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Rich in Heart
"We are rich in heart, but poor in pocket."
"We are rich in heart, but poor in pocket." These words were spoken by our friend Vana as we were walking in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh a few years ago.
A common assumption undergirding international development is that rich countries should help poor countries. The lingering heritage of colonisation means that, often with very little awareness, developed countries impose their culture, ethos and values upon the recipients of their charity.
Fulcrum Aid seeks to work at both extremities of the inequality spectrum, and recognises that traditional societies have much to teach us about community, spirituality, environmental sustainability and cultural identity.
Rather than creating an artificial social hierarchy of rich and poor, we recognise the intrinsic equality between us that allows the abundance of one to meet the deficiency of another.
Photo: Angela Stewart, Little Fingers Photography
About the Author
Steve Blacket
Steve is the Managing Director of Fulcrum Aid, an organisation dedicated to sustainable freedom from extreme poverty with partnerships in four countries across Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Steve’s urban ministry in South Australia led to lifelong friendships among the South Sudanese refugee community who requested Steve’s assistance with community development in their homeland. Working with a faith-based organisation Steve initiated and managed various projects in South Sudan including Darfur refugee support, training and resourcing Traditional Birth Attendants, an intervention program for war affected children, a Midwives Training School, a program for girl’s education, and a community agricultural enterprise. Steve also initiated education projects and social enterprises among the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. Steve returned to Australia in 2013 with a vision of how a small, non-aligned aid organisation committed to assisting early stage, locally initiated projects could make a difference. Partnerships and project opportunities continue to grow, including slavery rehabilitation in South Sudan, social enterprises in Bangladesh, independence schemes for vulnerable young women in Uganda and South Sudan, holistic care for HIV affected children in Bangladesh, and resourcing a Nurse and Midwife School in Juba, South Sudan. Steve’s vision drew support from across Australia and in 2014 he led the founding of Fulcrum Aid, dedicated to supporting in-country leaders and harnessing Australian partners and resources so that local communities could move towards sustainable freedom from extreme inequality and poverty. Today Fulcrum Aid has a dedicated team of Directors and an expert staff including Business, Project, Publicity and Research consultants, supported by Steve in his role as Managing Director.
Contact Steve by email here.