“No matter how exceptional our medical teams are and no matter how many patients we see, if the community doesn’t have clean water, many of the health problems that we treat will return after we leave.
The investments that Legacy makes in the communities that we serve impact the entire population; not just the lucky ones that are fortunate enough to receive care.”
– Gary Schmidt, Chief Financial Officer
Legacy has provided clean water to over 2,200 people in some of the most impoverished communities in the world.
In addition to basic survival, clean water is critical for maintaining adequate hygiene and sanitation. This allows more people to become entrepreneurs and innovators since less time is spent on basic physical needs.
Obviously, these communities need more development assistance than clean water. While the development of property law and market infrastructure is currently out of Legacy’s scope, our development efforts have provided long-term relief to many communities.
Citizens of developed countries often take for granted the elaborate societal infrastructures that provide them with the opportunity to pursue their dreams and/or earn a living.
More importantly, many communities are so devoid of resources that most people don’t have the luxury of philosophizing about market opportunities.
The psychologist Abraham Maslow created the famous ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ concept to illustrate the various layers of human motivation. Human motivation is a layered phenomenon.
It is not possible for a person to worry about relationships, fulfillment or life goals when he or she suffers from parasites or doesn’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink.
Basic economic development efforts, like Legacy’s Clean Water Initiatives, provide impoverished communities with that foundation that they can build off of.
There’s a naïve, though common, view that economic success is determined by willpower.
Capitalism doesn’t fail because certain cultures are better suited for it.
It fails because many countries do not have the adequate market infrastructure to support a capitalist economy.
Economic stagnation has nothing to do with lack of character, thrift or willpower.
The ability to own property and borrow money is key to economic development.
These abilities are predicated on vast electronic networks that allow unlimited quantities of information to be shared between various parties.
Reliable social and governmental institutions are necessary to provide an environment of reciprocal trust between citizen and society.
Service is the foundation of Legacy of Healing.
Unfortunately, good will and charity, no matter how elaborate or technologically advanced, cannot pull a community out of poverty; it can only provide temporary relief to some of its symptoms.
While poverty alleviation has been one of mankind’s greatest achievements, it’s no simple matter.
Legacy of Healing is currently researching more ways to empower impoverished communities by providing them with access to capital so that entrepreneurs can use their ingenuity to improve their environments and reach their potential as human beings.
Developing countries have smart citizens with great ideas, but the lack of basic civil, cyber and political infrastructure holds them back from levering their brainpower.
Blaming the industriousness or character of citizens of developing countries for their economic plight is a grave mistake.
