Daily Archives: April 25, 2013
Charity – A bandaid solution?
Posted by Peter MUIR
I am at times presented with student proposals for involvement in service that basically sees the student donating money to a charity. While this approach is certainly not service, it also raises questions about charity and its place in our community? Is charity sustainable? How beneficial is donating money to a cause? Where does donated money go? Is it fair for running costs of charity organisations to be above 30% – that is, at least 30% of money donated goes to the administrative costs, including salaries (related to this latter point, check out the TED talk by activist and fundraiser Dan Pallotta, and do make sure you read the comment thread the talk has generated).
Esther Houghton, who assists in coordinating the efforts of some DC Diploma students in their CAS project working with the Kuok Foundation in Yat Tung, providd the following notes after attending a lecture by Dr. David Pang, the CEO of the Kuok Foundation.
It was a very inspiring talk, informing us of the vision of the Kuok Foundation and outlining the life-changing work they have been doing in China… David’s talk made clear distinctions between a charity, which gives money to the underprivileged and the Kuok Foundation which seeks not to just donate money to cure a problem but to look for and tackle the root causes of a problem. He talked about how helping others involved 3 aspects: Money, Time and Heart. Money he said was the easiest of the 3. The aspects that were the most difficult to donate were people who cared (Heart) and Time.
He talked about how essentially charity seeks to address the uneven distribution of opportunities and that the most sustainable kind of charity was that which involved changing the mind-sets of people, because there will always be people. Whilst money runs out, buildings and schools deteriorate and require maintenance, people will always remain. If we are able to teach people how to care for themselves and also how to care for others, we can change their mind-sets so that they are able to further help others, who are in turn able to change the mind-sets of even further people. This is truly sustainable charity.
Though fundraising can be a part of a DC student’s CAS or C&S efforts, students are encouraged to look at how they can donate their own time and heart to a good cause.
Survive 5 Facebook Challenge
Posted by Peter MUIR
World Vision have initiated a worthwhile challenge – why not get involved And for those DC students doing the 40-hour famine, combining the famine with this activity could be considered a C&S Project.
Every day, 19,000 children die before reaching their 5th birthday because of preventable causes like malnutrition, pneumonia, diarrhea, and malaria. Sunday, 5th May (5/5) is Survive 5 Day – where advocates around the world will make noise about under-five child deaths, but we need your help!
Create a unique “Survive 5” Facebook timeline cover that shows why people should care about child mortality.
The top 5 designs will win and be featured by World Vision’s GLOBAL Child Health Now campaign to be used by advocates all around the world! These winners will also receive a gift certificate to Society 6, where World Vision Youth sells unique art inspired items!
Learn how to get started & download starter resources at the “Survive 5” Facebook Design Competition challenge page.
