Teach people that they can learn. That basic skills can help you build a home, or a city. That your civilization cannot blossom if you don't handle waste properly. Teach people to manage domesticated animals, and farming.
Thanks, That's some good suggestions, and which I think a lot of poverty activists know of, but do you know of any NGOs / programs that are currently doing this, and that are hopefully succesful too ?
I dont know why I was downvoted. Here is a talk of a brave man who turned a poor, uneducated town, and helped them make something of themselves:
http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html
wasn't me, I don't even have enough karma to downvote : )
"That basic skills can help you build a home, or a city. That your civilization cannot blossom" - Not everybody wants to live in a western home, some people have houses that may appear "poor looking", but are in fact well adapted to their environment. Not every one wants to live in a city. Many believe that growth itself is the cause of inequalities and sustainability and economical "equilibrium" would be the alternative utopia to growth.
Many slums around the world continually trash their own environment. Whether it's because of inefficient and public facing sewage systems, or because people defecate or throw trash in public spaces. There are basic things that people need to live healthy lives. I never said that they should become more Western, or that they should live in a city.
If you're concerned by slums, I say start by looking at solutions for the ghettos in your own country. The third world is not very far. Kudos for your intentions and beware of the media.