Charity, one hell of a drug | Arsema Thomas | TEDxYale

“Give a man to fish, and you will feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish, and you will feed him for a lifetime.” That saying always gave Thomas pause. Enshrined in those string of words is not only a sense of hierarchy between the narrator and the man, but it embodies what is happening between the developed and developing world. Thomas addresses the issues of donor aid dependency. Aid refers to the fraction of government expenditures that originate from foreign pockets, but it is not intrinsically linked to dependence. This negative component comes to form, when aid is used as a long-term strategy, inhibiting development, progress, autonomy, and reform. It’s seen not only in monetary form, but also in food commodities, and technical expertise. Arsema Thomas is a second-year MPH candidate studying Health Policy with a concentration in Global Health. After studying Biophysics as an undergrad at Carnegie Mellon University, she felt the need to further explore the application of the technical science. After working in a maternal and child mobile health clinic in Northern Kenya and the Kakumah Refugee Camp on the Kenya-Sudan border, Arsema attended Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) to find the intersection of innovation and health policy. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx