How I Use Social Media & My Ethnicity to Help the Poor
[caption id="attachment_2657" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Young Mother Stands with Her Child after Cyclone Aila Hit"][/caption]
Let me introduce you to this young mother I met in Galachipa, Bangladesh. This photo was taken just after Cyclone Aila - you can see that part of her house's wall is missing. Trust me, I don't bring this up as a downer.
After I met her, I explained to her what I was doing: that I'm not a charity official or employee - I'm just a guy. And, with my camera and camcorder, she could send a message to all my friends around the world.
I asked her: ...
Beyond Blankets
What would you say if I gave your donations to someone whom (until recently) I never met, who used it on a country I've never been, and helped people I've never seen?
What you would get is this video:
First, it must be said that this is far less sketchy than it seems. Rohan was a friend of mine long before I sent him a dime. I trusted him enough as a friend before I entrusted him with part of this project. That, of course, does limit how often I can do things like this.
Second, there is a specific reason I wanted ...
Why I Went to VidCon
[caption id="attachment_2489" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="Hank & John Start VidCon Early in the Morning (thus the rare shot of empty seats)"][/caption]
VidCon. In a word? WOW. As one friend put it, "it's like the internet exploded into real life". It was surreal, amazing, & awesome to meet people that I've only been able to see through my computer screen.
Even though there wasn't nearly enough time, I'm in awe at how seamlessly online friends turned into "real life" friends. In most cases it's like you've known someone for ages and are just hanging out.
[caption id="attachment_2488" align="aligncenter" width="482" caption="This photo makes me look more ...
My 5 Fact Pitch to Save the Children
It's the first of April, and I'm standing in a dimly lit room with a bright projector light blinding me. In front of me, some high ranking officials who came to hear me speak. This is no April's Fools joke: this was my presentation to Save the Children USA's Global HQ.
[caption id="attachment_2423" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Save the Children's USA HQ (pic by Madge Canning)"][/caption]
After an hour of Keynote slides, graphs, and videos I was pleased to see that my presentation was well received. Lots of nodding heads. But I needed one more thing. I need to drive the message home. It ...
It used to be that if someone wanted to find out about this project, it would usually be from me sharing a link. But now, there are people sharing this project with others all the time. I’ve just made it easier to share links than before.
Want someone to check out the YouTube videos? Just give ‘em the URL uncultured.tv. Want them to join the facebook group? uncultured.net And, of course, for this blog and all the links to those, there is still uncultured.com.
I found a discount at a domain registrar that helped me purchase/renew these for cheap. They’ll be around for the next 12 months – but I’ll have to look at my financial situation when it comes to renewal time…
Where do I begin? There was no one word that could describe how I felt as I was packing up to go home. I felt kind of foolish because the real straw that broke the camel’s back was my dead LaCie harddrive. When I got home, after the culture shock, I felt lucky. The blood tests I took here helped explained why I was feeling so sick, tired, and ill those last few months in Bangladesh. But, in the best case scenario, this problem was due to the iron-heavy drinking water in Bangladesh. What does that say about what awaits me when I return? I certainly don’t want to stop this project – although, given the financial (and now medical) strains, it’s only a matter of time until I have to stop.
This video is one of my sadder videos. It’s also one of the least watched videos on my channel. So if you haven’t already, please do take a look:
This is not a charity, organization, or anything formal. It’s my journey to try and make the world a better place - one meaningful difference at a time. It’s about inspiring others to believe that we can be the generation that ends extreme poverty. Hopefully, this project can also show the big multinational organizations that there is a better way to engage people on the issue of global poverty.
About Me
I'm Shawn - a 29 year old Canadian from Toronto. Before starting this project, I was a graduate student on scholarship at Notre Dame University. My life took a turn after I met Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (author of the book "The End of Poverty") when he came to give a speech at Notre Dame. That speech inspired me to withdraw from grad school, liquidate my savings, and begin this journey to try and make the world a better place - one meaningful difference at a time.
