Dear Supporters of Invisible Children,
A lot of you may be confused at all the criticism that Invisible Children (IC) has faced as of late. Perhaps you feel that this criticism is coming from people who fail to understand the mission and nature of IC. Alternatively, perhaps, you may feel that this criticism - while having some merit - has been unfairly blown out of proportion.
What I think needs to be understood is that there is no such thing as black and white. Invisible Children, as an organization, isn't some nefarious evil group robbing people of their money. But, at the ...
We Speak For Ourselves
When it comes to international aid and development, we are all biased. It doesn't matter if you're a donor reading pamphlets, a celebrity or YouTuber endorsing your favorite NGO, a journalist interviewing villagers, an academic outside of the ivory tower, an experienced aid professional talking about "good aid", or even a free agent trying to be a bridge-maker.
There is nothing nefarious about this fact. We as human beings, while capable of untold capacities for empathy, will never have a complete verstehen and fully imagine the complexity of others. This is important because the arbiters of what is and is not ...
5 Steps for NGOs to Move from Guilt to Empowerment
My thoughts on how charities need to drop the guilt is getting tons of views. But the question remains: how does a charity drop the guilt? Can they do it overnight? Cold turkey?
As I mentioned some charities, like the US-branch of Save the Children, have already stopped using "poverty porn". I'd like to share something I've talked to them about behind closed doors.
I guess you can call it a 5 Step Program for NGOs using guilt:
3 Reasons Charities Need to Drop the Guilt
[caption id="attachment_3629" align="aligncenter" width="473" caption="A Charity Guilt-Ad Currently Airing in Canada"][/caption]
It's 2011 and we still live in a world where many charities think that the best way to raise funds to help those in need is by using guilt.
This needs to stop and here are three reasons why:
I mentioned yesterday that Shawn and Paul were headed into the field to hand out the non-food family disaster relief kits to families in need. For those of you who donated, he was able to post cameraphone images of those he gave the kits to. If you’ve been following him on Twitter, you’ve already seen some of these images.
@fngkestrel’s donation
@flawedartist’s donation
@nichis’s donation
Shawn and Paul have come back from the disaster area and were able to give us a brief update on YouTube.
Even though they’re back, it’s not too late to donate which you can do by clicking here.
Thank you once again to everyone who’s donated and shown your support on YouTube and Twitter. This really couldn’t have been possible without you guys.
Since Shawn and his friend Paul are armed only with their cellphones while in the field, this blog post is brought to you by flawedartist.
After close to a week and a half of searching for a way to bring aid to those displaced by Cyclone Aila, Shawn’s only a few short hours away from delivering over 45 non-food family disaster relief kits to families in need.
What makes this trip unique is the fact that Shawn has been able to share Mobile vlogs, Cameraphone images, along with updating Twitter to give everyone real time coverage of this weekend journey. It’s amazing to think that within 72 hours of donating, I will be able to see the smiling faces of those I’m helping.
Words cannot describe how amazing that feeling is.
While Shawn has already uploaded several mobile vlogs to YouTube, you can watch his latest mobile vlog here:
… and this is only the beginning. Please be sure to check back, as I’ll be updating you guys again once he makes it to the main relief site.
If you are interested in buying a kit that Shawn will be giving to those in need, you may do so here. These kits include:
1 Family-sized mosquito net (7 x 5 ft)
1 blanket (7 x 5 ft)
1 tarpaulin (plastic sheet you can use as a roof 30 x 5 ft)
1 bucket
1 pitcher
1 mug
1 bar of soap
I would like to thank everyone who has donated so far, specifically two of my good friends Andrei and Russ.
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. To learn more click here.
