Poverty Incorporated: The Many Branches that Make Up Charity
Introduction
Poverty Inc., a satirical title of charities and how they are run and the title of the documentary directed by Michael Matheson-Miller. For background information, this was a view of the charity system during the year 2014. The documentary did not hyper focus on any one charity, but instead a conglomeration of charitable actions taken by ‘developed’ nations toward that of ‘undeveloped’ countries. The documentary sets out to present how ‘old’ thinking charitable organizations limit and dissuade progress in developing countries. The documentary functions as a wake-up call, trying to convince those with caring hearts that charity is not functioning in the best interest of underdeveloped countries.
How to Give
In its beginning points, Poverty Inc. finds itself in the country of Haiti. In the year of 2010, Haiti suffered an extremely destructive earthquake. Many countries, such as and mainly the United States, decided to provide the Haitians provisions to help rebuild the country. The main provision from the United States was rice, grown and sold in borders of America. America teamed up with the Haitian government to place subsidies on the rice, lowering its price to a very affordable range for the citizens of Haiti. All of this sounds good, and at first Haiti was able to recover from the earthquake. However, the rice continued to be delivered to the shores of Haiti, even after the initial emergency. Rice went from luxurious commodity to cheap everyday food. The rice farmers of Haiti found themselves competing with a near zero price range of the US donated rice. These farmers had to move to find a different occupation. Over population of Haiti’s factories area led to unstable, stacked concrete slums. Poverty Inc. used rice as an example, but this was happening with many other products. Solar powered lighting, and other companies, came face to face with similar dirt-cheap prices. Many of Haiti grown companies were being forced out of business by out of country charity. Haiti stopped developing because entrepreneurs were unable to pursue their ideas. The barrier to entrance was way too high to pursue a viable business model. Without functioning entrepreneurs, Haiti was not able to prosper from innovation inside its own country. It also could not get to market with other countries since it was being flooded with these exact same products.
The Power Behind Giving
The “branch” of Poverty Incorporated that represented this part of the documentary was the Republic of Nongovernmental Organizations. The NGOs were the lifeblood of the charitable company, and the documentary chose the Haitian company ENERSA to show how cancerous this ‘life’ blood was. ENERSA was a solar powered streetlamp company, pioneered by Jean Ronel Noel and Alex Georges. Like the rice situation, ENERSA saw its profits plummet due to NGOs providing these kinds of streetlamps for free. Though the documentary did not go into detail, it was said that ENERSA and the NGOs came into conflict many times. ENERSA needed to stay in business since many of its employees were pressured to join local gangs instead. If ENERSA could not provide stable employment, then these men would go to a more ‘frugal’ option by necessity.
The Corruption of Giving
As the documentary went deeper into the business, it chose Herman Chinery-Hesse as its main spokesman for the inter workings of this next branch. Lauded as the Bill Gates of Africa, Herman Chinery-Hesse developed a company to help Africa develop using technology, and it was through experience did he present this part of the company. This branch of the Poverty business oversaw the corruption of donations, and how it stifled the country’s growth. Chinery-Hesse was once trying to obtain a contract from his own government to work on a project with him and his team. He was competing with several other European companies, but it was relatively clear that Chinery-Hesse’s team was more qualified for the project. However, one of the European countries decided to promote a donation towards this project. The African government was given this fund, and with it the stigmatism to give it to an African company. Chinery-Hesse’s team was passed up for this European company, who were paid and then allocated all the hard work on Chinery-Hesse’s team. Many developing countries are in the same situation, where the government will choose a foreign company since the funds they are given are donated. This is scene on the outside as foreign companies helping to develop the interworking of the developing countries. What this ends up doing is bloating the developing countries’ country with cash, relying on outside countries to provide funds and help with development. This is where, as business owners, we need to pay most attention to. These companies used the contorted environment that these other companies were in to compete in markets they had no chance of winning. What results are half-hearted and ill-fitted products and services provided to a consumer base who have little to no other options. For the best interest of the countries, in these situations, foreign companies should retreat. As business owners, it is their job to solve the problem for the customer.
Giving to the Wrong Place
As businesses begin to grow, there are more chances of corruption among the ranks, especially at the base level, and Poverty Incorporated is no different. The bottom level for this corporation is orphanages. Orphanages provide food, shelter, and an exit to usually unescapable circumstances, provisions that are both seen and unseen by those who establish them. Of the many children who are placed in orphanages, very few of them have parents who have passed away. Many of these children’s parents saw the orphanage as an option to send their children to a better life. Maybe their children can be adopted and go to America. These are the thoughts through many of these parents’ heads. In the end, parents use orphanages not to help their child when they are not there, but to provide for their child when they can’t. In the end, each one of these parents wants to care for their kids. Orphanages fall under the blind eye of charity. Pictures of sick and crying children can convince many to donate to charities, but in the end, this is not the true issue plaguing these countries. What really plagues these countries is the inability to provide. These parents have no way to earn enough money to help nurture their kids.
Why We Want to Give
As the tour of the company begins to wrap up, Poverty Inc. decides to explain why entrepreneurial spirited individuals are unable to rise above this ‘poor person’ image. Property is considered as the best form of collateral to developing country banks. Land is also a very hard to come by commodity. Loans end up favoring those who already have land, which is a difficult cycle since acquiring land requires a loan to amass enough funds. If someone wanted to acquire a loan to help promote their own company, they would be weighted under interest that was equal if not more than their annual profit. The right of the law does not work in favor of the middle businesses, which is the kind of business that makes up majority of developed countries. This last part of the documentary includes celebrity endorsements and the harm they can do as well. What the documentary was trying to do is break the image of the helpless ‘poor person.’ These people in these countries are not uneducated and weak, unable to provide or find answers for themselves. These people are smart people who strive for betterment but are stuck under the thumb of a corrupt government, which usually gets the support of the Poverty business. This is why when someone approaches charity, they need to understand fully the country that is being helped. Understanding something allows for better solutions to the problem.