Jackson Free Press

When I got back from Africa, a lot of people told me they felt like there was nothing they could do. I was so frustrated with myself for not offering better solutions.

That said, I have a story in the Christian Science Monitor today about a really easy way to help.

Anybody ever hear of these Web sites like The Hunger Site, where all you do is click and advertisers foot the donation bill? Check the article out. It really is so easy.

I've been laid up all week after having my wisdom teeth removed. It is very humbling, amidst such pain, to remember though that at least I have medical care. Other countries continue with the meagerest of care and even in America so many people don't have health care.

This is something that has started to consume me lately. We spend so much money on war, on little government side projects, when so many people just don't have health care. Why can't we figure out a way for everyone to have health care? It is so baffling to me because I really think America should be above that. People shouldn't worry about whether they can have their wisdom teeth removed because they don't have health insurance.

Previous Comments

ID

108543

Comment

Good one, Casey. Do a version of this story for us to run before the new year as well! And love your column this week. It's so great to have you back, so to speak. ;-)

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-11-20T14:17:55-06:00

ID

108544

Comment

Good articles on the Times and CSM. I hold Mr. Kristof's commitment to exposing the tragedy in Darfur in high regard...that extends to your work as well. I wanted to let you know about another free click site I found... http://changeme.gettyimages.com/main.aspx?isource=changeme You search through photos by Getty Images and all you have to do is pick a photo, write why it inspires you and they'll donate $10 to the Friends of the Global Fund Against Aids, TB and Malaria. Good work. Sorry about the wisdom teeth. = )

Author

CarolynT

Date

2006-11-27T10:16:07-06:00

ID

108545

Comment

Carolyn, how interesting! Thanks for telling me about that!

Author

casey

Date

2006-11-27T14:47:17-06:00

ID

108546

Comment

www.povertyfighters.com is another good one. With every click you make, 25 cents are donated to microcredit lenders. These lenders make small loans to people in poor countries for small scale entreprenurial activities. For instance, one $20 loan might go to a woman in Senegal to purchase cooking utensils to start a business catering to local construction workers. Another $100 loan might go to adding a room to a house in Namibia to start a store. A little bit goes a long way. Things really heat up once a year during the Oxfam America Collegiate Click Drive. A buddy of mine started up the competition. Basically, kids from colleges across the world compete to see which school can get the most students to click. Thousands of dollars are raised, and since the loans are so small, the cash goes pretty far. And the best thing is that once the loans are repaid (and microcredit has an astoundingly high repayment rate) the money can be loaned out again for even more poverty fighting power. It's genius!

Author

Brian

Date

2006-11-30T03:56:40-06:00

ID

108547

Comment

This is great, Brian--thank you! I didn't know that site existed, but I'm bookmarking it now. Microcredit lending (which won its inventor, Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics) is an amazing concept that, if it works on a large scale (and I think it will), may increase social mobility to such an extent that multigenerational communal poverty literally vanishes over the next century or two. I have a very strong suspicion one day, Yunus may well be mentioned in the same breath as Gandhi and King, not necessarily because of any overarching philosophy he might have, but simply because his work will have had such an amazing effect on others. It's stuff like this that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-11-30T05:49:49-06:00

ID

108548

Comment

Amen!

Author

casey

Date

2006-11-30T11:55:08-06:00