Helping classmates

I've been in Indonesia for a few weeks now, visiting family.  One of the things I've noticed here is the strength of social networks.  Like my dad's cohort from university (they're going to have their 40th reunion this year) -- I see how they take care of each other.

One of their classmates has suffered from schizophrenia for years, and they've taken it upon themselves to take care of him.  They collect money and send it to him every week.  My dad gives him assignments to keep him busy.  He let him live in his office for some time (my dad's the dean at a university here, so his office is fairly spacious).  When this classmate went away to Thailand, upon his return, my dad's other classmates asked my dad if he could keep his passport to prevent him from wandering around the world when he's not well.  He willingly gave it to my dad and then my dad gave it back to him after some time.

Another classmate suffered from Parkinsons, so the class collected money to put his children through university.

Often, when someone has a problem, we look for a program or agency to take care of them.

What if we just did it ourselves?