Moonshine or a mosquito net

Moonshine or the Kids?

Excerpt:

The Obamzas have no mosquito net, even though they have already lost two of their eight children to malaria. They say they just can’t afford the $6 cost of a net. Nor can they afford the $2.50-a-month tuition for each of their three school-age kids.

“It’s hard to get the money to send the kids to school,” Mr. Obamza explained, a bit embarrassed.

But Mr. Obamza and his wife, Valerie, do have cellphones and say they spend a combined $10 a month on call time.

In addition, Mr. Obamza goes drinking several times a week at a village bar, spending about $1 an evening on moonshine. By his calculation, that adds up to about $12 a month — almost as much as the family rent and school fees combined.

I asked Mr. Obamza why he prioritizes alcohol over educating his kids. He looked pained.

...

Well-meaning humanitarians sometimes burnish suffering to make it seem more virtuous and noble than it often is. If we’re going to make more progress, and get kids like the Obamza children in school and under bed nets, we need to look unflinchingly at uncomfortable truths — and then try to redirect the family money now spent on wine and prostitution.

Comment: A good article on the limits of charitable help! Giving this family $ 10 per month (an amount of which would be amazingly easy for all of my readers) might make us "feel good" but it would not solve the Obamza's real needs. Only the gospel can radically change the heart and only a change of heart will change Mr Obamza's priorities! (A math lesson may be in order too! If he spends $ 1 per night drinking that would seem to be more like $ 30 per month, not $ 12)