My social issue is to tackle the negative stereotypes that accompany the idea of

Humanitarian work. Often times those negative assumptions are that rather than helping
develop a country or region, the humanitarian effort simply gives them what they need and
hinders their progression in learning it for their own self interest. With my own personal
experience this is not what I have seen. What I have seen is quite the opposite. I went to Nauta,
Peru with “Eagle Condor Humanitarian.” Their motto is “Alleviating Poverty Through Self-
Reliance Training.” Meaning that rather than just giving the community what they need they
teach the people and work with them to accomplish goals.

By accompanying Eagle Condor on this trip I was able to see first hand how they teach
and involve members of the community so they may continue to help others within that same
community. One member of the board of directors told me, “It’s like a domino effect, you teach
one how to do something, such as building, and he will turn around to teach someone else, then
someone else.” Other than gaining research by interviews with the staff and the people of Peru,
I can find many online sources discussing the pros and cons of humanitarian work. I will
approach this project with similar intentions as my course project in English 1010, allowing
myself to be open to other opinions and using my knowledge, experiences, and research to
ease those worries and concerns about, what many believe to be, the negative aspects of
humanitarian work.

I expect to see many different opinions about humanitarian work, but I am expecting the
majority to be positive takes on the effort. I am extremely interested to see what other negative
thoughts and opinions others have about humanitarian work. Overall I am excited to begin work
on this project and open my eyes to the different viewpoints of the world.