Wow, a veteran development worker and professor at Columbia named Josh Ruxin practiced what he preached, moving to Rwanda to help develop a sustainable village. The Rwandan government plays a very important role:
What an amazing story! I am going to get that book! He hit the nail on the head here: It is always better to help people to help themselves, then step back and let them do it.
http://www.amazon.com/Thousand-Hills-Heaven-Restaurant-Rwanda/dp/0316232912 Available on Kindle for $11.04. I'm going to get the Kindle edition. I am also going to pass this article and the link to Amazon.com to a young friend of mine who is winding up a year in Haiti. She is a volunteer with a faith-based group there, and was in Malawi for several years before that. She loves Africa. I think she will find this story very interesting, even though it is a secular group. Thanks so much for posting it, Brian.
I don't think so. My first thought was no way this could be happening in a African country. Too much corruption. Apparently Rwanda is very different where there's little corruption and the government works very hard to keep it that way.
That was Three Cups of Tea. I remember when that story broke, but haven't followed up on it recently.