An Analogy for Poverty Reduction

I’ve been thinking a lot about how our goal as a community is, as the popular analogy goes, to teach people to fish rather than just giving them fish, at least for those who can fish. I’m sure most of us have noticed that teaching someone to fish isn’t of much use if they don’t have a fishing rod, either loaned, rented or owned.  But even then, can you really support yourself just by the fish you pull in with a fishing rod, given that fish (income) are not all that plentiful these days?  For people in generational poverty to no longer need financial help to pay for basic needs for themselves and their minor children, they need a fishing boat.  Maybe they can borrow or rent one for now, but how can we help make it possible for them to buy a boat? How can we get around or remove the obstacles that keep them from self-sufficiency?

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