MAPAS - Merchants Against Poverty & Sickness

Our Philosophy

Merchants against poverty & sickness (MAPAS), is a charitable

organisation that has an objective to empower and support deprived communities in the

developing world through localised enterprise development initiatives.

We believe that people living in conditions of extreme poverty have a fundamental right to take responsibility for their own destinies and are now rejecting the top down charity services model that relies on handouts in the form of aid. Conventional monetary aid donated to the third world has created an unwelcomed culture of dependency and hopelessness by not directly challenging the root causes of poverty.

People living in abject poverty require an empowerment catalyst to change their lives. Localised enterprise development is that catalyst and provides people with a spirit for entrepreneurship and community based creativity to lift themselves out of a cycle of poverty. This is a primary bottom up empowering model which has a direct and immediate impact on the viability of everyone in a community.

Empowerment transforms the lives of the poor by building their capacities, confidence and entrepreneurial spirit to improve their lives and conditions in their communities. Families and communities are changed at an instant and for generations to come. Parents are able to send their children to school, to provide better nutrition, healthcare, shelter and clothing. Communities are regenerated and provide a social and economic backbone to unite the hopes and ambitions of its people.

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