I've heard about people giving clothing to be donated to needy people in Africa, but what I didn't realize for many years is that when clothes are donated, it can drive local clothing businesses out of business. The businesses can't compete with FREE clothing, so they have nothing to sell.

That or the donated clothes are sold by the bundle for a low price. The bundles are bought by people who want to have a clothing stand and can get inventory inexpensively from the wholesaler. This still can put clothing businesses out of business because it's tough to compete with a business model that gets their goods subsidized by the donation method. In that way, people can be doing more harm by donating clothes than they would be if they didn't donate clothes. Strange, right?

I was really excited when I heard about Kiva because I was envisioning a site where people could get a loan to buy chickens and then raise them to sell the eggs. Maybe they didn't have the capital to start it, but if they were able to start, they'd be able to pay the loan off with the proceeds from their business. There are still some good options that follow that type of model, but there are a significant number that are things like loans to remodel their house. Those frustrate me because we're encouraging them to become debt takers, rather than entrepreneurs. They could be saddled with that debt until default.

It's not all bad though. There are some organizations out there that do focus on equipping people. Some of the well-drilling organizations help get access to clean water for the villages which can allow the people (often women and children) to have a much safer and time-efficient way to get the most basic of resources. This opens up more time for them to go to school, start a business, plant crops. Like you said though, it needs to be focused on equipping, not just giving handouts.