My name is Shawn and “The Uncultured Project” is not a charity, organization, or anything formal. And, even though my face has been seen over a million times on YouTube, it’s not an attempt at celebrity.
It’s a journey to try and make the world a better place – one meaningful difference at a time. It’s about inspiring people to believe that we can be the generation that ends extreme poverty.
While there are many organizations out there trying to advance the same cause, I like to think my approach is a bit unique. Hopefully this project will be able to show the big guys that there is a better way to engage people on the issue of global poverty.
How You Can Help
- If you are an individual: please support this project by subscribing to the YouTube channel, joining the Facebook Group, and rating, commenting, and sharing the videos I make. I also accept donations which I don’t use for my own expenses.
- If you are a charity, organization, or socially responsible business: I’m always open to teaming up with new organizations. Please email me so we can see if we make a good fit and can team up somehow.
Contact & Licensing Info
- Email Address: project@uncultured.com
- Content License: Creative Commons (unless specified otherwise)
About Me
I’m a 28 year old Canadian from Toronto. I don’t consider myself to be an activist or adventure seeker. I’m just a guy who – like a lot of people – was always concerned about important issues like global poverty but wasn’t really sure what I could do. In school and university my background was in sociology, political science, and economics. In the classroom, I got to hear a lot of theories as to why poverty exists – but that actually made things seem more confusing.
How This Project Got Started
In 2005, I got a scholarship to pursue a Masters & PhD in Sociology at Notre Dame University (Go Irish!). One day, in September of 2006, Notre Dame closed all of its classes so that students could learn more about the important issue of global health and global poverty. Among the scholars Notre Dame invited to speak to us was Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (author of the book “The End of Poverty”).
It was only after I heard Dr. Sachs’s speech that I had reason to be optimistic. Because, according to Dr. Sachs, we can end poverty within our lifetime. It doesn’t require us to have a dramatic revolution, turn into communists, or all become like Mother Theresa. Simple and small changes in our global, political, and personal priorities can make a huge difference.
“We can end extreme poverty – but I have to tell the students the bad news: it’s your homework” - Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
After that speech, my life took a turn. I decided to withdraw from Notre Dame, pack my bags, liquidated my meager savings, and go abroad to try and see what I could do to make the world a better place by helping the poorest of the poor. I don’t claim to have all the answers – in fact, part of this journey is about putting my classroom knowledge to the test. I also don’t have a set plan or any previous experience doing something like this. That’s why this project is called “uncultured”.
The Goal: To Change the Conversation about Global Poverty
I can’t single-handedly end global poverty. The goal on-the-ground is to make as many meaningful differences as possible. This can be anything from helping a widow keep her children, helping a student stay in high school, helping malaria survivors live malaria-free lives, and much more. By sharing this journey over the internet, I am hoping to inspire others by talking the issue of global poverty in a way that is different from the big organizations.
Many of these organizations talk about global poverty in a way that makes us feel guilty, sad, or makes us feel pity for the poor. This does a disservice because the poor shouldn’t be seen as one-dimensional characters that are objects of our pity. Making us feel sad or guilty about this issue – while great for getting us to donate – doesn’t get us any closer to truly ending global poverty once and for all. I want to talk about this issue in a way that gives us hope – because we have the potential be the generation that ends extreme poverty.
Sacrifices and Difficulties
This project has been anything but easy. Bangladesh, although one of the more stable and tolerant developing countries, has had it’s share of political instability, riots, floods, and deadly cyclones. I definitely wasn’t prepared for the kind of death, violence, and suffering that I’ve seen during this project. You also can’t do a project like this without getting sick. In fact, my mother who initially came with me to help me as a translator had to go home after getting hospitalized with Dengue Fever and Typhoid.
In addition to my own share of food poisoning, flus, fevers, and even minor surgery (all without health insurance – d’oh!), doctors tell me I now suffer from iron toxicity in my blood due to fact I’ve been drinking Bangladesh water for a year. Bangladesh water is often heavy in metals such as iron and arsenic. I’m told by my family doctor and specialists I saw in Canada that, if I continue to stay in Bangladesh and am unable to find better sources of water, I may eventually die of organ failure in either the kidneys, liver, or heart.
Despite these risks, I’ve decided to keep doing this for as long as I can. I may have the luxury of getting on a plane and flying away – but the people I’m trying to help do not. But, no matter the risks, the greatest toll for me has been emotional. Most of my relatives don’t approve of the path I’ve taken. Many have criticized me for putting grad school and my career on hold. Some of my relatives – living well-to-do lives in Bangladesh – have even refused to help me or even provide basic assistance during medical emergencies.
Funding, Donations, and Support
Since starting this project, I’ve become flat broke. I liquidated all of my life savings to make this project possible. The very last of my savings – money which I had set aside to one day buy an Xbox 360 and a copy of Halo 3 – I decided to spend on the poor instead. That money went to help stock a rural part-time school with school supplies, pay for all the textbooks required for a Grade Nine student to stay in school, and much much more. The essential expenses of this project are now almost entirely paid for with the generous support of my parents – who have dipped into their retirement savings to continue to make this project possible.
I do accept donations but the money I raise from my donations page goes to the poor – not to me. I do not take a cut of the donations I receive. I’d like to keep doing this for as long as I can but, if I can’t find a way to make this project sustainable, it’s only a matter of time until I have to pack my bags and go home for good. This project has been able to go on for as long as it has because I’ve occasionally been able to receive (non-monetary) assistance from American expats in Bangladesh, organizations like Save the Children, and socially responsible companies like Vestergaard-Frandsen.
