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Favourite Week: Making a Difference
Posted on May 7th, 2010 6 commentsHave you ever had that feeling? That feeling that you’ve made a difference and improved someone else’s life–even if just temporarily? It’s a good feeling.
And I’m not talking about faceless charities. I’m talking about seeing the whites of their eyes and knowing you had a hand in changing this person’s life.
I started small. You know, things like instead of selling our used baby clothes and carseats, I took them to the local outreach school for the teen moms who are trying to make it on their own. Little things local like that.
In the past few years, our family has broadened our ‘making a difference’ borders. We still do things around our community to to show our appreciation for all that we have and to help others, but we have also begun to think and act globally.
For the past four years we have sponsored a girl named Aklima in Bangladesh through Plan International. At first it was a ‘Yeah, we are doing something good for them way over there. Not sure exactly what. Education, food, maybe some animals and drinking water. It’s all good.’ But now, I put those annual pictures of Aklima and her mom side by side and I can see where we have helped make a difference in their lives. The biggest difference isn’t in how Aklima has grown and how their clothing has become more vibrant. The biggest difference is in her mother. In the first picture, her mother’s cheeks are sucked right in, her skin a greyish colour. In the latest photo, her cheeks have been restored to a healthy roundedness–the pinched look is gone–and her skin has taken on a healthy colour, and her eyes sparkle. The woman is almost even smiling.
When I look at those pictures I can feel it. Our $32/month is making a difference. And what’s $32 these days? That’s like getting 6 Starbuck’s coffees or going out for supper. The other day Plan International was looking for help to buy some mosquito nets for children in Malaria ridden areas. I threw in $40. Boom. I just saved dozens of lives.
Last night we tried something new in terms of making a difference. We went to Kiva’s website and slapped down 50 bucks. Kiva is an organization that arranges micro loans for people around the world. For example, Sayda in Peru needed $200 USD to expand her business of selling fuel canisters. Last night, when we looked at her profile, she had five people (you can loan in increments of $25) from all over the US who had loaned her a total of $150. She needed $50 to complete her loan. My husband and I asked each other, “What’s fifty bucks? A breakfast out with friends costs sixty. (For the seven of us–we’re cheapsters.) We haven’t been out in two weeks, consider her loan filled.” Click. Ka-ching! She has the money to change her life.
Six strangers just got together and loaned this Peruvian woman $200. Sayda promises to pay it back over the next eight months and we will see it trickle back into our Kiva accounts. (As lenders we don’t get interest. When the money is paid back, we can either loan it to another entrepreneur or keep it.) And yes, just like in loaning money to friends, there is a possibility that we might lose our $50 USD ($53 CDN). But there is also the possibility that we may make her life (and that of her six-year-old girl) that much better. She might even be able to expand to the point where she is able to employee other mothers who are seeking ways to support their families.
So I ask you: At the end of the day, what are you doing with your $50?
Favourite Week $50, changing lives, charities, donating, donations, giving, International Plan, Kiva, local giving, making a difference, philanthropy, social giving6 responses to “Favourite Week: Making a Difference”
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Wow Jean, that is wonderful! (Gave me goosebumps.) I think if everyone lived their lives being mindful and helpful to their fellow man things globally and locally would/could be so much better. I have heard of Kiva in the past and wanted to sign up, but never followed through with. Thanks to this inspiring post I will do it now. $50 to save or change a life – how can I resist?
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That’s great, TK. Let me know who you help out. I love the idea of my $50 being able to help out so many people (by reloaning it over and over again).
My husband had been thinking about Kiva for some time as well. He’s the one who finally went to the website last night. He’s now talking about doing it with his grade eight social studies class. Talk about fun! Everyone brings in a dollar and as a group they research different areas and decide on who they will loan their money to. It’s a different world, isn’t it? Social media and the internet have changed the very face of our planet–and I love that it can do so in such a positive way.
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I’ve never heard of that site Jean – I’ll squeeze in some time on the weekend to check it out!
We give a lot of our ‘stuff’ to people in our communities – clothing, books, kitchenware…
I’m trying to get my kids at school to be more aware of helping out others. We collected a ton of money this year for the Terry Fox run & Penny Power.
Awesome post!
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Jemi, it is pretty amazing what kids do at school with the Terry Fox Run. These kids don’t even remember him and yet they earn so much in his name and cancer. It’s pretty cool.
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That’s so cool! Thank you for doing it. We have always given to our church and the various organizations it sponsorts, but it’s not “up close and personal.” Before we got married, we decided to donate $30 a month to a Christian organization that sponsors private school education for the under privileged in Philadelphia and I consider it money well spent. After we brought our daughter home from China, we longed to adopt again, but it’s financially out of reach. I cried last year at Christmas time because I wanted to help so many little ones, but we did manage to give two families in China some geese or ducks and we’ve since sponsored a little boy through our daughter’s orphanage. We’ll likely never get to meet him, or anyone else we’ve helped like this, so it’s still not immediately personal, but at least their lives are improved. I still cry for all the misery I see sometimes, but it’s too easy to be overwhelmed and frustrated by lack of funds. We do what we can. Thank you for your generosity and willingness to stand up in these tough times – Starbucks does not need me nearly as much as my little boy in his orphanage!
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Very good point, Victoria. Who needs your money more–Starbucks or a starving child? When you put it that way…
At Christmas we do the ‘buy a goat’ or ‘buy books for a school’ in another country where and when we can. Because really, at the end of the day, how many scented candles does a person need?
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I am an aspiring fiction writer (children's, women's and commercial) and an agented nonfiction writer. I am also a member, critiquer and site moderator over on AgentQueryConnect.com. And, I also blog with other fabulous writers at all stages of the writing game on From The Write Angle.
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TK Richardson May 7th, 2010 at 12:45