Global Poverty Monitor

What would you say to someone who wants to help but doesn’t know where to start?

Have a really good think about what really stirs you. There are ways to get started no matter what you want to do, but you need to make sure that its right for you. We need people caring for endangered bumblebees just as much as we need people to save the whales; or work with the poor. Think about what injustices in this world really get you going, and there will be an opportunity there for you: you just need to be open to it.

Note from the present: I think this is a really important point for people to understand. Sometimes someone will try to make you feel guilty because you may not support the cause that they think you should support. But always keep in mind that it takes all sorts of people to make up this world. If everyone was absolutely 100% committed to saving the elephants, then what would happen to the starving children of the world; the people dying of HIV/AIDS; or the animals being abused even in the most developede countries? All of tehse causes are as deaserving as each other – whether it’s supporting children, aduolts, sick people, sporting people, whatever. Make sure you choose to support what really stirs YOU – not what stirs anyone else. Anyway, you won’t be able to do any good for any cause, no matter what it is, if you’re not completely passiuonate about it.

Now that you’ve read about this, why not head over to the Astrology Explored blog and see what’s happening over there?

Til next time…

Your friends and family must be very proud of your achievements? Are they entirely supportive of your goals?

My family, especially my Mum and Dad, have been wonderful. They are always ready to support me, whether its financial assistance or emotional support that I need. There were many people who were wary of me going to Mozambique last year, and then to South Africa and Kenya this year, but my parents continue to defend and support my decisions. I know all this has been hard on them at times too, especially watching as my life fell apart after I got back from Mozambique. But they support everything I do, even when the thought of me travelling alone scares them.

Helen Keller once said: Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.

And in the words of Dr. James S. Vuocolo: Some folks go through life pleased that the glass is half full. Others spend a lifetime lamenting that it’s half-empty. The truth is: There is a glass with a certain volume of liquid in it. From there, it’s up to you!

And finally, from Josh Hines: Whether or not we realize it each of us has within us the ability to set some kind of example for people. Knowing this would you rather be the one known for being the one who encouraged others, or the one who inadvertently discouraged those around you?

Now why not check out the latest entry over at the Step-Family Talk blog? There’s always something interesting going on over there…

What goals do you have for the future besides your trip in July?

I plan to continue supporting my sponsored children and the Chitima Health Centre, and to plan another trip next year. Who knows where I’ll be going! I’m also looking forward to graduating from law school next year and seeing where my degree can take me.

Has this been a highlight of your life so far?

All of this has been more than a highlight of my life, it has completely redefined who I am. I am a different person now than I
was before I began my involvement with Africa.

William Penn once said ‘expect to pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness or ablities that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.’

On the topic of education, Thomas Moore said: Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities–that’s training or instruction–but is rather a making visible what is hidden as a seed… To be educated, a person doesn’t have to know much or be informed, but he or she does have to have been exposed vulnerably to the transformative events of an engaged human life… One of the greatest problems of our time is that many are schooled but few are educated.

Now that you’re done here, pop on over to Superstar Couples and see what’s new in the life of the celebs. See you next time!

Does it make you realise how good we have it here in Australia?

Absolutely. I feel so guilty when I find myself complaining about insignificant things. It really is a reality check when you think of
how people live in other parts of the world, but I do think that it would be hard to imagine unless you’ve seen it. I don’t think that people can be expected to really know just how good we have it here until they’ve seen how other people live.

What has been the most rewarding thing about all of your volunteer work?

The most rewarding part of all my volunteer work is the change that I have seen in other people. My parents now sponsor three children of their own, and while I think it is important never to preach and impose your views on other people, it really is amazing how much can be achieved just with leading by example. Sometimes all it takes is to show someone that you can do something for them to realise that they can do it too. One member of my family is even talking about going on a volunteer placement next year, but he wants to work with animals instead. The most rewarding thing I have experienced is to learn that people really do want to help, and sometimes they just need someone to show them how.

Would you recommend it to others, why?

I would highly recommend this kind of work to anyone. But I think its also important to really think about what you feel strongly
towards before you choose where to give you time and/or money. Some people feel that conserving the environment is the most important thing, while others tend towards animal conservation and protection. I just happen to tend towards people living in poverty, so that is where I direct my time and money. We need all kinds of people supporting all kinds of causes, so whatever your ‘thing’ is, find a way to make it happen.

How can others follow in your footsteps and work with the poor in Africa?

There are many ways that people can get involved. It is always possible to fundraise for a charity like World Vision, but I would
strongly recommend something a little more personal which is many times more rewarding. If you can afford it, sponsor a child. Child sponsorship is your key to a whole community that needs your help. Otherwise, consider different ways that you can travel to Africa and work with the poor first hand. STA Travel offers travel grants to people who have a great idea and need travel assistance. You could always go through Overseas Working Holidays like I am, where you pay your own airfares and accommodation, which is a definite way of getting to Africa rather than hoping to be accepted into a study tour or grant.

Would you recommend it to other young Aussies, why?

I would absolutely recommend child sponsorship to all Aussies, young and old. The best part of child sponsorship is the communication back and forth between the child and the sponsor. If the child is older, he or she will write letters to you themselves, which may then be translated if necessary. If they are younger, they will draw pictures for you and dictate a letter. It is an amazingly rewarding experience that I highly recommend.

Do you have plans on sponsoring more?

I have promised myself that I will not sponsor any more children (although that is the same promise I made when I only had four)! I think I’ll stick with my five for now, and use any additional money to send to the various projects I support. Apart from the money that I sent to the Chitima Health Centre, I have also sent $1′000 to Kantet which was used to build a classroom for Kantet’s school and buy cows for his family, and a further $800 which was used to buy spare parts for a generator for the whole community to use and some goats for Kantet’s family.

How did you come about sponsoring children?

I have wanted to sponsor a child for as long as I can remember, but I knew I had to wait until I had a job and was financially able to make the payments. When I was 16 I happened to see a documentary on TV about a little boy in Kenya. I remember that the boy said that he wished for a book, any book, so that his days working in the field would not be so long. That was the day I sent the form away for a sponsored child, and specifically asked for a little boy from Kenya. Since then I have taken up four additional sponsorships, so I now have Kantet in Kenya, Gift in Malawi, Josephine in Uganda, Chahwa in Zimbabwe and Mejooli in Tanzania.

Then you’re heading up to Kenya, can you outline these details.

After the two-week placement at the orphanage, I’ll be flying to Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, and staying there for three
nights. That’s where the *really* exciting part of my trip comes: I’ll finally get to meet Kantet. I will have been sponsoring him
for six years by then, and he’ll be 12 years old, almost 13. I can¡¦t imagine what its going to be like to finally shake his hand!
We write to each other all the time, and he speaks fluent English, which will hopefully make our meeting all the more comfortable. I have also been learning a little bit of Swahili (the national language of Kenya, and the second most prevalent language in all of
Africa, English being the first), and I hope to be able to greet his parents without a translator. I cant wait to see where he lives and where he goes to school.

What sort of thing will you be helping with there?
I really don’t know what I will be doing when I meet Kantet! It is World Vision’s policy that sponsor visits can only be for one day,
so I hope I can see everything in Kantet’s life in that day: his home, school, family and friends.

You’re heading back South Africa this year on your own accord, what does this involve? What sort of things will you be doing?

Yes, I’m heading back to South Africa in July, where I’ll be working as a volunteer in an orphanage for AIDS orphans for two
weeks. These are children who are orphaned through AIDS, and so a majority of them will also be infected. I’m going through a company called Overseas Working Holidays, which organises volunteer placements. When I found out about this program, I knew it was perfect for me. It will be really hands-on, and I’ll hopefully get to make a small difference in the lives of these children while I’m there, while at the same time noting the areas of the orphanage that need financial assistance. Once I’ve figured out
what really needs to be done to make it a better place for the kids, I can save once I get home and try to provide these things. I don’t know a lot about what I’ll be doing on a day-to-day basis in the orphanage, but I can’t wait, no matter what it is!

What about the emotional struggle, it must have been heartbreaking for you. What sort of things affected you emotionally or
metaphorically made your heart break?

The things that I saw at the Chitima Health Centre broke my heart. As you could imagine, when I returned home I really had a hard time adjusting to life as normal. Some of the things that once were important to me, like uni, my dance classes, and my boyfriend, now held no meaning. Initially, the only thing that concerned me was raising money for the Health Centre. I became very unhappy, and broke up with my boyfriend, stopped going to my dance classes, and started failing things at uni. It took a long time to recover from this state, which was largely because I felt that World Vision did not live up to its part of the deal once I returned. I understood that once I returned from the study tour my work had only just begun. I was to visit schools all over the state and speak of my experiences and encourage everyone to participate in the 40 Hour Famine and other youth activities. However, since being home for over a year I have spoken in only two schools and two youth conferences, and was denied permission to fundraise for the Health Centre. This really affected me because I had no outlet for all of the things that I had learned and experienced while I was away. My Mum and Dad were excellent, and I don’t know where I would be without their support through the difficult times. I now don’t have anything to do with World Vision apart from my continued support for
my sponsored children, and my participation in a local volunteer group which raises money for World Vision projects. I realised that I had to find my own way of doing what I know I have to do, and the only way to do that was to give up the Ambassadorship, which I did around six months ago.

What’s one specific experience that really touched you, that really reinforced the importance of what you were doing?

By far the most emotional experience I had was when we visited the Chitima Health Centre in a rural part of Tete called the Cahora Bassa district. This is basically a hospital without a doctor, one that is run by nurses because there are no doctors in the area. In one room were four women that were terminally ill, and to this day I can remember the looks on each of their faces. It was as if their souls were already gone, and there was no feeling left in them. I had conflicting emotions at the time because I felt a lot of compassion for the organisers of the heath centre, and admired those who worked there with so few resources. Yet at the same time I felt angry at them, as there was a women lying naked on a bare mattress with only a thin blanket covering her lower half; and another elderly women lying on the floor in a mess of old blankets. She was so painfully thin that I could only imagine the pain she must have felt from lying on the floor day after day. I had brought pretty necklaces and bracelets with me, that had succeeded in making other women smile when given one. I fastened a bracelet to the elderly woman’s wrist, hoping for a smile, but there was no recognition in her eyes at all. I felt so mad that these women had completely lost their dignity. It seemed so unnecessary that they should be subjected to such degrading treatment while they are dying.

When I returned home I applied to World Vision for permission to fundraise for the Health Centre. I was denied this, so instead I
took two part time jobs and worked as many hours as I could until I had saved $2′000. I send this money to the Chitima Heath Centre, and, months later, I received many letters of thanks and photographs showing how the money had been spent. The money purchased 64 warm blankets and 20 comfortable mattresses, as well as a fridge for conservation of medication and a deep freezer for food storage.

Was the experience frightening at all? Any specific examples?

I had only one frightening experience while I was away, which was when we stayed for one night in a motel in the city of Tete, before flying back to Maputo the next day. It was more like a hostel rather than a motel, with one (really gross) toilet and shower per floor. I could hear shouting in the motel during the night, and something that was either a gunshot or a car backfiring in the street. That was a frightening experience, but it was the only time that I felt at all afraid or unsafe the entire trip. The local World Vision staff did a great job of looking after us and respecting our needs which were different to theirs. For instance, they thought that Australians had to eat all the time, so they were always giving us snacks and drinks :-).