Humanitarian Rafael Legaria: Tackling the Roots of Systemic Poverty
Rafael Legaria is a life-long philanthropist who spent his career raising and securing funds for humanitarian activities and working in the field. In recent years, Rafael has dedicated himself to Quantum Legacy, a foundation aimed at ending global poverty. He is also working on a forthcoming book that outlines his philosophy on creating systems for sustainable economic development. We spoke with him about his work and his own legacy.
Rafael Legaria during visit to farms in Laos. Photo credit: Rafael Legaria.
What is the driving force behind your work?
After surviving a life-threatening illness, I felt I was given a second chance at life and I began to wonder what I should do with it. Working in international development, which has been my interest since childhood, brought me the awareness of the responsibility that came with having been witness to the lives, joys and sufferings of many poor people. Thus, the only realistic choice for me was to focus on tackling poverty.
“Tackling poverty” is a systemic global issue. What is your vision for bringing about lasting change?
At the moment, business and trade is structured as a pyramid, with the vast majority of the people at the bottom – the producers – getting very little for their work. The fact is that the margins are big enough to improve the welfare of the working poor.
What they need, and what I envision, is that we provide them with adequate investment capital and opportunities to collaborate and partner with experienced professionals in an exchange of valuable knowledge and skills. This is the only way to break the cycle and create real and lasting change.
For example, the garment industry generates significant margins that can be distributed equitably. Unfortunately, today, those who produce the garments and work grueling 12-hour shifts every day receive miserable salaries while those in the middle and at the top earn much more. Why not simply create a system that enables us to share the profits justly? The research already exists showing that this approach is possible and a win-win for everyone.
Many people dream of being rich in order buy things – whatever they want. And acquiring wealth is fine, but this should not happen by exploiting others. The system must be fair to everyone involved – and by creating and structuring ethical value chains – this is possible.
Feeding time at a salt-water prawn farm in Vietnam. Photo credit: Tinh Nguyen
How does your foundation, Quantum Legacy, aim to address this?
The Quantum Legacy mission focuses exclusively on long-term solutions to poverty. In our program, the poor are stakeholders who receive on-going training and technical support, speak for themselves and participate in some form of basic but essential insurance. My mission is to motivate people to act differently by creating structures that will bring all involved, not only self-sufficiency, but meaning and purpose to their lives.
Quantum Legacy is a global network that both initiates and supports projects in this way, by aiming to lift people out of poverty in a holistic and sustainable manner. For example, we have a project in Vietnam where we have equipped the farmers with technology and helped them organize into coops to produce organic salt-water prawns away from the ocean. In the same location, they produce crops with high value-added potential, like papaya, to increase their income. With this approach, farmers have the space to grow beyond subsistence levels. This impact and development potential can be extended to the poor in market areas also.
Mr. T. Tur & Mr. Tinh repairing a net at the salt-water prawn farm. Photo credit: Son N.
You’re writing a book about your work as well. What has it been like to reflect on your own work and philosophy?
When I was given a ‘second chance,’ reflection and retrospection came naturally. I started to look at what my life experience had taught me, at what worked and did not work. Charity is a good example. While I think charity is necessary and essential, in many instances, I have rarely seen it resolve poverty’s root problems.
While charity may help people live, or get by, they stay poor. By contrast, when they create their own jobs, they can achieve self-sufficiency. The poor, on their own, face many ‘unbreakable ceilings’ and challenges. But with sufficient capital supply and access to consistent professional support, within a reasonable time, they can achieve self-sufficiency, and perhaps remarkable social and economic success for themselves now as well as for future generations.
I must confess that it was scary to realize that, to have real impact, there was no room for small goals. Global problems are monumental and require equally monumental measures and work, if they are to have a transformational and sustainable impact. And currently, these monumental problems being addressed by what seem like ‘Mickey Mouse’ solutions are a mismatch. The answer has to be in re-engineering existing structures and approaches, by breaking through traditional limits and circumstantial boundaries. Only then can we meet our objectives.
In your opinion, what role does bravery play in all of this?
That’s a question I’ve had to deal with throughout my adult life. My illness was a hammer of awareness. It made me focus on the purpose of my life, which now makes me keep going. So many times, I’ve been confronted with big obstacles and challenges and I have wanted to give up. But every time I find myself pushed against the wall, tired, or confronted with doors closing… I feel this need… It’s like I have no choice but to keep going. I think it is in my personality to be stubborn. I don’t look at that as something heroic, but more as a undeniable responsibility.
Because of my age, I don’t know when everything is going to click together. But I’m no longer concerned with that. I have no ownership of this. If someone else takes the ideas and the framework and moves it onto a larger stage, I would be happy with that. You see, I may not have the necessary energy, but I still have the vision. And it’s time to put this into the hands of young people and let them take it forward. They have the power to change the world.
With group of farmers in Laos. RL (center back) and Mr. Virasane (extreme right) head of Legacy partner Foundation in Laos. Photo credit: Rafael Legaria.
What keeps you up at night?
Right now, I lose sleep because there is a lot of negativity and selfishness. What scares me the most is that the negative narrative seems easier to communicate than the positive narrative. Under the banners of freedom and independence we proclaim absolute self-sufficiency. It seems we take for granted that our coffee or tea, chocolate, technologies, garments, as well as many other services and products that contribute to our daily comfort and lifestyle, depend on other people. It is ridiculous to think it is possible to remove our global interdependence and continue to enjoy our lives as they are. If we accept the scientifically proven premise that the shortest way to happiness is to do things for others, we will become aware of those who make our lives easier and pleasant, and cherish interdependence.
With the magnitude of your mission, how do you manage your fears? What gives you hope?
To manage my fears, I keep reminding myself about the bigger vision. I continue to push the positive narrative, until I find a way that resonates with people. I believe that the reason I am writing my book – which isn’t fun for someone who doesn’t like to write – is that if I don’t push the positive narrative with real, realistic possibilities, then many people with whom such a message would resonate wouldn’t know about it.
What gives me hope is meeting many people in finance and banking – an industry that I once thought of as heartless – and seeing how much the idea of alleviating poverty resonates with some of them. It’s the fact that they resonate with a moral and civic approach to life. For example, they have shown me that there are ways for people with capital to invest in the poor through win-win investments that, at the same time, will give meaning to their lives.
As for fear, all you need is the opposite of it! What’s the opposite of fear? It’s love. Neuroscience has shown that 99% of humans have a sense of empathy, which is the basis of love. Hope, and our moral foundation, comes from our ability to love and appreciate others.
Find out more about Quantum Legacy on www.quantumlegacyfoundation.com