If he is still alive, Zale Moumouni would be about 25 today. I met him in 2012 in Burkina Faso while traveling with Catholic Relief Services.
Our group spoke with the 13-year-old boy after making an unexpected stop. Our host from C.R.S., Jacques Kaboré, thought we should see the simple mining operation to better understand the West African nation’s dire circumstances. The visit remains a vivid memory.
Instead of studying in school, Zale spent his days miles away from his village at the bottom of a meters-deep hole. Others sifted through the sand he shoveled, looking for gold.
“We are here—we’re working, but we can’t find anything,” he told me. “If we can have food and money, we’ll leave the place. If we had food and water, we’d go back to school.”
A young mother panned for gold with her baby strapped to her back.
“Mining is an action of a people in survival mode,” Mr. Kaboré told me. “When we protect a child, we protect the future of this country.”
Many of the people of Burkina Faso had subsisted on farming, but during a years-long drought, it was no longer an option. Today, the region is beset by violence.
According to a recent report from Forbes magazine, C.R.S. received $4.6 billion from the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2013 through 2022. President John F. Kennedy established U.S.A.I.D. in 1961 to increase the positive influence of the United States abroad. It funds humanitarian and development efforts in more than 100 countries.
The Trump administration has brought increased scrutiny to U.S.A.I.D. and nongovernmental organizations, like C.R.S., that receive funding from the agency. On the first day of his second term, President Trump issued an executive order pausing the funding of foreign aid, including U.S.A.I.D. According to a report from the National Catholic Reporter, C.R.S. is facing significant layoffs and budget cuts as a consequence.
I have been troubled to read some of the emerging details about projects that have received U.S.A.I.D. funding over the years. It perplexes me to read, for example, that U.S.A.I.D. helps fund the international charitable arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation. And according to the White House, funds were used to deliver “gender-affirming health care” in Guatemala.
But it remains inexplicable that the new administration is ready in less than a month to cut all but 290 of the 10,000 positions at U.S.A.I.D.
Even when essential for the survival of an organization, layoffs are a painful process for everyone—especially for those who lose their jobs. When I was involved with layoffs at a previous job, they took many months to plan. We weighed many factors and made sure that those we served would receive uninterrupted support.
It does not seem like this discernment is happening under the Trump administration. I cannot speak in defense of every entity that receives funding from U.S.A.I.D. I cannot even speak on behalf of C.R.S. But I can tell you what I saw when I traveled overseas to report on their work.
In Syria, I saw C.R.S. partners serve Iraqis displaced by the U.S. invasion of their country. Many of the Muslim families I interviewed had aided the U.S. effort to establish a new government in Iraq. They fled fearing retribution from those who resented America’s presence.
In Lebanon, I saw C.R.S. care for trafficked women who had been caught in inescapable domestic servitude. Some women I spoke with had come to the country from the Philippines in the hopes of earning money to send back to their families. Often their host families would take away their passports and would force them to stay indoors. These women had never suspected the trap that lay before them.
In Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake, I saw how C.R.S. focused its rebuilding efforts on empowering Haitian women. That included cash-for-work programs (a form of temporary employment), farmer cooperatives and help establishing small businesses. In one case, C.R.S. helped a group of about 20 women establish a rubble-crushing operation. They resold or reused building materials while creating jobs and income in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood.
In Niger, I saw the cash-for-work program again, this time in a remote village coping with famine. C.R.S. also helped establish small internal lending communities in which 20 to 25 people from a village pool their money to pay for necessary purchases—from seeds to plants to medical emergencies. C.R.S. also helped farmers learn what crops to plant, and how to plant them, in the unforgiving Sahel terrain.
In Burkina Faso, I met the Maranites of Holy Cross, who run a medical center in Yalgo and were helping mothers care for their newborns despite the ongoing famine. At the time, their center—which received support from C.R.S.—was the only medical help available for 60 miles.
While in that country, I also met Bishop Thomas Kaboré of Kay, who told me that the key to economic development is education. At the time, the diocese had about 20 Catholic schools. Many of the students were Catholic, but the schools also welcomed Muslim children.
“We respect their faith. We don’t push them to change it,” Bishop Kaboré said to me then. “Education is deeply rooted in faith. The rest just grows. It just happens.”
I will die a rich man because of the experiences I had with C.R.S. I witnessed C.R.S. bring life-giving outreach across the world to anyone who needs it. They open their arms to anyone, no matter their faith. So much of their work, as former C.R.S. president and C.E.O. Carolyn Woo wrote in America, recognizes the dignity of the human person by focusing on sustainable, long-term solutions for the poor and marginalized.
Every now and then, large organizations need restructuring. Like C.R.S., some organizations that receive funding from U.S.A.I.D. undoubtedly do good work. Others perhaps have run their course or should no longer be funded. I do not know every recipient, so I cannot be sure that C.R.S. is representative of every entity that receives backing from U.S.A.I.D.
But everything I’ve seen tells me that C.R.S. is an organization we can be proud of as Catholics. Furthermore, their work is something we can be proud of as Americans. Whatever happens to U.S.A.I.D., the American spirit of generosity must continue to extend beyond our borders.
