Can help really hinder growth? (Christine Porcaro Week 10, Reflective)

The discussion in class about Band Aid, Live Aid, and other such fund raisers was quite interesting. After leaving class I asked other people what they thought about these such causes and I got a mixed set of opinions. I feel that it very much mimicked what happened in class. I feel like a lot of the time many Global North countries get so caught up in helping that they never really listen to the people that they are actually helping. Or they get so caught up in what they want to do that they overlook maybe the bigger underlying problem (such as food distribution). If this keeps happening I do feel that the "good" that we are doing in the world will end up only hurting countries in the end by never getting to the root of some major problems. I also feel that if help is always given in a way that doesn't promote self help I do believe that the dichotomy among states will only be perpetuated. I mean I guess this is kind of corny, but I do believe that it is kind of relevant, it just goes to show that if you give someone a fish they eat for a day. Teach someone to fish they eat for a lifetime. This just leads to the questions...who should be the teacher? Do they want to be taught? When does the teaching stop? I don't know. But what I do believe is that ignorant giving cannot keep going on. Yes it might help temporarily but it will not be something that will be beneficial in the long run. Giving/helping with a sense of purpose and understanding I feel can be more effective even though it appears more difficult or even impossible. Blind giving almost seems to keep everything at a status quo and never really tries to solve the real problems facing many societies today.