304. Ask Before You Aid: The Danger of Compassion + Creating Sustainable Development - Dr. Bertrhude Albert

Bertrhude Albert, P4H Global, We Are For Good Podcast

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Overview

Meet Dr. Behrtrude Albert. Following a humbling trip to her native Haiti, she learned a valuable lesson: ask before you aid. Alongside her partner, they founded P4H Global and are revolutionizing the way education is delivered in Haiti by training teachers. “We don’t have what Haiti needs…but they do. Invest in their capacity then get out of the way to watch them transform their nation.” Boom! 🎤💥

💡Learn

The dangers of compassion (& how it can undermine dignity)

How she garnered 1.1M likes & 70K+ TikTok followers!
The power of local partnerships: ask questions, understand strengths, listen to lived experiences
P4H Global mission overview

Today’s Guest

Dr. Bertrhude Albert, Co-Founder + CEO, P4H Global

“One of the prerequisites to partnering with a vulnerable community is realizing that they know more about community than you could ever. They are the solution more than you would ever be.”

— Dr. Bertrhude Albert, Co-Founder + CEO, P4H Global

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Dr. Bertrhude Albert’s story and journey to where she is today (3:30)
Overview of P4H Global (8:00)
Values in their work (17:00)
Compassion and the dangers with it (24:00)
Education in Haiti (32:00)
A powerful moment of philanthropy in Dr. Bertrhude Albert’s life (45:00)
Dr. Bertrhude Albert’s One Good Thing: People are not the problem, they are the solution (50:00)

Powerful quotes

“It had been 12 years since I had gone back to Haiti. I knew in my heart, my spirit, my soul, had to go back to the land that birthed me. I had to go back and see for myself what was going on in my country? And when I flew back to Haiti for the first time my entire life completely, radically changed when I met the Haitian people.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“Everything we do, we're always asking ourselves, How is this uplifting people? How is this affirming their dignity? How does this really focus on the Haitian people more than it focuses on our good intentions?” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“We're working within the context of economic poverty, but even when you look at economic poverty, one of the biggest values that we have is that the solution to poverty lies within local communities. The solution to poverty is not going to be the outside world.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“One of the prerequisites to partnering with a vulnerable community is realizing that they know more about community than you could ever. They are the solution more than you would ever be.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“If you’re helping, even if you're coming in with a PhD, or whatever letters you want to put behind your name, realizing that you've got to ask them before you intervene with your expertise, because at the end of the day, they have the PhD in their community, and you don't.”
-Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“When it becomes more about you and what you want, and how you feel than the actual change the positive change in the community. That's when there's a savior complex.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

”If you don't put your compassion in check, you can easily hurt the people you're trying to help. And how do you check yourself? Ask before you aid.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“Haiti stands as a powerful symbol of freedom and liberty specifically for for us Black folks and, and when you see that story, and you share it, people are like, I never knew this. That's not what media or school has taught me. And it's my joy to share that story with the rest of the world.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“Upskilling with a heart for humility, and checking your ego at the door is the great multiplier of greatness.” -Becky

“People are not the problem. People are the solution.” -Dr. Bertrhude Albert

“Continue to find ways that you can help elevate, affirm the dignity of people, and really focus the things that you're doing in this world on advancing the lives of other people.” Dr. Bertrhude Albert