Blog Action Day - Dion

Every year, thousands upon thousands of active blogs dedicate one day to bring awareness to a particular cause by bringing to it attention through their postings. It’s called Blog Action Day (in case the title didn’t give it away) and this year the theme is Poverty.

To tell you the truth, I had a hard time with this one. I mean, we’ve all been strapped for cash at one point or another, but from my own experiences I’ve never been poverty stricken or without the luxuries that are available in a developed, industrialized nation. Needless to say, when it came to solutions, suggestions or ideas to combat this issue, the same regurgitated ideas came to mind like donating food and water to underdeveloped countries and communities. That would be too easy. We could donate food and water all day, but the old adage comes to mind: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. If we spend all this time, effort and money on handing things over to impoverished communities, they are happy for awhile, but at the end of the day everybody is back at square one. Just like a business you have to start somewhere and grow it into sustainability. If it would be possible to teach people in 3rd world countries about business, finances etc. it may be possible to turn things around. Sounds too easy? Well, maybe it is too good to be true, but with a proper plan you never know. It could all start with a proper education on basic skills which can be used to contribute to the community and build upon and pass down through generations. An organization called Kiva (located at Kiva.org – go figure) connects entrepreneurs to micro-lenders in underdeveloped countries providing them with the necessary funding to get their business off the ground creating jobs and adding to the stability of the local economy. Education funds are a way to create access to proper education and instruction. Once people know what to do and how to do it, this knowledge will pass through the community and the information becomes readily available.

With the proper tools to facilitate growth and stability and a solid plan of action it could be possible to slowly but surely reverse the impact of poverty in certain places of the world. It’s not requiring someone to walk on water, all it takes are a few people to think outside the box and set the stone in motion. In all honesty, it’s not like it is going to take some miracle to generate a little momentum.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

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