Handout Mentality

I’m writing this blog in response to some distressing news from fellow PCVs discussed during an HIV/AIDS Committee Meeting in the capital last week. The World Food Programme, or WFP, in Lesotho is responsible for handing out free food (mostly maize meal and oil) to impoverished Basotho. Recently however, WFP has altered their guidelines—food is now only given to Basotho who are HIV positive, TB positive, and/or malnourished. While I don’t disagree with the new policy, reactions to it need to be considered. Volunteers are now seeing mothers purposefully starving their children or friends coughing on each other so they can be on the WFP list. This sort of thinking , the “handout mentality” in some third world countries, is incomprehensible to the Western world. (Although I have heard comparisons to the welfare junky, I refuse to place them on the same level.) Nurses are seeing healthy babies’ nutrition dramatically drop after the new WFP policy was introduced. There’s little they can do, though, without hard proof or contact with WFP Headquarters (who get their orders from an office far away in Europe).

WFP is an organization that I thought could do no wrong as far as services and mission. They aim to feed the hungry—what could possibly be wrong with that? I don’t mean to solely attack WFP, but I want to use this situation in Lesotho to support a theory that throwing money at problems (including hunger and poverty) DOES NOT WORK. Basotho don’t need handouts, they need skills and knowledge that will empower them to help themselves. I am witnessing a country’s dependency on foreign aid. In my mind, it is worse to make a poor country dependent on a rich country’s aid than to do nothing at all. I urge people to rethink the way they view charity. Is it really beneficial to give people free food when they are hungry? Will a people stop spreading HIV if they are given the treatment for free? These are tough questions that do not have simple answers, if any. These are the kinds of questions I ask myself every day.

Harsh Realities in Lesotho

For the most part I’ve tried to paint a pretty picture of Lesotho in my blog (if not pretty, then quaint), but the reality is that Lesotho is a third world country steeped in poverty. The beautiful mountain landscape is littered with trash; women are treated as second-hand citizens (until just a few years ago women were considered a minority by law); and the vast majority of the population cannot access and/or afford healthcare. On top of everything, Lesotho holds the third highest HIV prevalence rate at 23.5% (though current statistics say it is probably higher) caused by alcoholism and promiscuity (fueled by a similar combination of boredom and desperation—caused by extreme poverty).

The peace in Lesotho and the friendliness of the Basotho people hold the country together and keep it afloat. Lesotho prides itself on being a peaceful nation. Especially compared to surrounding South Africa where racial tension still breeds hostility, Lesotho smiles and welcomes the few foreigners who venture within its borders. Despite the supposed national pride of Basotho, virtually every person born in Lesotho wants to get out—and who can blame them? Unemployment skyrockets at 40% according to statistics, but in reality it is much worse especially in rural areas. Government, whether national or local, is usually lazy and uninformed about its own people—and is at least somewhat corrupt (though not to the extent of some African countries).

As an ex-pat volunteer at the grassroots level in Lesotho it’s easy to see the suffering and needs of Basotho, along with the many problems that exist here. However living with Basotho in their villages, many Peace Corps Volunteers are also exposed to the Basotho’s high expectations of aid workers and low expectations of themselves. In other words, Basotho want international aid workers to give them money to build a clinic, start a business, or go to school, but Basotho refuse to hold themselves accountable if the money is squandered or the project fails—it’s not their money, why should they care? Basotho have developed a serious dependency on international aid. Money constantly flows into the country no matter where it goes or how effectively or efficiently it is used. As far as I can tell, organizations do little to follow up on where exactly their donated money ends up (i.e. receipts, surveys, names, etc.) The host country is not held accountable by the donating organization, and the organization is not held accountable by its donors. I encourage people who donate money to charities and non-profits et al to inquire about where the money actually goes. More importantly though, international aid organizations need to monitor the results and spending of their aid money. International aid has had a presence in Lesotho for decades, even before the HIV/AIDS crisis. I fear that if money is thrown at Africa (and the rest of the third world) like it has been in Lesotho, the entire third world will develop a dependency on foreign aid and lack the skills to improve and progress its societies.