It takes a lot of personal dedication and sacrifice to give.
Let me start by appreciating @terganftp for the changes that occured while I was away from the community. "Earn, Spend, Give" is such a nice name that encourages spreading love to the next person.
Giving is sacrifice
Coming to the prompt of this week, it's a thing of joy to give as I believe in the popular saying that blessed is the hand that giveth than the one that taketh.
It's not easy to give. This is the reason why in a community, you could find a rich man who is totally secluded from the people. If you are not disciplined enough to see the importance of giving, you may never consider rendering assistance to the needy.
Most individuals if not everyone has a goal in life while putting efforts in place daily to achieve such goals. If you are fixated on achieving your goals, especially those that are financially inclined without a blink, you may have nothing left to give to others in need. Imagine having the goal of saving a million Naira to buy a car as soon as possible and at the middle of your saving efforts, you come across someone in dire need of 20000 Naira to pay a hospital bill, there is every possibility that you may overlook the person's situation to concentrate on your goal of raising a million naira as soon as possible. This is why I see giving as a lot of sacrifice being made by the giver.
Hand up or Handouts?
Giving handouts to someone/people in need or rendering assistance to help people grow; which one do I prefer?
I prefer the latter unequivocally. There is a popular saying that says that it's better to teach one how to fish than give the person fish. However, in the situation where someone is starving, the best the person needs is fish to quench the starvation and not how to fish. Where is even the strength?
So, I will say that the situation on ground would determine my choice between the two forms of giving.
In the part of Nigeria where I live, there are various reasons or scenarios that call for my intervention if I have the opportunity to help. Insecurity in Northern Nigeria is still alarming and many people are displaced from their permanent place of residence. The government provides a temporary abode popularly named Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp. This category of our population needs both forms of interventions. If you visit their camp and see the humanitarian crises there, you will agree with me that what they need immediately is fish and not the know-how of catching fish. Nutrition, sanitation and medical attention are all needed in the camps.
Many nongovernmental organizations are doing a lot to ameliorate the sufferings of the people but more needs to be done. The ultimate goal is to improve the security of lives and properties in towns and villages for them to return to their homes. Before archiving this, they need to be catered for. I wish to visit these camps and render assistance to them as much as I can.
Looking beyond their immediate food and sanitary needs, the education of the children is in jeopardy. Enrolment in elementary school is very poor in Northern Nigeria and the displacement of the people due to insecurity worsened the situation.
Basic education is ideally compulsory for every child. A child's choice of career should be made after the completion of highschool education. The individual choices would now determine if university education is necessary or not.
I have seen some NGOs provide a makeshift form of educating the IDP children and I love the idea. In order to cover more or possibly all the school age children, there is need for major expansion and adoption in all the camps. This is very important and the only hope to change the ideological mindset of the young population.
The major factor responsible for widespread of terrorism and banditry that gave rise to the attack of villagers and pushed them to become a resident of IDP camps is lack of education. Provision of easy access to education will not just prepare the children to become empowered adults, it will also save the country from further destruction due to extremism in belief.
While I do this, I will also look into the ways of empowering the adults. They can't continue to depend on handouts. Though, what most of them knew how to do since childhood is crop production, they can be trained on some easy-to-understand crafts. This will help them to get going before the anticipated return to their ancestral homes by the government once their security is guaranteed.
Outside the plight of people in IDP camps, we have a large population of children roaming the street in search of food. The cruel life that they have been subjected to has turned the majority of them into potential agents of vices and destruction. They are born and neglected by their parents in the guise of being entrusted to the care of a teacher that is to teach them religion in a town far away from home.
The federal government of Nigeria, just yesterday, voiced out that the population of out of school children in the country is a time bomb. Concerned stakeholders shouldn't wait till it explodes before doing something about it. I am willing to contribute in liberating the country from this quagmire.
Each time a child knocks on my gate with a plate in his hands to beg for food, I see a bigger problem in the future if this child is left to grow without education or skill acquisition.
Despite the fact that the child was betrayed by his parents, he will unleash his anger on humanity in general when he grows up and realizes how his life had been made worthless. At that stage, we are all victims.
With the spirited effort of all, this is avoidable. I am striving to be an agent of achieving this.
I have other identified areas but the above mentioned is my priority area of giving.
I will conclude this piece by reiterating that helping one to grow is better than giving someone handouts for immediate benefits. However, each situation determines what is to be done.