Paul Polak, Social Entrepreneur, Golden, Colorado

His new book advocates helping the world's poorest people one tool at a time

  • By Abigail Tucker
  • Photographs by Ray Ng
  • Smithsonian magazine, August 2008, Subscribe
 
Paul Polak Paul Polak, author of the book, "Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail."

Ray Ng

 

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    Paul Polak

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    Paul Polak has been helping people escape poverty in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and elsewhere for 27 years. In Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail, the 74-year-old former psychiatrist and founder of International Development Enterprises—a nonprofit that develops low-cost equipment for farmers—argues that simple tools such as a $25 water pump can do more than large cash donations to aid many of the world's "dollar-a-day" people, of which there are an estimated 1.2 billion.

    Why did you switch from psychiatry to poverty?
    In working with mentally ill people in Denver, I learned that their poverty was a bigger contributor to their state of mind than psychiatric illness. We found them housing and access to employment. Those things helped so much. But I was curious about people who lived on $30 a month or less, so I went to Bangladesh.

    You tell the story of a farmer in Nepal.
    Yes, Krishna Bahadur Thapa invested $26 to buy a 250-square-meter drip [irrigation] kit. He learned horticulture, and he worked hard to raise off-season cucumber and cauliflower, and all of a sudden he made $256 in one season when he was used to making only $50 to $100 a year. He went from that first tiny plot to a whole acre of irrigated fruits and vegetables. He bought himself a buffalo and made almost $700 selling milk. Then he bought two-thirds of an acre of oranges. He raised goats and sold the kids for meat. Farmers improve in bits and pieces. By that method you can get as big as you want.

    You say we can't "donate" people out of poverty.
    Right. Poor people have to make an investment of their own time and money to move out of poverty. You can help them by removing constraints. Many of the current approaches to poverty assume you have to give them a large number of things. But there are no sustainable impacts once the money stops.

    You have great hopes for a $100 house.
    Virtually all "dollar-a-day" people in rural areas own their own houses. But the walls are made of mud and wattle, usually there's a thatched roof, and the floor is a mixture of dung and clay. The house has no value. You can't sell it and, even more critically, you can't go to a bank and use it [as collateral] for a loan. But for $100 you can build a 20-square-meter house—a skeleton of eight beams and a good roof that they can add bricks or cinder blocks to. Then they can go to the bank and borrow against it.

    What's an example of a tool that might help America's urban poor?
    One thing I learned in Colorado is that homeless people need a secure place to store their stuff. The railroad station had 75-cent lockers, and that's where [a homeless man named] Joe kept his stuff. Well, there were thousands of homeless people in Denver. It would have been a fairly simple matter for someone to finance a loan for a locker facility.

    Your family left Czechoslovakia to escape the Nazis when you were a child.
    My father sold everything at 10 cents on the dollar to accumulate 2,000 bucks to get a visa to Canada. We arrived as refugees. We worked for a while as migrant farm laborers, and then three of us—three families—bought a farm. My dad worked hauling molten pig iron in a factory, and in the evenings and on weekends he had a landscaping business, and then he started a nursery and made a very good living. I learned about seeing things with open eyes, and about being an entrepreneur.


    Paul Polak has been helping people escape poverty in Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and elsewhere for 27 years. In Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail, the 74-year-old former psychiatrist and founder of International Development Enterprises—a nonprofit that develops low-cost equipment for farmers—argues that simple tools such as a $25 water pump can do more than large cash donations to aid many of the world's "dollar-a-day" people, of which there are an estimated 1.2 billion.

    Why did you switch from psychiatry to poverty?
    In working with mentally ill people in Denver, I learned that their poverty was a bigger contributor to their state of mind than psychiatric illness. We found them housing and access to employment. Those things helped so much. But I was curious about people who lived on $30 a month or less, so I went to Bangladesh.

    You tell the story of a farmer in Nepal.
    Yes, Krishna Bahadur Thapa invested $26 to buy a 250-square-meter drip [irrigation] kit. He learned horticulture, and he worked hard to raise off-season cucumber and cauliflower, and all of a sudden he made $256 in one season when he was used to making only $50 to $100 a year. He went from that first tiny plot to a whole acre of irrigated fruits and vegetables. He bought himself a buffalo and made almost $700 selling milk. Then he bought two-thirds of an acre of oranges. He raised goats and sold the kids for meat. Farmers improve in bits and pieces. By that method you can get as big as you want.

    You say we can't "donate" people out of poverty.
    Right. Poor people have to make an investment of their own time and money to move out of poverty. You can help them by removing constraints. Many of the current approaches to poverty assume you have to give them a large number of things. But there are no sustainable impacts once the money stops.

    You have great hopes for a $100 house.
    Virtually all "dollar-a-day" people in rural areas own their own houses. But the walls are made of mud and wattle, usually there's a thatched roof, and the floor is a mixture of dung and clay. The house has no value. You can't sell it and, even more critically, you can't go to a bank and use it [as collateral] for a loan. But for $100 you can build a 20-square-meter house—a skeleton of eight beams and a good roof that they can add bricks or cinder blocks to. Then they can go to the bank and borrow against it.

    What's an example of a tool that might help America's urban poor?
    One thing I learned in Colorado is that homeless people need a secure place to store their stuff. The railroad station had 75-cent lockers, and that's where [a homeless man named] Joe kept his stuff. Well, there were thousands of homeless people in Denver. It would have been a fairly simple matter for someone to finance a loan for a locker facility.

    Your family left Czechoslovakia to escape the Nazis when you were a child.
    My father sold everything at 10 cents on the dollar to accumulate 2,000 bucks to get a visa to Canada. We arrived as refugees. We worked for a while as migrant farm laborers, and then three of us—three families—bought a farm. My dad worked hauling molten pig iron in a factory, and in the evenings and on weekends he had a landscaping business, and then he started a nursery and made a very good living. I learned about seeing things with open eyes, and about being an entrepreneur.

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    Comments (8)

    The locker idea for the homeless in U.S. urban areas is really excellent. Theft of possessions is a real issue for the homeless, and especially for those working to get themselves into a better situation. Those who hope to work need a place to keep a clean outfit, or their clock or paperwork or medications while they shower at the local mission. I watched my brother lose everything out of his truck while he was homeless, and know how a locker would have eased his mind and helped him. Maybe folks who own storage facilities could dedicate a section of closet-sized lockers for the homeless as a tax write-off. Thanks for recognizing someone who can think outside of the monetary donation.

    Posted by Susan Baird on October 10,2008 | 12:04 AM

    Kiva (a non-profit organization) is doing a wonderful job in countries like Mexico, Nigeria, Guatemala and lots of other countries. I believe Micro lending works. Poor people don't want hand outs they want some support, and direction to get themselves out of poverty. They want to get back their dignity and a small amount of loan sometimes does the job.

    Posted by Mita Sinha on October 9,2008 | 04:20 PM

    Being forced into using Window's based computers at a large corporation, I have never held Bill Gates in high regard (since I really like Macintosh computers). When I visited the IDE website, I saw the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation donated $27 million to them. I am glad some of the thousands of dollars I have spent for Microsoft software is now helping people who have never even touched a computer. I read the story, went to the IDE website...and donated money. This is an organization worth supporting with money and with time.

    Posted by Michael Theis on August 24,2008 | 08:04 PM

    Having been to India and other poverty stricken countries I have witnessed first hand that you cannot "donate people out of poverty". I would love to be a part of this movement. Good luck to you Mr. Polak. The world needs more "heros" like you. Bobbie Rippe Boulder,Co.

    Posted by Bobbie Rippe on August 7,2008 | 07:44 PM

    In a world where it takes money to make money, being generous on even a small scale can enable organizations like International Development Enterprises, World Vision, or Compassion International to make a real difference in the lives of real people.

    Posted by DJ on August 1,2008 | 12:47 PM

    I would like to see the Polak approach applied to our indigenous aboriginal population, here in Australia. Perhaps, your book should be required reading for ALL of our World Leaders.

    Posted by Mark Worling on July 31,2008 | 09:07 PM

    We can all do something to profoundly help another half a world away with little time and investment.Check out kiva.org and become a micro-lender. Let empathy = empowerment.

    Posted by Rattildamae on July 31,2008 | 03:08 PM

    Wish there were more people like Mr Polak! Let's join make this world a better place. Willem van Weperen Sustainable ag advisor, The Netherlands

    Posted by willem van weperen on July 30,2008 | 05:11 PM

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