The Dilemma of Need

Hello Everyone,

I have been trying to work out exactly what I am going to bring to the orphanage with me and I thank those who have made donations already. I cannot begin to describe how grateful I am for your support and generosity. 

So in the process I emailed Jules, my exchange manager in Benin, to ask him what items are the most pressing necessities.

He replied:

"Hi Emma,

I'm really happy to read you, and also to know that you're organize yourself to bring somethings to the Orphanage. What you're bringing is really good for the orphanage.

The only support of the orphanage now is someone (a Woman) which pay only the scholarship for primary school student, that mean that they need everything (pen, pencils, copybooks, books, if possible, and old laptop to teach them computer science. It's will be great)

The most need is food, so if you can have fund to pay food for them, it's will be really great. The director told me that they need medical assistance (money to pay they tablets when they are sicks)

So the really need is Food, clothes, and long terms assistance. But i think what you're planning is great and your time here will help you discover more need and plan for the future."

After I read this I realized the devastating gravity of the situation in the orphanage. Their greatest need is food. The problem with providing food, however, is that it is something that needs to be constantly supplied and I don't have the resources to do that. I think that food and medication should be something the local government has to provide so that the children can grow up feeling that they live in a country that can support and provide for them, rather than relying on outside charity. The already heavily reliant relationship between Africa and developed nations is damaging to the development of African countries because of the dependence these underdeveloped countries have on charitable contributions.

This does not mean that I think helping this orphanage in Benin is not worth while. These children need whatever they can get and I am happy to have the opportunity to supply them with whatever I can. I am especially grateful that I will have the amazing experience of getting to know these children personally by working with them on a daily basis. I hope that what I will bring, tangibly and intangibly, will provide the children with resources to help them succeed in the long run.