It’s never about helping them. It’s about keeping them sucking on the teat.
If a problem is solved, or a person is empowered, that person may not allow himself to remain enslaved on the plantation.
If you teach a man to fish, he can feed himself for the rest of his life.
If you give a man a fish, you can guarantee he’ll come back tomorrow for another one, and then you can demand fealty from him.
(and yes, I’ve heard the “sit in a boat and drink all day” joke)