If there’s one thing I learned in my six years working in international aid, it’s this: There are no simple solutions to ending poverty.
That’s why National Geographic’s #EndPoverty Hashtag Challenge, which encourages users to submit their most “compelling” photos “that best describe the term #EndPoverty” is aptly reminiscent of the thousands of other charity gimmicks promising simple solutions for complex issues.
From One Million Shirts for Africa, to water pumps modeled as playground equipment, to the multimillion-dollar, celebrity-backed Millennium Villages Project, there have been a lot of attempts to solve extreme poverty, particularly in East Africa where I live.