content development (&) management

My friend saw my tweet about charity: water, and then sent me the following eye-opening story:

“I have friends in Africa, I went to help them with a building. One week I was there we had no water of any kind or electricity for 4 days straight… it gets pretty smelly, I can vouch for that. Most third world countries I’ve visited use mini water towers for each family unit. Ours happened to be broken and so we had no reserve. You can’t drink the water in any case due to foreign microbes being different from US microbes, our bodies only tolerate familiar parasites… I was able to find enough water for drinking obviously (since you typically die at around 70 hours w/o water). No electricity there also means it’s a lot hotter, so far less sleep, plus the ceiling fans reduce the malaria risk so not having them makes for a more nervous sleep at any rate…

“Life in a third world country is 90% struggling to survive, find fresh food/water, 10% everything else – on a daily basis.”

Click the image above to help charity: water change those ratios. While you are there, watch the Twestival Day 4 Drill video, and celebrate with the group in Northern Ethiopia.

Be free,

Jeff

I can still remember when my then-teenage son Todd brought home the Invisible Children DVD, and how tore up he was about it, demanding that something be done. He wanted to send $50 immediately, and was depressed for days when I refused to watch the call for help “Right now!”.

Now that he’s an adult, he’s finding ways to give what he can locally, but I’m sure when he’s able he will find an international charitable mission with a global reach. Heck, he’ll probably START an international charitable mission with a global reach!

I thought of Todd when I read that Facebook hit 2 million users on April 8, 2009, and to commemorate they announced the launch of Facebook for Good. They are partnering with 16 popular charities like The United Way, the American Heart Association (their Go Red for Women campaign) and Invisible Children, to use their reach to connect people not just with each other, but directly connect them with causes they support. AND make it easy to give! They’ve created an online shop where you can buy “gifts” for Facebook friends – “When you purchase one of these gifts, 90-95% of the cost will go to that organization to support its efforts. Purchase a gift for someone you care about today.”

This is what social networking is going to be really good for – connecting supporters to matching needs. I’m going to try out the gift shop. I’ll give you an update next week!

Be free,

Jeff