Potential Risks of Aid

What you or people of your native country may want isn’t necessarily what people in other countries want. To further demonstrate this concept I ask that you consider a common scenario in foreign aid. If an organization that is creating an educational institution that provides housing, food, and educational materials, which at first thought seems as if it could produce only positive results, can actually be quite detrimental if gone about in the wrong manner. If the organization failed to realize the cultural repercussions of this, they run the risk of putting the citizens of the community in a rather uncomfortable situation. There is a possibility that the other inhabitants of the community might oust those who are given the opportunity to attend the institution consequently, creating animosity. There is a possibility that they will not be able to find or create jobs, sell products, or contribute in anyway within their community, essentially defeating the purpose and leaving them in different but equally poor circumstances in comparison to their situation prior to intervention.

             To further illustrate the gravity of this situation, these changes can unfortunately result in unforeseen have negative effects in developing countries. Often times these adjustments result in the country going even deeper into poverty because they are expected to be able to keep up with competing countries and thriving economies. When they cannot do so, they are forced to become even more dependent up on the developed nations in order to keep their heads above water, so to speak. Poverty stricken countries are then forced to spend less, reduce consumption, remove/decrease regulations, and decrease the value of labor; which puts workers in the same position they were in to begin with.