The Year Ahead
As 2011 draws to a close, I find myself seriously considering the road ahead in 2012.
As my regular readers know, I took a five month hiatus from the aid world this summer. They might have also noticed that although I’ve returned, I’m not writing as often as I used to. In fact, I’m not writing blog posts much at all anymore. This is because my hiatus helped me reevaluate my priorities. I already knew that what I was doing was not sustainable, I had to figure out what to do in the short-run so that I could continue as a donor educator in the long-run.
One of the things I’ve decided is to decrease the amount of time I spend blogging. Being an aid blogger has given me some great opportunities. I’ve learned a lot by being a part of so many great debates and I’ve enjoyed…
Posted on December 20, 2011 at 9:35 am
Corruption in International Adoption
Tiny Spark is a new podcast series produced by Amy Costello with support from the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The purpose of the podcast is ”Igniting Debate about the Business of Doing Good.” Amy has recently released her first show which looks at corruption in international adoption with a focus on Guatemala in particular. This is a topic close to my heart, regular readers know that I’ve taken on orphanages and international adoption frequently in this blog.
This 20 minute podcast is definitely worth a listen and I look forward to future podcasts from Tiny Spark.
Posted on December 12, 2011 at 10:11 am
Reviews of Good Intentions’ Holiday Guide to Charitable Giving
Holiday Donations- Be the Best Donor Possible - Stratosphere
“Saundra from Good Intentions wrote a phenomenal and simple guide to holiday charitable giving. It is less than $4 to purchase and I cannot praise it enough. It is worth every penny and then some.”
The Only Charitable Giving Guide You Need This Holiday - Brigid Slipka
“Thankfully, Saundra at Good Intentions Are Not Enough has published an extraordinantabulous guide to all these quandries and questions. It is available to you for less cash than a Starbucks grande gingerbread latte.”
Holiday Charitable Giving Guide - Change Gangs
“The guide does cost $3.95, and I know that may feel a little odd. After all, we can get so much free information out there today, why would I want to pay $3.95 for this guide? For me, it’s worth $3.95 to make sure that they tens…
Posted on December 6, 2011 at 11:39 am
Good Intentions’ Holiday Guide to Charitable Giving
I’ve created a quick and easy guide that helps you know what to look for when choosing a holiday charitable activity and how to avoid common holiday mistakes.
About the Guide
The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are when clubs, churches, businesses and families seek out charitable activities they can do together. If you are like the average American, you are probably planning on some sort of charitable giving this holiday season.
Unfortunately, our needs for a holiday charitable activity are often in conflict with the needs of the people we are trying to help. This leads to projects that may meet the needs of the donors more than they meet the needs of the poor. This holiday season make sure the help you give is the help they need.
This 13-page guide covers:
- Sub-for-Santa and Other Gift-Giving Programs
- Canned Food Donations
- Used Clothing or Toy Drives
- Charitable Gift
…
Posted on November 30, 2011 at 4:36 pm
Daily Small Humiliations
I am in the process of writing a Holiday Guide to Charitable Giving. The guide will discuss charitable activities such as Sub-for-Santa, food donations, gift catalogs (donate a goat – for example), feeding the homeless, etc. In writing the guide two topics come up repeatedly – dignity and choice.
These points are brought up in the paper VOICES OF THE POOR - Can Anyone Hear Us?. Over the course of a year the researchers interviewed people living in poverty in 60 countries. Here is one of their main findings:
“They [poor people] find that a lack of respect from officials, and daily small humiliations, are the worst things about being poor for many people.”
This lack of respect and feelings of shame come from the very same individuals and institutions charged with helping them. If people have lost everything, why do they have to sacrifice their…
Posted on November 23, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Links from the past week
This week’s links include research articles, presentation notes, and a how-to resource.
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Welcome to the next generation of philanthropy – Globe and Mail - Looks at how philanthropy is changing.
Evaluation Toolbox – Community Sustainability Engagement - A how-to resource for evaluating nonprofit projects.
VOICES OF THE POOR - Can Anyone Hear Us? – World Bank – A survey of people living in poverty in 60 countries and their views on poverty.
Controversy Over Drug Values at Aid Groups: A Look at a Key Player - Chronicle of Philanthropy – Looks the the over-valuing of drugs by nonprofits to improve their administration/programs ratio.
Poverty Alleviation and Child Labor - Dartmouth paper – Looks at the impact of cash transfers in postponing child labor.
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 6:15 am
Documents and Disasters: Can Proper ID Save the Lives of Transgender People in Emergencies?
This is a guest post written by Kyle Knight. Kyle is a Fulbright Fellow researching the contemporary LGBTI rights movement in Nepal. He is based in Kathmandu. He has been published in The New Republic, The Kathmandu Post and Republica and has written about LGBT issues, as well as children’s issues. You can follow him on Twitter @knightktm
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Last summer when Bhumika Shrestha travelled to New York City to represent Nepal at the United Nations, she encountered some special questions during her layover in Doha. Shrestha, who is transgender — or, in Nepal, third-gender — presents as an elegant young woman. Her passport and citizenship ID card, however, both list her as a man named Kailash.
In Qatar, airline officials pulled her aside and questioned her about her passport and her appearance but eventually let her go.
The experience was unpleasant for Shrestha but not unsafe. In the…
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:25 am
Links from the past week
Links I’ve found interesting
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The Destination for your Pity Will Soon be Something Else – Phil in ___
The Exhaustion Funnel – MINDFULLNESS for NGOS
Development Directory – Hii Dunia
A comic on giving – Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
OUN: Why Sachs is not the only one to blame for the MVP mess. – Development Impact
Popularity contest philanthropy - Hands Wide Open
Posted on November 7, 2011 at 11:21 am
The 7 Billion People Debate
As part of this website’s aid debates section, I’m tracking blog posts discussing population growth and the birth of the 7 billionth person on Earth. This post will be regularly updated with the latest posts on top.
Please feel free to add articles in the comment section or send them via twitter to @Good_Intents.
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36. What 7 Billion Means for Africa - Scout Banana
35. OVERPOPULATION DISCOURSE AND THE ALARMISM OF FAKE ACCURACY – P.A.P. Blog
34. Was the Seven Billionth Baby Really Born Today? – Foreign Policy
33. The UN debate of the day: Where is the 7 billionth baby born? – Road to the Horizon
32. Baby shower: What sort of world awaits the seven billionth person? – Irish Times
31. Can we Feed Seven Billion People? - Huffington Post
30. Why the Real Victim of Overpopulation Will Be the Environment – Time
29. Dear baby Seven [ Billion ] -…
Posted on October 31, 2011 at 7:08 am
“Poverty is Political”
I’ve long felt that poverty is political as much as anything else. It seems I’m not the only person to come to that conclusion. In a recent blog post, Making Aid More Effective, Dochas summarizes points from the Istanbul Principles on Development Effectiveness and the Siem Reap Framework for Action. Here’s what they found.
“Poverty” is not a lack of material goods:
- To be poor is also to lack control over one’s life and resources.
- Poverty is not simply a matter of scarcity: it is the result of human interaction. People keep other people poor.
- Poverty is exclusion – from social, economic and political processes that affect one’s life.
- Poverty is political – reflecting inequality and injustice.
- Poverty is indignity. Poverty is the denial of access to the resources, capabilities, security and power that people need in order to realise their human right to live with dignity.
…
Posted on October 28, 2011 at 10:05 am
