Hummingbird604.com » Blog Action Day ’08

Canadian elections results 2008 and poverty – Blog Action Day 2008

Raul — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:30:26 +0000

By now, I think everyone knows that Canada has a (now relatively stronger) minority Conservative government. Despite the abismal voter turnout (40% of Canadians who are eligible to vote chose not to) the Conservative party gained MP seats and the Liberals lost them. Once the dust settles, my biggest question to the new Conservative government remains. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT POVERTY ALLEVIATION?

I mean, let’s be honest. With regards to homelessness and poverty, a tendency to pass the buck seems common… “it’s not MY responsibility, it’s the responsibility of the other level of government“. Since today is Blog Action Day and the focus is on poverty, will the new Conservative government say that their platform is actually working towards economic recovery or will they say that it’s going to alleviate poverty? Because, really, what progress have we achieved in regards to a national homelessness policy and/or a national poverty alleviation strategy? I’m curious to hear…

The measure of progress in poverty alleviation – Blog Action Day ’08

Raul — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:43:56 +0000

The past few days have been really rough for me, as I’ve been sick and working non-stop to try and finish a project. As a result, my health has deteriorated and my ability and willingness to focus on anything has been severely reduced as well. I don’t *want* to think about anything for the next, say, three months! I’m just mentally and physically exhausted.

Credit: dtes.people

But the fact that I’m one of several participants in Blog Action Day ’08 (focus on Poverty) made me force myself to think about how can we really measure progress in poverty alleviation.

The fact that over 11,000 blogs are contributing in different ways (writing blog posts, contributing photos, organizing contests, publishing podcasts) is amazing. But, does this mean that we have achieved anything in regards to poverty? Will X number of people be less poor tomorrow than today?

Don’t misunderstand my post, please. I am not saying that what we are doing (because I know for a fact that several of my Twitter friends are contributing posts) is not relevant. It is! The thing is, the next step after raising awareness I think is to take action.

My question to you, my dear readers, is – what action do you think we need to take, at the personal level, to combat poverty?

I leave you with a thought that I read somewhere (I wish I remembered the actual source). Somebody was telling Mother Teresa that she was spoiling the poor people by giving them free stuff (food, clothes, etc.) She answered back “well, at least I’m spoiling the poor. The rest of the world is spoiling the rich“.

Giant Ant Media Fundraiser this Friday Oct 17th – Blog Action Day ’08

Raul — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:29:07 +0000

It seems like this week all the pieces are coming together. There are over 9,000 blogs who will be contributing with blog posts, podcasts, photographs, and other forms of media to the Blog Action Day, this week is Homelessness Action Week, and The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is on Friday, October 17th – when my friends at the helm of Giant Ant Media (Jay Grandin and Leah Nelson) are throwing a fundraiser cocktail party (Jay jokingly called it AfricaCamp!) in partnership with The Urban Project.

Where: Lola’s Bar(2291 West Broadway)
When: October 17th, 2008
Why: Because it’s a very cool cause.
Additional incentive – If you make it before 9.00pm your $ 10 ticket also gets you a free drink.

I understand that Leah and Jay are going to be there starting at 8 PM to sell the tickets. So, head over there and contribute to a worthy project that is focused on empowering poor youth in communities in Africa.