There's an organization called XL that I'm involved in that works towards solving these issues. They run social enterprizes that involve developing the economy in poverty stricken areas and reinvesting the money back into education. There's one lady who does this with local crafts in Indian villages, women in the villages make garments and other crafts and some of them have featured in Vogue magazine and are sold in designer stores all around the world. The profits go back into schooling, and by affecting the lives and mindset of the mothers, who in this context spend most of the time with the children, education is much more effective in the long term. From the efforts of this one project alone, more than 500 villages have been taken out of abject poverty. Perhaps getting involved in something like that would have a more lasting effect?

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