DISCLAIMER:
Before you start this article - stop.
Seriously stop reading right now!
First - Click here and read about the myths that we as a population believe about foreign aid and exactly why they are full of crap. I could rewrite it in my own words however it was written with input from people way smarter than me and you should give it a good look before you keep reading.
For you little rebels who didn't click the link, there is a nice sum up in two clips below by two awesome smart people - John Green and Bill Nye the Science Guy:
You can start reading again now - but if you didn't read the link and you didn't watch the above videos I take exactly zero responsibility if you only understand half of this article and stupid questions caused by such will be summarily ridiculed. Okay, everyone with me? Here we go:
Why Foreign Aid and Charity are vital - and How we as the Developed World are a
Within polite conversation there are the cardinal three topics that cannot be discussed - Politics, Religion and Money. Subjects such as foreign aid, charities, sustainable conservation and environmental support are rarely conversed - primarily because they tick off two of the three, both politics and money, and therefore they promote fear of violating social niceties.
This is a sad reality and as the world around us gets smaller and smaller, unfortunately our education and understanding of it remains rather stagnant. I personally know a dozen people whose primary source of foreign affairs is sharing questionable info-graphics on facebook. There is a growing awareness of the longstanding tradition of seeing hardships around the world, taking a moment to think "Aww shucks that's too bad", and then scrolling down to find more cat videos.
I believe this social disconnect is largely due to a common feeling that we have no personal responsibility over these hardships, and so therefore, they really aren't our problem.
In a previous article I asked whether we can afford apathy to be a byproduct in our ever-changing world. Today I want to push it further and ask - Why do we as a culture believe some lives are worth more than others?
That may sound inflammatory - and it is - but stay with me for a moment. Think about if you woke up tomorrow and the school bus coming to pick up your children was blown up two blocks from your house. What if your family home was just a small concrete room with no furniture and no electricity. What if you had no running water in your house. Forget taking a shower - now you need to walk ten blocks just to pick up drinking water.
This probably sounds ridiculous - and yet most of the world's population live in one or more of these conditions. Do you think if all of these befell London or Sydney tomorrow, that we would be quite so cavalier about it.
Why as citizens of developed countries do we feel we have no moral responsibility to those less fortunate than ourselves.
"We are the 99%" is a movement that rocked developed countries over the past few years. A movement centered in income inequality within the United States that quickly moved international. A protest against 1% of people controlling more than 40% of the world's wealth. 1% who have access to the best education, the best houses, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles. And within that controlling interest they have the ability to affect change, a responsibility to even the score, and to aid those in need. This was a very popular movement that many in the developed world championed.
How is this not gross hypocrisy? How does this argument not work when applied to the developed and developing worlds. In my lowest paid position as a apprentice, I was on an annual income of $14,000 - which is far less than the standard minimum wage set at $16 per hour by the Australian Government. To get some perspective lets look at the average annual income from across a few different continents:
Zimbabwe- $400
Rwanda - $1000
Philippines - $1175
Mali - $1200
Tajikistan -$1388
Uganda - $1500
Tanzania - $1700
Senegal - $1759
Kyrgyzstan - $2100
Mongolia - $2175
Cambodia - $2600
Yemen - $2700
Palestine - $2900
Iraq - $3600
Nicaragua - $3636
Peru - $6715
Albania - $7800
(figures courtesy of Kiva.org)
What's truly interesting about this list is that not all of the countries listed are those commonly thought of as requiring aid. When the most well-off country on this list is still earning half of my apprentice income or a quarter of the minimum Australian income - do we really have the unbelievable arrogance to claim we are not among the world's wealthiest? Does this not make us the proverbial 1%? Does it make it okay that there are 780 million people without access to drinking water - not running water, or even decent plumbing, but actual drinkable water - because they happen to live in a less fortunate country than ours?
By fate and circumstance, I was lucky enough to be born in a country where not only do I have access to advanced medical care, education, nutrition and safety from armed conflict - I have rights as a woman and a free citizen. Who the hell am I to refuse those same rights to somebody else based on the location of their birth and parentage?
"[It's] the price you pay...for being rich, free and alive all at the same time"
Lord John Marbury
The West Wing
We do have a responsibility to help those who need it, if for no other reason than because we can. If your neighbor's house is on fire and you have a garden hose - you lend them your hose. It's that simple. It's what we do because we have the ability to. To stand by and watch the suffering of others when we hold a proverbial blank cheque is both selfish and shameful. We as individuals, and therefore we as a culture, are better than that. And it is about time that we prove it.
Charitable aid can be so easy, especially when it costs us so little and in some cases nothing at all. But moreso it has been proven many times over that sustainable aid can prevent wars, prevent illness and actually improve lives worldwide. It's a trickle-down effect, and it works, so if you are one of the special few who lack human compassion and empathy - think on this. Supporting lower income countries makes your life safer, improves your quality of life and - for the obscenely racist out there - dramatically slows asylum requests.
One late night not so long ago I overheard a young Asian woman conversing with two Australian men, discussing the Australian policy of locking up asylum seekers. After hearing about Manus Island the woman asked, "If you don't want people to come to your country, why don't you take the money you're using to lock them up and instead help their home countries so they don't want to leave? You're going to spend it anyway."
While an oversimplification, it highlights that it is so much easier to prevent a country from going into crisis - than to pay for the fallout once it does. If humanitarian reasons do not sway you then perhaps this pragmatic one will.
But what truly frustrates me as a member of this elite class of educated people, is that there is more interest in upgrading to the latest iPhone than there is in helping children in war-torn regions. Bad excuses run rampant and for every one there is a simple answer. Charities have evolved. They have evolved to be much more than simply sponsoring a child monthly or a $20 cheque at Christmas. They are so much more, and no matter who you are - there is a charity out there for you.
For students with nothing but a laptop and a bright and curious mind to their name, there are free charities such as Tab for a Cause, who donate money based on how many tabs you open. Open a tab - Bang! that's xx cents you raised for children in Syria.
For the bored and social media crazy teenagers, there are websites such as Free Rice - which rewards your boredom by giving rice to the needy.
For the Tumblr, Pinterest, and Youtube fans there are the Project for Awesome and the Harry Potter Alliance. P4A is an awareness campaign that focuses on decreasing world suck and once a year has a massive online event to promote awareness of charities that may not get the spotlight otherwise. Last year they raised over $860k!
The Harry Potter Alliance is a charity founded by Harry Potter fans and fellow nerds who, in their own words, "feel passionate about the power of story to inspire and affect social change. Just as Harry and his friends fought the Dark Arts in JK Rowling’s fictional universe, we strive to destroy real-world horcruxes like inequality, illiteracy, and human rights violations."
For the young workers who want to help, but don't have massive resources there is Kiva.org, a website that, rather than facilitating donations, uses crowd sourcing to finance loans for those in countries without stable economies. A group, who each individually loaning $25, can aid a woman in Uganda in buying fertilizer for her crops - which in turn yields a better harvest allowing her to pay off the loan, and have enough money to reinvest in her new business. This system - teaching a man to fish, rather than simply giving him a fish - has long been credited for establishing stable economic development while giving opportunities to people where there previously were none.
And because it is a loan and not a donation - you get it back and can reloan it (or withraw it). That one $25 loan could go on and end up helping hundreds of people.
If you are just a nice normal responsible adult like the guy in the video below and just want to be a good human being - use your purchasing power and support Rainforest Alliance certified goods, Detox clothing lines, Fairtrade chocolate and coffee, and cosmetics that do not test on animals.
If you do really want to give to charity but don't really know which one - That's okay. Take a look at some of these videos that give you a glimpse of some great charities:
Save the Children: http://www.savethechildren.org (start video at 55 seconds to skip intro)
Not Forgotten: http://www.notforgotten.org/
Water.org: http://water.org/
WWF: http://worldwildlife.org/
Oxfam: http://www.oxfam.org/
With so many easy (or free) options and such varied charities - there really is no good excuse for not helping out.
A much smarter person than I once said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world, its the only thing that ever has."
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