It's about time a bunch of actors got together to fix the poverty problem!

Poverty isn't a money problem but a social problem. A societal problem. Even in our developed country, look to see what the "Great Society" initiative of the 60's did and did not accomplish. Imagine this attempted in the quagmire of Africa. Yes, that Q word the left likes to throw around at wars. The war on poverty. Hmmm. If we concentrate on basic human services without basic societal services and structure, we'll be wasting money and causing harm. I think that without raising the monetary poverty levels, we could think more about elevating the poverty of social structure, mission and ethics of our own society first before throwing economic development at the "undeveloped" world. Then export that, rather than money. THAT would be something to imagine, wouldn't it, [no apology to John Lennon]. Certainly better than the digitized "me" world we currently export to the ruination of culture world-wide.

My "second" to Epador's comment:

In order to eliminate something you first have to know what that thing is. So, what is poverty? And, how do you propose to eliminate it?

To most, poverty is the lack of money. In the U.S. this may at times be true. In the Third World it probably isn't true. Donating wealth to Africa's poor won't raise them out of poverty. Their poverty is not a lack of resources but a lack of opportunity. The wealth of the West isn't an accounting of the material things we own but the free and civil society that enabled us to great those things.

As long as African governments fail to grasp how to govern, the people will suffer, sometimes (as in Zimbabwe today) they will suffer greatly. Opportunity will not exist and wealth not remain in the absence of a civil and free society. In this sense poverty in Africa cannot be overcome till free and civil societies are created.

This isn't to say we should do nothing. Someone said (Voltare maybe) that "the perfect stands in the way of the possible." And we give sandwiches to derelicts in the full knowlege that they will again be drunk tonight. As long as we only engage poverty as the lack of money we can never eliminate it. Donating to those in bondage to poverty, without addressing the cause of their poverty, creates dependents. We need to donate Liberty, as we did in Afganistan and Iraq.

DARN! I'd have liked to have volunteered if I'd had about a week earlier ability to plan. Drat it!

Looks like a really fun and worthwhile experience, to restate the obvious.

Thanks for the links, Kevin...

However, I find the armband thing pretty foolish. Poverty is often a product of, at least companion with, vanity, lest any one of those involved has not yet noticed this aspect to the spiritual problem.

You mean these White Bands

What's interesting is that they were given assurances that the supplier would comply with their rules before this and they obviously didn't, and Christian Aid somehow believes that they will now?