Haiti

Each month I give $100.00 or more to charity. I don't have one charity that I support - I wait and see what happens during each month and something always captures my attention and my heart. For the past three months it has been Haiti.



I can't get that country and the people out of my mind even though news about Haiti has gradually left the front page of newspapers and migrated to the back page and then disappeared altogether. New disasters have taken its place but we can't forget Haiti, or at least I can't.



That's why when I heard that Canadian (Somali born) world music and rap artist K'naan had rewritten his hit song "Wavin' Flag" and gathered Canadian musicians (from Tom Cochrane to Justin Bieber) together to record it (all proceeds from buying the song or video on iTunes going directly to aid Haiti) I knew that I wanted to join the movement. It is a truly moving song - I have listened to it over and over and get shivers down my spine every time.



Already the song has reached the #1 spot on iTunes and the video is in second place (maybe first by now) and is reaching people all over the world. They have a facebook group "Young Artists for Haiti" and are also taking donations to support three charities: Free the Children, War Child Canada and World Vision.



So I found a place for my money this month and I bought the song, the video and joined the Facebook group. Have a listen to the song and watch the video - it may move you to give as well.

Charity Choices

Deciding which charity or charities to give to is quite the undertaking.

How do you decide? No matter how wide-ranging the charity you choose

you'll be leaving out large segments of the population.

Every week another request for funds comes in the mail: Red Cross,

Easter Seals, War Amps, World Vision, FH Canada etc etc.

Every week at school fundraising is going on: Jesse's Journey,

The Humane Society, Run for the Cure - there's just no end to it.

The choices I made about which charities I want to support have come out of my

trip to Jamaica. I started

with giving toys to a new daycare called "Happy Feet Daycare".

While in Jamaica I met with a government official whose portfolio covered

both education and Aids. I felt my heart strings being tugged the hardest by

those children who were HIV+ through no fault of their own and

for whom there was no place to go. No one wants them - there is still huge

fear and stigmatism in Jamaica for those known to be HIV+ and most end up on the

street. In Jamaica testing for aids in mothers-to-be is not mandatory

as it is here in Canada. Thus an infected mother passes the virus

on to her baby through the process of giving birth or by

breastfeeding. I also found out that there is a strong

correlation between domestic violence and women contracting HIV.

Women are unable to say "no" to their sexual partner because

of the fear of being beaten up and the fear of losing the person who supports

them financially. Culturally it is

expected that they

will submit.

So my choices became clear. I want to direct my support

to women and children who are: hungry, poor and living with

the HIV virus or living in fear of contracting it.

I want to help women get on their feet financially so that

they don't have to be dependent on someone who may beat them. I

want to help them get the medical care and preventative information

that could save their lives. I want to help children get an education.

And I want to feed them because

the need for food for over 1 billion chronically hungry

people is immediate and desperate.

www.kiva.org

(making micro loans to women to start up a business)

www.wfp.org

(feeding the most vulnerable/aids)

www.camfed.org

(campaign for female education/aids)

www.unaids.org

(United Nations programme on HIV/Aids)

What Can I Give Today?

True confessions time.....gulp!

I like to shop. There....I said it. Show me a woman who doesn't like to shop ....c'mon..... you can't do it can you? But I've hit upon a new strategy that seems to fulfill my urge to spend spend spend!

In my defense I am not a spendthrift. I have done a really good job over the last year or two of only shopping when I need something, and I don't really need very much. Oh, I can always talk myself into believing I need a new pair of shoes (my weakness) and I did recently buy some boots, but I bought them at Talize and they were only $12.00 and I actually DID need boots. Afterall, I live in Canada, nuff said!

So.... my strategy?? When I feel the overpowering urge to spend (like today at 4:23pm) I make a donation to charity instead. I ask myself.."self, do you really need any more clothes? Do you really need to put more food into your already overflowing pantry? Do you really need that 23rd shade of lipstick? Do you really need to spend $40 on iTunes in one shot? (oops! - hey, I'm not perfect!) Do you really need to buy more books? (NO, definitely NOT MORE BOOKS!)"

If I still haven't persuaded myself NOT to shop I think about this statistic: over 1 billion people are now chronically hungry - they weren't just hungry when they woke up this morning, they were hungry yesterday and they will be hungry tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that and..... The World Food Programme is working hard to get food to those who need it but there are so many people and never enough food. Distribution is so difficult in the wake of Hurricane Ida in El Salvador, typhoons in the Philippines, drought in the Horn of Africa and areas ravaged by war, like Sudan and the cost of food is rising.

So you know those wonder hormones - endorphins - that make you feel so good, that give you a high (temporarily) when you shop - you can also experience their amazing effects when you GIVE! It's true - and because they are guilt-free (unlike shopping) they last longer and come time and time again when you remember the good you did for someone today when you gave.

So.... go ahead....use my strategy and see how it makes you feel. It's addictive, I'm telling you!