As young boys growing up in Zimbabwe, my cousin Ben and I would often make our own toys out of sticks, wire, tin cans, anything we could get our hands on.    Once I made myself a bow, and using wire-tipped bamboo sticks as arrows and trees as targets, I soon discovered that I was a natural archer.  Before long, I was not just hitting the tree, but the same spot on a tree consistently from 50 feet away.

As good a “marksman” as I became however, I never was a good hunter.   It was particularly discouraging that while I could win any tree shooting contest, my friends who were much “poorer” archers could hit a bird in midflight with the greatest of ease.    I have also since learned that in firearms training, shooters trained in “precision shooting” have “historically not fared well in actual gun battles” ( www.rogersshootingschool.com ).

Those who are involved in efforts to eliminate urban and global poverty know that what they are involved in is not a precision shooting contest, but a war.    A war needs soldiers.  While all soldiers can be marksmen, not all marksmen are soldiers.  Soldiers don’t just have skill.  They have courage and are willing to get dirty, and to even die for the cause.  They are not only good shots when they are firing at a tree, but also when they are shooting at a moving target which is firing at them.  

It will take soldiers to win the war against urban/global poverty and dysfunction.   It will also take a greater commitment to bring every resource and tool into the battlefield to achieve victory and bring about meaningful systemic change.    As we all know, wars are expensive, even when they are just.   Unfortunately, games have become expensive too: just look at the contracts offered to NBA free agents this summer.    Indeed the Miami Heat might end up winning championship with their dream NBA team, even as they are losing the war against youth crimes, poverty and dysfunction in the inner city communities of Miami.

The economic downturn in the country is exerting enormous pressure on organizations serving the poor to clarify their missions and be efficient in the use of scarce resources.     While mission clarity and efficiency are great ideals, what we may end up with are many efficient organizations that will still lose the war.   

And a war lost efficiently is still lost.