Thanks for the Link Johnathan.
I am hijacking my own thread for a moment to add to what you mentioned while its relevant.
What you said about that organization hosting many third world people and helping them being more self sufficient with
what they can access in their situation is music to my ears.
I cannot stress to people how important this is.
When i first came to Canada i met a guy that was active in his church group and they had collected up money to help a village in Malawi. He asked me about what i thought if they sent them a grain miller. They had a nice Briggs and Straton unit in mind and were all excited with the idea with plans for some members to fly over and deliver it and show them how to work it.
My advise was rethink what you want to send such that it can be maintained without the need for gas and without the need for any knowlege on motors. Its almost impossible for people living in the west to comprehend the complete state of disparity that exists in Africa. Even if at best one can access a part for a small machine, the cost is so prohibtive never mind finding someone that can diagnose where the problem is before the whole device is pulled to pieces.
The kind of ingenuity needed in their case is to have devices that are self maintaining and to some degree tamper proof.
But the best is to consult with the local people themselves as to what they would find of benefit. We simply cannot see it from their perspective. Even the best idea i had seen which involved a merry go round acting as a pump and a storage tank turned out to be a dead loss years later for many reasons.
Education, education like you mention is the best. I also learnt a huge lesson once in Malawi during a sailing expedition up there. Illiteracy does not equal lack of intelligence. So consulting rural people on the way they see a solution is critical.
Now imagine receiving as a package of foreign aid which you gonna pay for over 15 years, one of the most sophisticated public telephone exchanges with at the time some of the most complex microprocessor technology around. How long do you think this lasted in one of the capital cities.
Any guesses? Its an incredibly complex and at times overwhelming problem when one realizes the complexities of helping people over there.