giving supplies

Those who give generously almost always want to be personally invested. Who doesn't want to be picking up diapers for refugee kids in Syria when you take your kids shopping. It would let them feel the personal investment in what's going on. You are all so generous!! Thank you!! 

And it takes many forms. Some have offered to ship things overseas. Clothing, books, sewing machines. We've had our share of adventures. There was the time the truckloads of items arrived from Europe and we have to co-ordinate donations. In the mud. But the giving was tremendous, and the hassle felt worth it.

We are always moved by these offers, but what we have discovered is that, in the end, the best way to help is to buy locally. The reasons vary. In one location when trucks pulled up the local mafia soon showed up each time a delivery came. They stood around casually with their AK47s and then required us to sit and "drink coffee". This is local way of making an agreement, like it or not. In the end it meant that they took the contents and delivered it where they wanted the contents to go. That was a learning experience, back when we were wet behind the ears, several decades ago. 

So what does buy local look like? It means buying items in the nearest town or village. This is often where there is already a relationship, and the shop keepers are eager to show that they are supportive of the work you are doing in their community. They negotiate the best wholesale price and feel included in the work of helping. A bond is formed, and the relationship becomes key for forward movement. 

It could mean hiring local men to fix something or install larger items. This is more effective that paying for a short term team to spend thousands to travel to work for ten days, and, more importantly, you have a viable reason to interact with these workmen and build relationships. 

Local matters for many reasons. 

It's not just about the peanuts. In Haiti, when the earthquake happened, one organization heard that the Haitians view peanut butter as a staple. They rallied and raised funds, got a special deal, and sent a shipment of peanut butter to Haiti. The peanut butter company donated part of it, and it was great for their PR campaign. But when it got to Haiti, the result was devastating. A glut of peanut butter hitting the fragile economy put the poor peanut growers out of business. What was meant to help proved a long term problem. 

We like local because, for one, it means we are not the ones handling border crossings for goods shipped through unstable war zones. Large trucks are large targets. 

Then also, your investments make more bang for the buck. To pay for shipping costs. If we buy locally, we pay local prices, which are always lower, and we also build up the local economy. Then there are local relationships strengthened and built, which is a huge trust builder. And the local food is not suddenly thrust in competition with something supposedly glamorous from a distant land. 

There is also a huge risk in false economies. When war has riddled a region, it takes a courageous person to stay and make a go of it. If aid organizations come in and offer free things beyond the time of immediate crisis, the delicate balance of supply and demand can pull the rug out from beneath the feet of a local moms and pops establishment. Taking their potential customers for something that people have to clamor or beg for doesn't offer dignity or build a stable future. 

Besides, who doesn't want a fresh, local tomato? Yes. It's all the rage in your community. We shout "buy local" and need to uphold that globally. Serving the Kosovan refugees a truckload of military rations arrived, donated, and appreciated. But when the families opened them up they were horrified. Inside was a bag of oats. In their culture, oats are only fed to animals. They felt degraded, and grew suspicious of those offering the food packages. Another time a truck load of donations was held up in customs, and by the time it was released we found the entire delivery was yogurt which was explosive and rancid in the summer heat. 

So, when you give, you are empowering us to give well trained teams the opportunity to use this crisis to build up the local community, show honor, recover trust, and feed the people local food. It's important to us to honor every donation and multiply it with stewardship in every way possible. Building a future without dependance, that brings long term solutions is always our goal. Thank you for your incredibly generous giving. We are touched and honored by it.