Practical Justice: Teaching a Man to Fish

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

The book opens up with a story of Nihm who lived in the slums of Bangkok, Thailand on purpose! She set out to teach the families how to save money to buy their own plot of land. She specifically set out in this area because a highways was planned to be built in the middle of the slums and everything the families owned would be lost. As the book mentions saving was unheard of in these areas and I am sure understanding how a bank works or having a saving account was also hard to obtain. Nihm however helped over 60 families save money and work with a government program to obtain loans.

I noticed that Nihm's work and efforts had a pattern. She started by being open about herself and sharing her life with the families first. They eventually would open to her. (you can not force trust and openness) She then told them about how God led her through her problems and taught her skills necessary for life and the desire to show others. Although this did not lead to everyone accepting Christ, many families learned to save ( a skill) and change their lives by owning property. many people came to know Jesus and the gospel because of  Nihm's the personal involvement. 

Kevin also stresses the importance of teaching children while they are young. "Research shows that children who fall behind early in school tend to drop out eventually." While my first thought was CAPSTONE project idea!! My other thoughts that followed were the many ways I could fit my occupational therapy degree into this community need! What are ways children fall behind in school? lack of understand of the subject, lack of confidence in school due to lack of success, lack of family support, etc. I could provide opportunities for educational success for these children and suggest and offer resources to the family to promote better learning support. Handwriting camps or programs are notoriously known for increasing confidence in school and vision skills needed for reading. Other than that this increased a desire in me to participate in programs or organizations in which children have opportunities to learn life skills needed for present and future success. 

In this book, many examples are given. I wrote down a few teaching based examples maybe you could offer:

• Having kids or teens over to help put in wood floors, fix plumbing or work in the yard. This provides the children a) learning a skill and hands-on experience in a trade such as carpentry b)time together, c) feeling needed and successful at a task with a group of people
• Providing help and assistance with financial information such as budgeting or financial management, buying a house or dealing with loans, or working through the banking system, 
• Helping people navigate through the medical system and understand insurance, Medicaid and Medicare systems and offer assistance and knowledge to help make choices for their health and family.
• One woman taught a girl in a poor neighborhood how to read recipes and cook. This not only greatly increased her success in school but also provided a source of income for her family when she sold her baked goods.

Everyone has different skills and advice to share and offer. We should be open and willing to share. However Kevin makes a great point. We need to form a partnership with the individuals we are teaching. We must make sure that we do not look down on people we become personally involved with who have less than us. This is OT too ;) Let them solve their problems, let them apply themselves to learn. Form a partnership with them or a friendship first.

Kevin also stresses the importance for preventive efforts with children. A quote I feel is quite applicable... "It is far easier to preserve and nurture a child's dignity than it is to repair and adults--though with God, all things are possible."

What do you know about the jail system?

What are some correlations of those who become imprisoned?

What are some ways these correlations could be dealt with and imprisonment prevented?

Are we truly "a society the effectively refuses a substantial portion of its population any real way of surviving with a reasonable standard of living, yet declares that it is all about 'liberty and justice for all'?"