Can MacRumours sponsor a child?

[Stampyhead]

I think it's a great idea too. I'd be happy to contribute.

 

[PCMacUser]

Here in New Zealand, we have the usual suspects, Oxfam, World Vision, Save the Children Fund, etc. We also have another organisation called Tear Fund, which has three different ways of donating to struggling communities.

1. Sponsor a child. (Helps one family).
2. Donate money towards the development of infrastructure. (Water, shelter, etc for the whole community).
3. Donate money towards the investment in small enterprise development. (Gives people the resources they need to start their own shops, businesses, so they can make their own money).

There may be things like this in your respective countries too. I sponsored a child for almost ten years, but now I'm supporting the infrastructure option. Seems a bit more useful in my opinion.

Frankly I don't care if 40% or 50% of the money goes towards administration costs of the charity organisation. They need to pay their staff too.

NB. As I think most people here have figured out, sending a computer to famine stricken parts of the world (where they might not even have electricity) would probably not be a good idea. Unless it's an edible one.

 

[elfin buddy]

You were doing good up until this point.

You're right, that was a bit premature (or even immature?) of me. I apologise.

Obviously Abstract wants to help anyway he can, but can you blame him (or anyone) for being ignorant to a degree about the best way to go about doing so?

I'm not blaming anyone for being "ignorant" about these issues. If it's something people have never been exposed to and they aren't even aware how difficult it gets, it's understandable that they wouldn't look further into it.

It seems to me that you yourself has yet to master the trick of turning frustration into personal drive. Practice what you teach, elfin buddy, and point us in the right direction. Also, please take into consideration that most of us here want to help, but are not necessarily qualified to take part in the decision making process.

Perhaps I'm speaking only for myself here, but I have no interest in figuring out how to go about helping out. I just don't. That is a job for someone more knowledgable on the subject *hint hint*. I represent the group of people, which I believe to be the majority but I could be wrong, that only want to know where to send the money and how much to send. From there it is only a matter of affordability, and unfortunately I know I am part of the majority that is broke as f*ck.

I am not claiming to be the master of anything, including turning frustration into drive. That is often the most difficult thing to do, especially when something like sarcasm comes into play.

You don't have to be "qualified" to take part in a decision making process. What does that even mean? Who is to say that one person is more qualified than another? All you need is an earnest desire to help and the will to learn something while you're at it. Yes, money is still money and will help regardless of whether or not the donor actually understands the situation, but that's as far as it goes. A donor learning even the smallest smidgen about the issue does worlds more good than a single donation ever will because that knowledge will never be "spent". In fact, it will propagate and be passed on so that more and more people gradually wake up from the grand delusion that all we need to do is throw money at poverty to fix it. This is where the real change happens.

So sure, money is good, but it's really just a temporary thing. Poverty will only be eliminated when society changes as a whole and recognises that poverty is not a question of money. It's a result of hundreds of years of indifference on behalf of Western governments and industries, which are both products of Western mindset.

It really doesn't take that much time to get acquainted with international development. If you're here on MacRumors, you must have at least some free time in your schedule. What if you took one day where you spent as much time researching development and poverty issues as you would normally spend on MacRumors?

Here are some fabulous resources, in case anyone would actually consider trying that. It's daunting at first, but then again, most things are daunting in the beginning.

Elfin buddy seems to know a fair amount about this field, so I say straight out you pick an organisation, or ask an expert you trust, and relay the answer back to us, and I think the rest of us can get behind that.

People with questions can always investigate the organisation you name, and it's easier to investigate a single organisation than an entire sector.

How's that?

I actually know comparatively little with respect to others in my organisation. I'm only starting out Actually, this coming weekend will be when I really get into the thick of it.

I've already said that I think SOS Kinderdorf is an excellent choice if child sponsorship is indeed what people (Abstract?) want to do. Making it Mac-related is understandably on the table too, though I'm at a loss for exactly how that could be implemented.

Does anyone remember MacHeist's charity scheme? They had a list of charities from which to choose, and each customer/donor got to pick their favourite charity out of the bunch. Perhaps something like that could be in order.

 

[someguy]

You're right, that was a bit premature (or even immature?) of me. I apologise.

No worries.

I'm not blaming anyone for being "ignorant" about these issues. If it's something people have never been exposed to and they aren't even aware how difficult it gets, it's understandable that they wouldn't look further into it.

Agreed.

You don't have to be "qualified" to take part in a decision making process. What does that even mean? Who is to say that one person is more qualified than another? All you need is an earnest desire to help and the will to learn something while you're at it.

Would you not say that someone with more knowledge about how the different charities and organizations work is more qualified to make decisions about what should be done?

Yes, money is still money and will help regardless of whether or not the donor actually understands the situation, but that's as far as it goes. A donor learning even the smallest smidgen about the issue does worlds more good than a single donation ever will because that knowledge will never be "spent". In fact, it will propagate and be passed on so that more and more people gradually wake up from the grand delusion that all we need to do is throw money at poverty to fix it. This is where the real change happens.

I understand that it takes more than just money to make a difference, but I believe that most people who want to help and are willing to donate aren't necessarily willing to educate themselves on the whole process like you have. Regardless of whether or not the knowledge itself makes more of a difference than the money, I think the sad truth is that most people would rather either donate a bit of cash or simply ignore the problem altogether. I'm not saying it's right, but it's hard to find people truly willing to educate themselves on the subject and do what it takes to make a real difference.

As a matter of fact, I am no different. Lets be honest here. If everyone cared as much as you obviously do, the world would most certainly be a better place, at least for those that benefit from these types of charities. But everyone isn't. In fact, very few really care at all. People can be pretty selfish, it's human nature, and I am human.

Like I said before, should those with the knowledge around here put something together, I'd be more than happy to donate my share to the cause.

 

[SMM]

Why not find a group, like MR, who is already doing this and has figured it out. We could 'piggy-back' our fund drive with theirs. Just a couple months ago, a local Seattle TV station, KZOK, raised $50,000 to build a school in Ethiopia. They are also sponsoring children. The morning show producer actually went to Ethiopia and spend a week reporting back each morning live (satellite). I have put a link here to his Blog.

The school and sponsorship is done through World Vision. I would prefer not to have religious 'strings attached' to charity work. But, WV spends over 90% as direct aid to their charity, which is very high. I would have no issues donating through their charity.

My wife and I donate 8% of our post tax income to service organizations. We have been doing this for 30 years. We split the money into three groups; humanitarian, political, and environmental. We also keep tabs on what the various organizations are doing. We also stay clear of the United Way.

I think Abstracts idea to sponsor children is very sound. It is not political and addresses a major world need.

 

[elfin buddy]

Would you not say that someone with more knowledge about how the different charities and organizations work is more qualified to make decisions about what should be done?

Not necessarily. I can think of plenty of people who know all about charities and organisations but I wouldn't trust with a nickel, much less deciding the destination of aid capital.

There's a lot of opinion involved with this kind of stuff and there's really no well-defined measure to say whether or not someone is "qualified" to make decisions for other people. Yes, detailed knowledge of charities and organisations would be a critical asset for a decision-maker, but that's not the only requirement.

In the end, it's the donors who should say who they want to make their decision for them, if they aren't interested in making one themselves. They just need to be aware that they're shrugging off any guarantee that their money will be doing what they want it to do.

I understand that it takes more than just money to make a difference, but I believe that most people who want to help and are willing to donate aren't necessarily willing to educate themselves on the whole process like you have. Regardless of whether or not the knowledge itself makes more of a difference than the money, I think the sad truth is that most people would rather either donate a bit of cash or simply ignore the problem altogether. I'm not saying it's right, but it's hard to find people truly willing to educate themselves on the subject and do what it takes to make a real difference.

As a matter of fact, I am no different. Lets be honest here. If everyone cared as much as you obviously do, the world would most certainly be a better place, at least for those that benefit from these types of charities. But everyone isn't. In fact, very few really care at all. People can be pretty selfish, it's human nature, and I am human.

Like I said before, should those with the knowledge around here put something together, I'd be more than happy to donate my share to the cause.

You're entirely correct. Nonetheless, that won't stop me from pushing people to learn a thing or two before handing over their hard-earned cash. IMO, apathy is the greatest barrier to real problem-solving and real progress in this world.

If nobody ever tried to motivate the masses, nothing would ever happen.

I wish Abstract would come back so that he could clarify exactly what he has in mind so that we can try to make it happen, at least. It may not be the most effective way of doing things, but every bit helps (generally). I know it all looks so bleak at first, how everything we're doing is backwards and futile with respect to reducing poverty, but there are a lot of great programs out there that are making a fantastic difference too. Bonus, more of them are popping up all the time! The focus is shifting from forced rapid development to gradual sustainable development, which is tremendously beneficial to developing nations and the planet as a whole.

 

[someguy]

Not necessarily. I can think of plenty of people who know all about charities and organisations but I wouldn't trust with a nickel, much less deciding the destination of aid capital.

There's a lot of opinion involved with this kind of stuff and there's really no well-defined measure to say whether or not someone is "qualified" to make decisions for other people. Yes, detailed knowledge of charities and organisations would be a critical asset for a decision-maker, but that's not the only requirement.

I was just focusing on the fact that those of us that know nothing about any of this stuff should not be involved in the decision making process, at least until we are brought up to speed by someone who knows what they are talking about. But being knowledgable and being trustworthy are two very different things with little or no correlation between them. If you think it's hard to find the former...

You're entirely correct. Nonetheless, that won't stop me from pushing people to learn a thing or two before handing over their hard-earned cash. IMO, apathy is the greatest barrier to real problem-solving and real progress in this world.

Well said.

I have a few things to add, but am having trouble putting my thoughts into coherent sentences. I'll probably post sometime tomorrow if I'm able to remember what it was I wanted to say.

Anyways, I hope we (MR) can come up with some type of effective and efficient plan. I would hate to see such a great idea go nowhere.