A doughnut please...

When I was a young boy, playful and energetic, barely in primary school, my mother wisely told me to mix with the less fortunate children.  In my opinion, this is a good way to bring up children in the middle of a cosmopolitan city such as Cairo.

Some people look down on the poor, oprhans, destitute and cannot imagine that somehow, someway, these people could be as “good” as they are or achieve as many things as they can potentially achieve.  When some people see an orphan or a poor child wearing nice clothes, riding a new bicycle or eating a doughnut, they get shocked and think that such things should be above their reach.  In my opinion , thinking that some people are beneath and undeserving is wrong.

The doughnut dilemma is, sadly, happening in the humanitarian field as well. Young, dynamic, innovative organisations are being overlooked. We talk about impartiality, partnership, transparency and empowerment. However, we gasp in shock, just like some people when they see orphans holding a doughnut, when an organisation has an initiative. We look at the size and resources of an organisation, just as we judge an orphan’s appearance.

Whenever I see this attitude in the humanitarian family, I remember what my mother used to tell me when I was a young boy, playing football in the back streets of Cairo. She used to say: “Son, people look at an orphan with pity until they see them eating a doughnut. Then they gasp in shock because they think they don’t deserve good things”.