Now posting on stratosphereinternational.ca

Hello there, I have set up an official site and I am blogging regularly. Check it out. www.stratosphereinternational.ca

Being Unreasonable

I am in a holding pattern right now. It the last work day for me before Xmas, and I am impatiently waiting for my webhosting company to finish preparing my space so I can launch my beautiful new site (created by Kevin Broome).

In the meantime here are a few inspiring quotations taken from the beginning of "The Power of Unreasonable People, How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World" by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan...

"Being unreasonable is not just a state of mind. It is also a process by with older, outdated forms of reasoning are jettisoned and new ones conceived and evolved.... like it or not, the world is in the early stages of powerful, deep-running, and pervasive changes that, for better or for worse, will transform its economies, its cultures, and people's understanding of who they are and what they stand for."

As for social entrepreneurs...

"Their endeavors are transformative, not palliative, with the power to catalyze and shape the future. And once you know where to look, you find them at work almost everywhere..."

Voluntourism Gone Wrong

I found another blog to follow! I am just getting started exploring Good Intentions Are Not Enough written by Saundra Schimmelpfennig and I am already smitten. She wrote an article that represents one of my major motivations to start an international community education program (see the FYI note at the bottom). I found her via The GiveWell Blog's article titled "Orphanages" (definitely check that article out as well).

She wrote an article a few months back called "Hug-an-orphan vacations" where she examines the impact of voluntourism focused on orphanages. She makes some very important points- essentially asking the reader to question the motivation behind short volunteer (voluntour) experiences in orphanages.

I want to challenge readers to also think about what can you accomplish during a short voluntour placement at an orphanage or anywhere for that matter. I am not saying don't do a short volunteer placement but do your research first. The project should:

• not take away from the employment opportunities of a local person,
• be sustainable,
• focus on developing the resources of an existing organization (rather than building something completely new... unless absolutely necessary),
• be accountable (you know where the money is going),
• not exploit (ie use pathetic pictures of bloated bellies to appeal to funders).

FYI, the goal of my program is to provide an opportunity for a long term relationship between a school in Canada and a school overseas allowing for sustainability, supporting existing institutions, and ultimately helping more children get educations so they can grow up to help themselves, their families and their communities. I also teach about community development so that participants can go into experiences with their eyes wide open.

UN Millenium Goals Debunked

Two of my favorite blogs (Chris Blattman, Aid Watch) write about the challenges with UN style aid. The UN set forth the UN Millenium Goals to end poverty (this happened back in 2000). We are coming up on 2010 and many experts question whether these goals will ever be met, and even whether aid is effective. As I am sure you know that this type of aid is "trendy." Bono loves it... Jeffrey Sachs has become a celebrity promoting it. Many people have jumped on board.

The UN Millenium goals hit on some vitally important areas: end poverty and hunger, universal (primary) education, gender equality, child health, maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability, and global partnerships. All of these goals match what I am trying to promote with my secondary school international community education program (more info soon). I truly believe these are of extreme importance. Does that mean I follow what the UN and its supporters have to say blindly? No... and you shouldn't either. So do yourself a favour and add these blogs to your RSS feed (make a New Year's resolution to follow all the experts):

Aid Watch

Chris Blattman

The GiveWell Blog

Choosing a Charity

My mom pointed out a beautiful pamphlet from a major charitable organization the other week. It worked along the same lines as kiva.org- you could choose from a number of products (for lack of a better word) to donate- a goat, a well, chickens etc. We are naturally drawn to this type of fundraising (I did my own fundraising based on this technique), but how do we really know if it is the right charity to support?

GiveWell helps take the guesswork out of it. They have a list of their top charities. They explain how looking at how much of your donation goes to overhead doesn't tell you anything about the quality of the charity. And they point out the incredible strength of the individual donor! Individual donors give way more than any other donor out there- including the Gates Foundation.

When you do your end of the year donations check out their chart and then give yourself a pat on the back for being an important part of the solution, not just a drop in a bucket.

Africa Is Rich - Thank You William Easterly

There is a plethora of blog posts and articles on the struggles of Africa. This is what we read about Africa- the poverty, the disease, the lack of education. And yet the continent is rich with beauty, intelligence, knowledge, kindness- to mention only a few things.

I send students on overseas community volunteer programs. Why do I do this? So they can learn a few things- that they have a role to play in the future of the world and that they can learn a thing or two from people in other areas of the world. Too often I see Canadian youth who believe they have all the answers, that they can "fix" Africa- that Africa is broken and needs to be fixed. This is what we teach our youth. It is time for them to learn that they don't hold the answers. But they can be part of the solution if they respect the people they meet from other countries and really listen to them and learn from them.

So thanks to William Easterly for taking a moment to pause and look at the beauty of Ethiopia in "Africa is Rich." A little side note- I would love to see these types of projects in Uganda- another stunningly beautiful country that for most Westerners is still only known for child soldiers and an oppressive dictator long since gone.

A Cleansing of Sorts

I have been buried deep in my business plan, and resurfaced today to catch up on reading from my beloved Google Reader. By way of Chris Blattman's blog, I ended up reading Confusion Over Where Money Lent Via Kiva Goes, an article on nytimes.com. The article raises some ethical questions in regards to charity work, in particular it looks at the current trend in charities to ask donors to contribute to a very specific need (ie a goat, a plow, a new business start up). This process appeals directly to the desires of the small donor. People want to know exactly where their money is going. However, how can the donor be sure when they purchase a plow, they are actually purchasing a plow? Truthfully, most often they can't.

To my "cleansing of sorts." About four years ago, my husband and I had a very simple idea to raise money. I was directly linked to a community in Kenya through my work and knew that two oxen and a plow could have a huge impact on food security there. I won't go into the details. But needless to say we put together a very charming blog to promote the project to friends and family. It was a tongue in cheek take on the Kiva style fundraising- we asked them to buy a part of a cow (see below).

It was successful, we raised the money and then some. And there were visions of chickens or goats... But around this time we started receiving reports that the money already going into the community was not getting to the people. Our contact in the village was a wonderful person, but not strong enough to stand up against the powerful men in the community. Months went by and the situation never improved. So where did the money end up? It ended up financing a girls' education project in rural Uganda. A project that has been very successful on a local scale in a community I am still in close contact with.

The bottom line is there are a multitude of factors at play. Where is the need? What if the situation changes? How much of your money actually ends up in a community? Is it enough to know your money can buy a plow, or should it actually buy a plow? Kiva is a hugely successful charity, that allows the individual donor to contribute to and learn about grassroots community development around the world. Maybe we will have to give them a break, as long as the money gets where it is needed.