Poverty, Inc. was such a great documentary to watch. If there was some way to make every human being on earth (especially those in the first world and more specifically those in poverty relief industries), I would in a heartbeat. Right off the bat, the first thing that absolutely shocked me was discovering that the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” by Band Aid was about the 1984 famine in Ethiopia. Taking the time to actually hear, and see, the lyrics, I realized that the song was nothing short of a joke, trivializing the struggles of those in third world, underserved countries. I completely and totally understand that celebrities, and many common people in developed nations, for that matter, just want to help. But, as a first generation Nigerian-American, I can confidently agree with the producers of Poverty, Inc. that there’s a better way to do this than releasing star-studded music videos. There’s a better way to help than perpetuating “stupid, poor, helpless” stereotypes about the people of Africa, South and Central America, and the Caribbean.

Another point that was heavily emphasized in this film, that I stand by 100%, was the fact that foreign aid alone isn’t actually helping! As one rice farmer from Haiti said, “Instead of foreign countries sending us rice, we would like to export it to them.” In other words, how are farmers, entrepreneurs, and businessmen and women in these countries expected to get back on their feet if they’re constantly leaning on the metaphorical crutch that Western nations are forcing on them? Like Ghanian business mogul Herman Chinery-Hesse noted, there’s never been a developed nation that ever got to where they were solely off of foreign aid. Instead of just shackling these countries hit by natural disasters and the like in loans and debt, better-off nations need to take responsibility and enable their poverty-stricken counterparts with the ability to become independent again. By not taking business for them, say by only shipping in free rice or providing free TOMS shoes for the period of time right after a disaster hits (and not for years and years after), first-world nations would thus be helping poorer nations more so than if they continued on the course that they’re currently on.

One last point that wasn’t particularly covered in the documentary, but one that I was prompted to think about nonetheless was the topic of service trips to third world countries. When people travel from their homes to “give back” in underserved areas, the whole idea of a “Savior complex” is perpetuated. Who benefits from such trips other than the people who go to “feel good”? I mean, of course, the families who have water wells and houses built for them now don’t have to worry about living without water or shelter, but those are skills that they could easily be taught to utilize themselves instead of just having hand-outs given to them. Like the old English saying goes, “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but if you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime.”

Poverty, Inc. was an incredible movie, and I so hope that in my lifetime as an immigrant to this country with family still back home, the way that poverty relief corporations are structured changes for the better.