Missionaries of charity: Simple charity or development?
What is the role of charity in a developing nation? The question leads to another - what is charity? Is it restricted basic requirements of food, shelter, clothing and good health? Or is it finally empowering people to fend for themselves?
WHEN ASKED “What is God’s greatest gift to you?” by Time Magazine’s Edward Desmond in a 1989 interview Mother Teresa, replied, “The poor people”. “How are they a gift?” she replies, “I have an opportunity to be with Jesus 24 hours a day.” While we are familiar with the missionaries’ work for refugees, the mentally ill, abandoned, sick children, lepers and AIDS victims, the motivation behind such work has a religious bent as mentioned above by the Head of the Missionaries of Charity.
Such service fulfils the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter and sound health. Charity contributes to their well being and to the betterment in their standard of living, and the improvement in these indicators is a function of this charitable work. Once charity stops, the supply of these basic needs will be severed and the individual may return to his original impoverished state. This explains the significance and the role of charitable organisations in the society. Thus, such charitable work is definitely linked to development, as it often acts as a catalyst in the entire process.
What more is required to complete the process of development is assistance in opportunities of creating and maintaining a skill set which may enable a person to uplift himself further, independent of the charity.
In the words of Mother Teresa, “Like a man says to me that you are spoiling the people by giving them fish to eat. You have to give them a rod to catch the fish. And I said, my people cannot even stand, still less hold a rod. But, I will give them the fish to eat, and when they are strong enough, I will hand them over to you and you give them the rod to catch the fish. That is a beautiful combination, no?”
While, the above statement defines the role of charitable organisations, yet the ‘you’ in the statement remains unidentified. There needs to be an addition in the activities performed by charitable organisations/missionaries, which can be undertaken by any element of the society, be it individuals, government or other social groups.
In the words of Mother Teresa, “Like a man says to me that you are spoiling the people by giving them fish to eat. You have to give them a rod to catch the fish. And I said, my people cannot even stand, still less hold a rod. But, I will give them the fish to eat, and when they are strong enough, I will hand them over to you and you give them the rod to catch the fish. That is a beautiful combination, no?”
While, the above statement defines the role of charitable organisations, yet the ‘you’ in the statement remains unidentified. There needs to be an addition in the activities performed by charitable organisations/missionaries, which can be undertaken by any element of the society, be it individuals, government or other social groups.
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