The magnitude of the refugee crisis can seem daunting and it’s easy to feel powerless against such a colossal situation. However, I’ve always believed that power emanates from knowledge, which is why I’m sharing with you some of my favorite resources for understanding refugees and refugee work around the world. The more I learn, the […]

Is Carlos really poor? If we were to ask my friend, Carlos (described in a previous blog) his thoughts on poverty or asked him to identify the poor people in his community, chances are his answer would be quite different from our own. Whereas we might conclude that Carlos and his family are “poor,” he […]

THE FACTS Let me introduce you to my friend Carlos. Carlos is a subsistence farmer in a developing country. Everything his family eats or sells comes from what they can produce on their two-acre plot of land (about the size of a large home lot in the USA). When necessary, Carlos will also take on […]

According to Bryant Myers in Walking with the Poor, the causes of poverty are generally broken down into four major categories. 1. Physical Causes of Poverty People need food, shelter, water and clean air. They need an environment that supports life. Money, land and livestock are helpful assets. Poverty results when these things are wholly […]

Let’s talk about poverty. I don’t want to be cliche in this discussion and simply accept our cultural understandings and biases about what poverty is and isn’t. Rather, I would like to look at some common views and perceptions along with misconceptions. And, I would love to hear your thoughts on these reflections as well […]

In the next couple of blogs, I would like to share some of my all-time favorite disaster relief and community development projects. I will have to tell most of the stories in a generic fashion in order to not disclose the location in respect of security, however, where I can (mainly related to my personal […]

Now that I’ve shared my five favorite books I read in 2017, I would like to share the five books I’m most looking forward to reading in 2018. I’ll also share with you what I expect from each book and why I’ve chosen these as my best five for 2018. 1. Capital in the Twenty-First […]

At the beginning of each new year, I like to scout out and find books that I plan to read for the coming year. I also like to reflect on the best books that I’ve read and note main lessons learned from each. Here are my five favorite books that I read in 2017 and […]

If you’ve read posts about community development on the BGR Blog and want to dive deeper, look no further. CEO Jeff Palmer has compiled a list of recommended reading. Have you read other books on these topics? Tell us in the comments below! Refugees Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis By […]