Haphazardly Trying to Make the World a Better Place. Inspired by my time as a student at the University of Notre Dame.
Sometimes I wish I was a celebrity. Not for the fame. Not for the fans. Not even for the money. But rather, if I was a celebrity and wanted to help people in any country, all I'd have to do is pick-up a phone and a charity would be at my beck and call. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="The Front Door for Many Charities"][/caption] The sad reality is that, even when I'm on location, it can be an uphill battle to team up with large reputable charities. This is regardless of how many times I get my foot in the door, regardless ...
In January of 2007, I withdrew from grad school at the University of Notre Dame and began an unemployed, unplanned, and "uncultured" journey to help the poor. Almost exactly three years later, that journey has brought me to within grasp of being able to talk to world leaders about global poverty at one of the planet's most important conferences. I can get there - but only with your help. Out of 75 applications from around the world (and many more that didn't make the deadline), I was selected as one of five potential candidates to go to Davos. The winner, is determined ...
[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="481" caption="I Give a Talk to YouTube & Google Staff in San Bruno, California"][/caption] "Years from now, I'm going to be looking back at this point in my life and laugh," I told my friend whom I'm staying with in San Francisco. "I'm doing something successful enough that people are inviting me to meet them and give talks... yet unsuccessful enough that I can't afford to buy myself some new clothes," I said with a wry laugh. Right now I'm in San Francisco - home of Silicon Valley. It's home to where all this technology that has made this ...
This is maybe my final week in Bangladesh. Since I landed, I've been trying to complete projects related to Challenge Poverty. As you know, I've been working on building that Pond Sand Filter and repairing that school. It's been nearly 6 months and I want to wrap everything up in the next 72 hours. Yeah.... that maybe a bit ambitious. Fingers crossed. The good news is that the water quality of that Pond Sand Filter is now clear, clean, and deemed safe to drink by official tests conducted by the Department of Public Health here in Bangladesh. Here's a photo. One is ...
“Did your mom come with you?” asked my family doctor as he stepped into the office. I nodded. “Go get her” he told me. My family got lots of test results from our family doc: everything from my lactose intolerance to my mother’s pregnancy (all those years ago) – he had was always the one giving us the news. This was the first time he asked me to call in someone else into the room….
Full medical disclosure and my reaction after the jump…
A year’s worth of textbooks for a Grade Nine student studying in rural Bangladesh cost over 900 taka. Many can’t afford it – and many drop out. In fact, of all the children that enroll in school, only 54% of them are still in school by the age of ten. Individual poverty is a big factor as is the lack of infrastructure and general lack of access to education.
During my latest trip to Tangail District, I got to meet Mohammed Hossain – a Grade Nine student who didn’t have the 900 taka necessary to buy his books for the year. Fortunately, 900 taka is just 13 bucks. And, having liquidated my savings for my Xbox 360, there was more than enough money to buy all the books for him. To show his thanks, after he got his books, he sang a couple of songs for my grandmother and I. 
The desk he is examining the books on is the same desk I talked about in this post. We painted it to make it waterproof before donating (thus the paint brush on the table).
There are a couple of more photos on my page on Flickr.
I'm Shawn - a 28 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.
