A Word from David Brandon

Back in the early 80"s while our family was living in Indonesia, I developed a concern for the masses of men and women all around me who were enslaved in either unemployment or the grueling underpaid jobs that literally incarcerated them in poverty.

However, I was not attracted to the time-honored humanitarian efforts that dominate worldwide relief efforts, which essentially disperse handouts. My question was, what can be done to help these people become self-reliant? Thus I began to dream. Motivated by Mother Theresa's optimism that you can only put your arms around one dying person at a time, I chose my project -- a Becak Driver (rickshaw driver).

The plan was simple. I would loan the driver the money needed to buy his own Becak (bay-cha). When he paid back the interest-free loan he would receive another loan to buy a second so that he could hire an employee and so on. We mapped out a three-year plan that would have allowed him to have a fleet of about five units. Thus, the money was loaned and the Becak was bought, complete with alleged ownership papers.

For two weeks I received the first two installments of the twenty yet to come and then, never saw my client again. Actually some months later we stumbled into each other, but my delinquent debtor rapidly disappeared down a back alley. It was confirmed. My first venture into international venture capital was over as quickly as it had begun.

I later learned that in reality one man in my residing city of Surabaya owned every Becak. Through his connections he had exclusive rights to control every Becak in the city, which meant he collected rent from thousands of drivers every week. And yes, he didn't like any competition let alone delinquent debtors.

At the time, the experience left me "gun shy" and profoundly sad regarding the plight of the driver, not to mention the thousands like him found in every city and village. They were literally entrapped, not only in slavery but impoverishment. The experience lodged in my memory and sadly it was frozen in a fearful reticence to act. But time was gracious because more than 20 years later I would be given a second chance to act.

In the fall of 2004 Nadine and I were laid over for thirteen hours in the Moscow airport with another couple. We were enroute home post a three-week stint in Kyrgyzstan. Over and above this we were also fresh from recent trips to Ukraine and Cambodia. Our discussions meandered into the plight of the real poor with whom we had recently once again circulated. The inescapable question was, "What can be done - what can we, who are so few, do?"

The most important thing decided that day was that we would try again. The vision was simple. We would generate resources for impoverished men and women who demonstrated an entrepreneurial spirit. We would provide them with a catalytic amount of capital to jump-start their own businesses and as such employ others who were less venturesome. When we left Moscow we had only one idea regarding where to start.

We decided that we would recruit a team of people back in Canada who had a desire to help those entrapped in poverty. This turned out to be extremely easy. I was fascinated with the pent-up desire in the people I interacted with to contribute to the less fortunate. Within a matter of a few weeks I had a full team.

However, in a few weeks we were over the excitement of the vision and faced with the real question: How do you actually accomplish the task? There were all kinds of barriers facing us, including language, unscrupulous agents and lack of personnel, not to mention our inexperience.

One of the phenomena that I have experienced over the years is that when you do the right things, right things happen coupled with the right people who join you. It's a law that someone has engendered in the universe. In time we were blessed with key partners who emerged via unique circumstances. Today we are linked with an honest upright agency on location in Indonesia that is literally involved in eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Like us they share passion to contribute to impoverished communities becoming self-reliant.

It is an ideal synergy. We need to partner with trustworthy people who are succeeding at providing resources to impoverished people in developing countries. They need partners like us who will help provide the resources that they are investing in the world's impoverished.

Do you have a passion to help the poor? We would love to help you channel your passion to very, very needy people. Contact me at david@springrains.org.

David Brandon
Executive Director, Spring Rains Developments