Bogota Without Hunger
Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, has many problems. One of them without question is poverty. The major of Bogotá, whose name is Lucho Garzón, is doing great efforts to come up with a solution. During his campaign to be elected major, he proposed a plan called "Bogotá without hunger" which is now being implemented. This plan has many opponents and many allies as any other project. What I believe is that trying to fight hunger with a cup of coffee and a piece of bread will definitely not work. Bogotá is such a big city with the problems that any big city in the world may have. A major should direct his efforts to make the city become an amenable place not only for the present but also for the future. Nobody likes to see needed people on the streets or mothers carrying their young babies in their backs or children asking for a coin in return for cleaning car windows. Nobody feels well when they have to face any of the situations previously mentioned.
If you give a person a fish, but you don't teach that person how to fish it is very likely that this person would never try to learn by himself and would always expect that someone provides him/her with something. Millions and millions of pesos destined to finance this program, should be invested in generating small companies, perhaps family companies which can support entirely neighbourhoods and give them expertise, progress and a sense of belonging to a city and therefore to a country.
Helping the needed people is a very rewarding and challenging activity but the one who starts this project should not underestimate the people he/she is trying to help. We all have capacities and wishes. We all are willing to learn.
View Full Essay
