How to identify the neediest of the many poor.
Understandably, people who make charitable donations want their money to go to individuals and causes that are truly needy. Here in Laos most of the population is poor; eighty percent of the population lives at a subsistence level. Most people consume all the food that they grow in their fields or find in the forest and have no surplus to sell. Still, not everyone in Laos has the same level of need. How do aid workers fairly distribute benefits among the population?
Judging a family’s need by measuring their cash income alone could be misleading because the vast majority of people live outside a cash economy. Instead, some charitable organizations have developed unique strategies to evaluate the relative need of families who approach them for assistance. Aid workers can get a reasonably accurate picture of a family’s status, provided they understand the local culture and assuming they ask the right questions.
While I’ve been in Khammuan Province working with a bomb and landmine removal project, my wife has been volunteering at the National Rehabilitation Center in Vientiane. One of the charitable organizations that has earned our respect and trust is the “Cooperative Orthotics and Prosthetics Enterprise” or COPE; as the name suggests, this agency provides prosthetics and orthotics to handicapped children and adults.
When students ask how they can help victims of war, we often suggest that they assist amputees who have lost limbs in bomb or landmine-related accidents. If students accept our recommendation and make a donation, we ask the staff at COPE to identify victims who merit sponsorship. Modest donations, often as small as one hundred dollars, go a long way toward fabricating braces, constructing artificial limbs, or building wheel chairs. We’ve been able to report back to students and teachers who have contributed funds that their donations have made a significant difference in the lives of truly needy people.
Readers might find it interesting to learn how an organization like COPE determines the relative need for assistance among their patients. COPE doesn’t want to deny services to the truly needy; nor do they want to pay in full for services when a family is capable of paying part or all of the cost themselves.
Here are some of the questions that the staff at COPE asks people who are seeking help with payment for braces, an artificial limb, a wheelchair, or other benefits:
Personal income: ___Less than $30 person/month
___Between $30 & $50 person/month
___More than $50 person/month
Housing condition: ___Bamboo hut
___Wooden house
___Concrete house
Flood damage: ___Every year
___Some years
___None
Appliances: ___None
___Radio
___Television
Water source: ___Stream or pond
___Public water tap
___Personal water tap
Electricity: ___None
___Temporary power
___Generator
Electric cooling: ___None
___Fan
___Air-Con 1 unit or more
Toilet: ___None
___Toilet is outside of house
___Toilet is in the house
Education: ___Primary or lower
___Secondary
___College
In the kitchen: ___Firewood for cooking
___Charcoal for cooking
___Electric or gas for cooking
School children: ___None enter school
___Some children enter school
___All children enter school
Bedding: ___On the floor
___On a platform
___In a bed
Vehicle use: ___None
___1 motorbike or more
___1 car or more
How money is spent: ___On food only
___On food and clothes
___On food, clothes and other things
Meat consumption: ___During celebrations
___Sometimes
___Daily meal
Frequency of meals: ___At a chance
___1 or 2 meals a day
___3 meals a day
Clothing in cold season: ___Short of clothes (feel cold)
___Some clothing (but still feel cold)
___Plenty of clothes (stay warm)
Budget for clothes per yr: ___Less than 1 set/person
___1 to 3 sets/person
___More than 3 sets/person
Jewelry: ___None
___During celebration
___Every day
Phone: ___None
___1 unit
___More than one unit
Household health: ___Unhealthy
___Healthy
___Healthiest
Who helps healing: ___No one
___Drugstore or hospital
___Private doctor
Medicine: ___Must be free
___Will buy if it is dirt cheap
___Will spend as needed
Here in the Nakai district housing is basic, villages have no electricity, food is scarce, clothing is thread worn, people lack health care, roads and villages flood annually, people walk where ever they need to go, and children who do go to school sit without books or supplies. By almost every measure, the 6,000 people that our project serves all can be classified as the “neediest of the needy”. Add to the list of challenges the additional disadvantage of being an amputee and you can understand why day to day life for some villagers is a constant struggle to survive.