If you read anything this week, make sure it’s Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times magazine piece, “D.I.Y. Foreign-Aid Revolution.” According to the article, you don’t need to be a president or work for the World Bank to help the world’s poorest people — you just need a creative idea and the will to take matters into your own hands.
Mr. Kristof describes several examples of talented young individuals taking steps to provide aid, assistance and creative solutions to problems in destitute areas of the world. In fact, one of those people happens to be our friend Eugene Cho from One Day’s Wages, an organization that encourages people to put a single day’s wages toward a cause.
The story ends with a quote from Eugene — which sums up the rise of D.I.Y. foreign-aid. “The aim is to inspire the everyday person,” Eugene says. “We’re trying to communicate that you don’t have to be a rock star or a millionaire to make a difference.”
If you’re going on a road trip this summer, you might want to check out what some of our friends have put together – all mixed to help in the fight against extreme poverty!
Songs for a Cause, vol 1 was just released by our partners One Day’s Wages (a movement of people, stories, and actions working to alleviate extreme global poverty). It’s a great new album that features 21 artists—including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Rocky Votolato and more— and 21 songs, including four never-before-released tracks.
Check out the fantastic tunes today, and don’t forget to spread the word!
Two weeks ago, Eugene Cho, ONE member, lead pastor of Quest, and founder of Q Café launched a new venture, One Day’s Wages. At its core, the idea is simple; create a movement of people to take one day’s worth of our wages, about 0.4%, and donate that money to organizations working on the ground to end global poverty and promote global health.
Then again, it’s not just about making donations. It’s about learning about global poverty. Half the Sky by Nicholas Kristoff was just featured on their blog. And, it’s about making change. ODW is working with ONE to make sure effective advocacy is part of this movement (they already have over 800,000 Facebook fans). Back in the spring, Eugene interviewed faith relations manager Adam Phillips to introduce ONE to ODW. Of course, notice Eugene sporting a ONE band in the ODW launch video.
ODW describes itself as “a movement of stories and actions of compassionate justice to fight extreme global poverty.” Some of the stories are already getting out. CBS featured it in “The Inspired Nation” from On the Scene with Shira:
ONE is campaigning to ensure that the Congressional budget does not cut foreign assistance programs like Feed the Future that help people break the cycle of poverty and hunger.
The Horn of Africa is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years. More than 11 million people, mostly nomadic pastoralists and farmers in south-central Somalia, north-eastern Kenya, and south-eastern Ethiopia, are severely lacking access to food.
2011 marks 30 years since the first cases of AIDS were documented. Take a closer look at the specific, achievable goals we must hit by 2015 to make this year the beginning of the end of AIDS.
As aid agencies warn more than 9 million people could be affected by a food crisis in East Africa, world leaders are failing to keep their 2009 promises to tackle the causes of chronic hunger and support farmers in the world's poorest countries.
