Mephibosheth Guest Speaker – Economics Essay
Private organizations are often more effective than the established government in the less-developed nations of the world. The majority of nations do not have a system in place to help the needy, whether it is a lack of financial
capability, or a lack of a coherent and organized political or institutional structure that is able to administer these services to the people. NPOs can help to fill in this gap by providing the needy everything from basic food and medical supplies to job and occupational training to help people provide for themselves and their families.
Mephibosheth seems to be providing many communities around the world with job and skill training, with which the trainees can then use to operate their own business or self-sustaining community. Working with families and young people is important in determining the economic and political future of a nation. People trained with basic economic skills will be able to improve the lives of the people around them, and perhaps influence and create the future leaders of that nation, who may then be able to use their positions of power to further help for the poor. However, in the current stage of Mephibosheth’s operations, teaching people skills that they can use to make a living with is a vast improvement from their previous condition – no skills to make money with, no capital to start a business venture with, no chance of government aid, and most importantly, little to no hope for a better future.
The first thing I found interesting about Mephibosheth’s approach is that everyone has to contribute something in return for whatever they receive, like the children picking up firewood to get a meal. I found it interesting, because it is different from a simple handout from the organization, and instead teaches people that nothing is truly free in this world, and labor and time is necessary to accomplish something, much like the concept of opportunity cost, and how there is “no such thing as a free lunch.” The second thing I found interesting is that one school in South America, which looked remarkably large, and more like a high-rise apartment complex. I was just wondering exactly how much that facility cost, and how much money Mephibosheth is receiving from donors, and how much they need to operate and run their operations across the world.