The following post was written by Charles Johnson, a Premier Service Agent in World Vision’s Donor Contact Services Center.
Like the average American, my work day is usually quite busy. As one of over 120 agents who work in World Vision’s contact center, my job consists of helping assist World Vision’s donors through answering phone calls and replying to emails. I have worked in the contact center for almost two and half years now, and it has completely and utterly changed me.
Before I worked for World Vision, I did not remotely understand how complex trying to end poverty really is. I thought that everything could be easily fixed if we just gave people in developing countries more food and water. I naively perceived that the solution to the world’s long standing poverty problem was simply to supply life’s bare necessities.
While providing food, clean water, and healthcare is a huge part of development work and should in no way be discounted, my World Vision experience has taught me that in order to really combat poverty effectively, a community has to reach self-sustainability. It’s not enough to just give people what they need; they have to be empowered to provide for themselves. Poverty has been successfully conquered in a community once the people in that community no longer have to turn to a field worker for their family’s daily essentials, but are able to buy or make those essentials themselves. The reason why the old cliché of “if you give a man a fish, he’ll eat for day, but if you teach a man to fish he’ll eat for lifetime” is used so often is because it’s so true. I love World Vision Micro because it teaches people how to fish. It gives hardworking entrepreneurs the opportunity to be the one who ends the cycle of poverty in their own family and community. It helps end poverty one family at a time.
As I wait for the next call to come in, my train of thoughts turns to the generosity of the donors who make self-sustainability an achievable goal in a developing community. To every Micro donor, I want to personally thank you. You have decided to give someone the tools they need to help themselves. My own work experience has forever changed my life, but you have helped someone in need gain a work experience that will change their life in a much more significant and meaningful way. May God bless you for this and be with you always.
