Devan Moore

3/19/20

One event that correlates with my issue that I can attempt to see the counter
argument’s point of view is the time that I went to Peru for a humanitarian trip. On our
trip we built a school library from the ground up to support the poverty stricken
community of Iquitos. For us we had the best intentions but for the opposing argument
they could possibly see many negatives associated with our efforts.

One of the biggest negatives that can be given to any humanitarian circumstance
is how the volunteers, and more so the efforts, are hurting the community more than
helping, this comes from the idea that humanitarian makes the people in these areas
more dependable on handouts and lose motivation to work for themselves.
Humanitarian work simply gives the community what they need and what they want
without any resources required from the said community. Of course as this is false, I am
not writing this essay to combat the issues but to expose them as a way to gain an
understanding of their standpoint.

Another negative in their mind is how humanitarian work only takes away jobs
from the working class in these areas. They often see that humanitarian volunteers
swoop in and take the jobs away from those desperately needing jobs in third world
countries. For our specific situation, we would have been taking jobs away from
construction workers and supply transportation as well as manufacturers. Again, while
this is false it is not the point to combat these standpoints.

To be honest, I did not enjoy this exercise. I found it extremely aggravating,

listing out issues that I know are completely wrong and have absolutely no justification. I
do however understand the point of the exercise. It is to open my eyes to other opinions
in the hope that I may remain unbiased and neutral. Now due to exercise I can target
these specific worries and better combat them to create a stronger stance.