In the River They Swim: Essays from Around the World on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty

By Elizabeth Hooper and Rick Warren

Book Overview

The sociologist Thomas Sowell writes, "We need to confront the most blatant fact that has persisted across centuries of social history--vast ddifferences in productivity among peoples, and the economic and other consequences of such differences." Poverty demeans dignity, shrinks the soul, wastes potential, and inflicts suffering on three billion people on our planet. We must also acknowledge that, during the past fifty yyears, the record in international assistance to the least developed countries has been disappointing; the economics-based abstractions developed in the think tanks of Europe and North America are insufficient.

In the River They Swim is the antithesis of that search for solutions to the next big theory of global poverty. From the fresh perspective of advisors on the frontlines of development to the insight of leaders like President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Pastor Rick Warren, it tells the story of change in the microcosms of emerging businesses, industries, and governments. These essays display a personal nature to their work that rigorous analysis alone cannot explain.

We learn that a Sufi master can teach us about the different levels of knowledge, the "different ways to know a river." These practitioners could have written about its length, its source, its depth, its width, the power of its current, and the life it contains. They could have invested time and money to travel to that river so that they could sit on its shores and look at it, feel the sand that borders it, and watch the birds at play over it. Instead, they dove in to swim in the river, felt its current along their bodies, and tasted something of it. They wondered, briefly, if they had the strength to swim its length, and now they share the answer.

If human development is a river, the authors in this volume, and perhaps some readers, will no longer be satisfied to stand along its banks.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1599472511
• ISBN13: 9781599472515
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Templeton Press
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.19 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 9.0"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

WISDOM GAINED FROM EXPERIENTIAL-BASED KNOWLEDGE!

This book contains a series of essays by individuals, all experts in their fields (political leaders, academics, business and international banking executives, among others) who have hands-on, experiential knowledge of the world's most monumental problem -- how to create wealth for the poorest people in the world. As it is about nontraditional solutions, I was rather taken aback to see that a mainstream religious leader, Dr. Rich Warren, had been invited to contribute the book's Foreword. I would have thought a more iconoclastic religious figure would have been more fitting to introduce the book's theme. However, upon reading the aforethought dubious Foreward, I changed my mind. It was exactly to the point, informative and extremely interesting. Dr. Warren lived up fully to the task at hand. What is presented overall are new models of enterprise solutions to provery, and wealth creation (fostering self-sufficiency), rather than poverty reduction (depending on handouts) are the keywords to freedom from the past economics-based abstractions which have proved to be ineffective. Particularly moving for me is the book's first essay entitled "The Backbone of a New Rwanda," provided by H. E. President Paul Kagame, Republic of Rwanda, one of the most progressive leaders on the continent. In the old Rwanda, he led the revolution to end the genocide. He expressly states that the goal for his country is to create prosperity for the average Rwandan citizen. Every essay is pertinent and fascinating just because every essayist did what the title describes: they didn't read about the global problem, they didn't observe it from a safe distance. They truly jumped "In the River," swam, and are swimming still. Now their efforts need to trickle down to those going without food for weeks at a time in the Kikuyu tribal villages in the Central Highlands of Kenya who watch their goats and cattle starve because during droughts they have no fodder to give them, and the remote villages of Burkina Faso where the sole fare is millet, twice a day in winter and once daily in the summer, and where the majority of children will never see the inside of any school. These are the real testing grounds where the proof has got to be ultimately in the pudding. This remarkable book should not only satisfy but overwhelm anyone who has a concern about this urgent matter.

Fresh Ideas On Fighting Poverty Around The Globe

"In The River They Swim" is exactly what is claims to be on its cover, a collection of "Essays from around the world on enterprise solutions to poverty." This the book is a collection of 29 essays, with some authors contributing more than one essay, with the topics ranging from visions for future entrepreneurship in war torn countries to integrating differing cultures ideas into successful business models. The authors range from the President of the republic of Rwanda to a vice-president of American Express to Rick Warren. Even though Rick Warren composed the forward to the book, the book itself is does not contain any religious overtones or convictions. Instead we are treated the experiences and ideas of people committed to doing away with poverty in the world and doing it not by just providing monetary aide but by promoting local economies within these impoverished regions. As one essayist mentioned the idea is to revolutionize the economies in those areas to the point where people will want to work in the private sector more than wanting a government job because private business will be thriving and generating prosperity for the people. I enjoyed reading this book. Some stories were funny; many sad, but even more were deeply inspirational. Using the essay format was a good idea as it allowed for a varied amount of authors to cover a varied amount of topics, so suffice to say the variety of information and perspective in the book is great. I believe this to be a must read for anyone even the least bit interested in the latest ideas in battling poverty around the world. This would make a good textbook in a college class I think too.

a unique collection with big perspective

This unique collection of essays - which manages to capture the views of individuals from presidents to pastors and from anthropologists to businessmen - takes the reader through the trenches of development in places as hard as Afghanistan, Rwanda, and Colombia. To have a President speak in such a heartfelt and honest manner about the struggles of raising his country out of poverty is really moving. This books helps frame the question "What do I want to do with my life, within development, in a new way?" It's not the typical boring, academic read - and for that reason, I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Swimming Upstream: The Struggle to Change Culture

For forty-five years I've been paid to write. Writing, I've learned, is harder than typing. And for twenty-five years I've advised leaders about organizational change, realizing all along that changing minds is even harder than changing words (I couldn't edit the State of Montana or rewrite General Motors). More recently, I've worked in healthcare and economic systems in Africa. Africa has reminded me that changing cultures is even harder than changing minds. No wonder I'm so taken with IN THE RIVER THEY SWIM. It's a smart book echoing with the voices of exceptional people on the frontlines of international development. Each speaks with clear authority, most with surprising modesty. All offer something worth hearing. The editors' choice to do an anthology of essays -- personal, reflective, sometimes confessional -- was courageous. It's easy to make a mess of such books. The typical error is that editors, in search of a smooth-reading tome, iron out all differences between contributors, plucking the peculiar turn of phrase from one and the quirky verb choice from another, until they've drained the power of personality that gives essays punch. Not here. In this work, voices and personalities enjoy free rein. Elizabeth Hooper, for instance, looks at the end of her academic work and pleads for intellectual integration; her writing sparkles with the certainty of a youthful scholar. Compare Hooper's voice to that of the Soldier-President of Rwanda, His Excellency Paul Kagame, who rises proudly from the bloodied hills of his nation to slow those wanting to rush in to help: "No one can assume that he or she knows better than we what is good for us..." (p 14). The editors have no apparent allegiance to the U.S. evangelical community, but they offered Pastor Rick Warran of Purpose fame the right to introductory pages of the book. For some, he seems a strange bedfellow. But allowing his voice to be heard first, laced with biblical injunctions, proves the truth of this book: No one has all the answers, and no one willing to search for them should be silenced. The book drips with authenticity. The contributors' experience has battered their confidence in conventional wisdom and simple answers. Example? The reigning belief that international aid will yield economic development is (graciously) skewered by, among others, Malik Fal. Fal, an African and a Microsoft executive, observes that "after a few years of immediate humanitarian assistance," unless policies shift from aid to entrepreneurship, the "whole approach becomes a self-induced dependency..." (p 92). Conventional wisdom proves not to be very wise, and alternative answers are decidedly not simple. For me, two essays stood tallest, perhaps because they speak to the question that has most plagued me: If a blend of compassion and capital is not the answer, what is? The response offered by Michael Fairbanks' thoughtful (and funny) essay, "That's My Duck!", is that there is no single a