Listen to Me An interesting exchange between a volunteer and a human rights activist came to my attention the other day. The activist asked the volunteer why they had became involved with that organization. The volunteer replied that they just wanted to give a voice to the voiceless. And the activist replied Were not voiceless. Youre deaf. It often strikes me that way too. And yes, I have used the phrase a voice for the voiceless in the past. But when one steps back and looks at the way our society deals with human rights and peoples needs, youre deaf is much closer to the truth. We seem to not take the time to listen. We think we see a need and rush in to save the day. And, personal opinion, our society thinks that any problem will be solved by throwing money at it. Which often results - again personal opinion - in two things. Giving something that doesnt always help but makes us feel good (feel good charity) and entitling people (promoting continuing dependency on hand-outs and expectation that it is their forever right to receive hand-outs) rather than empowering them to grow and become the person or people or community they are capable of being. What truly needs to happen to empower people is to first dialogue with them and develop a relationship with them. Through this you find out what their true needs and their communitys needs are. It often isnt what appears as a need at first glance. Without the dialogue and relationship you cannot understand or empathize with the other and often what results is giving the person what you think they want (or what you want them to have) rather than what they need. It is very important for the material giving and donations to happen. They are a fantastic help to people in need. But it has to be done by listening to what the people truly need. Many charities and non-profits understand this and they put out requests for specific items or monetary donations to allow them to purchase those items. Be generous with what you give but please make sure it is something that will truly help fill a need. Listen when an appeal comes. Verify that a charity has done its homework and is truly working to empower people. And, when responding to an emergency or one-time appeal, listen to what is being asked for and give accordingly. Empower people. Give them a hand-up rather than a hand-out.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 04:26:49 +0000
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