This is a fantastic article about a village in Papua New Guinea that went from relying on food supplies from the Church to becoming self-reliant.

Marion G. Romney (1897–1988), a member of the First Presidency, once said, ”Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those in need. However, many of those programs are designed with the short-sighted objective of ‘helping people’ as opposed to ‘helping people help themselves’“ (“The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance,”Ensign, June 1984, 3).

This story is a wonderful example of the inspired humanitarian program of the Church of helping people to be self-reliant. However, it does require the individuals involved to be committed and be prepared to do the hard work if they want the rewards.

There is a common saying about effective humanitarian aid: ”If you give a man a fish he lives for a day, but if you teach him how to fish he lives forever.“