We constantly hear about how somebody donated some amount of money to somebody in need.
However, when possible, why not help them help themselves?
While providing aid to a country or people when they are in need clearly helps them, it is a short-term solution that creates a dependency. The key is micro credit lending: empower the people with small-scale loans and let them take it from there.
For example, MICA (Micro-Credit in Africa) has various projects set up in Africa, such as the Oxcart project that lends women the $280 USD to buy an ox and cart that they can then rent out to the people in the village.
[for more info: http://www.microcreditinafrica.org/projects/index.html]
While this may have several characteristics of a charity, what makes the people who micro-lend social entrepreneurs is that they provide people with the means to affect change in their society, without driving it themselves. As the monthly payments are relatively low and they are generating revenue, it is not as common that people default on their loans.
As the Chinese proverbs states, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”