My housemate read this quote the other night at dinner, that she heard through the Christian Community Development Association. It's from a Chinese proverb.

Live among them
Learn from them
Love them
Start with what they know
Build on what they have:
But of the best leaders When their task is done
The people will remark "We have done it ourselves."

I believe this sort of love is central to any sort of effort to help meet the needs of a given community, whether in the U.S. or internationally.