – Is it worth giving - does my money really go to help people in need?

As a former semi-sceptic myself I can now assert that the answer is a very definite ‘yes’.

I have chosen to focus upon one African country – Ethiopia – which I have been fortunate to visit twice in recent months. I want to delve deep beneath the macro issues and describe the dramatic changes that have been made to the lives of people and communities by modest amounts of aid from governments and individual donors. I have met people whose lives have been lifted out of a survival struggle to a situation where, by their own efforts, they can build a modest and sustainable income for their families; what is more they can give their children a significantly better start in life than they themselves had. Their stories are in themselves inspiring, but they also enable those in the West who have donated their own money, to feel a little pride in the results that their donations have helped to achieve.