I knew I had the perfect gift idea when letters arrived from an orphanage and many of the children were writing about the long walk to school. I’d save up enough to send money for bicycles, maybe even one for each of the children. And I was so happy when the day came to forward my donation. But the children’s reply contained a mixed message: “Thank you for the bicycles. They are a big help. But really we’d like a toilet. Really now, just what were they thinking, an American standard? Well, I soon found out. The orphanage's toilet was a hole in the ground sheltered by a tarpaulin to offer some privacy. When the torrential rains came, their toilet became a nasty mess. It turned out they were really just asking for something more permanent, an outhouse raised up off the ground and a properly dug septic bed.A telling moment; even though I don't consider myself a technocrat, I realized that the simplicity of the children's real needs was far more basic than an ordinary Canadian could imagine. We have so much, and they have so little.
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