That was a first for me - donating via text off a TV advert. I encourage the urchin to express his feelings about everything, so am really pleased that he cares about kids in Africa. He says stuff like "They won't be able to do their school work if they go blind, will they Mom?"
I deliver parcels and goodie bags to homeless shelters on xmas eve and this year the urchin is going to come. I thought about it last year but i went alone. This year he really wants to come. I have had some criticism about this, especially from my own mother "what if he catches headlice in one of
those places?" Which is typical of my mom who's favourite saying is 'charity begins at home'. I don't share that view and always followed my Dad in such matters. He would say that unless you have the fortunes of Richard Branson and can afford to buy your own island then you should be concerned about others in your community, country and the world. He would say that anyone can succumb to disease or be a victim of crime. The disease he was referring to was AIDS. If he were alive today he would probably say the same thing about Ebola. Anyway I am not forcing the urchin to come, he wants to and i think it will be a good experience.
I tend to be more involved, or more committed if there is a personal connection. Before I was a mother i sponsored a Burmese girl to go to school for four years. Her name was Po Po. Her Dad was in prison and her Mom was very poorly. She was nine when i started and had younger brothers and sisters to look after as well as her Mom.
I contacted OWFI a while ago (organisation of womens Freedom in Iraq) because of a post that i think was made by Adam. I am still in touch with them now. They have never asked me directly for money although there is a 'donate now' button on the website but they do ask me to write to various people and organisations and even governments. I do this gladly. I have always avoided women's organisations and feminist movements but these women have violence coming at them from all angles. They do have a fight on their hands. Part of the reason I do this is guilt because I supported a government who actually made their lives much worse. The Iraqi wars have taken their husbands and then the government installed by the 'allies' promptly took away any rights they had fought for under Saddam. There was a group of Yazidi women in Mosul who met once a month in secret, and I volunteered to send them messages of support which were then translated and read out at the meetings. This was part of an initiative to bridge the international gap and was apparently a source of comfort to these women to know that they had worldwide support. No names were exchanged but messages would be signed by unemplyed, France. / cartoonist, The Netherlands. / journalist, USA / and i was mother, UK. The best thing was that these women wanted to ask us questions. The questions they asked were a real mixed bag. Mostly stuff like what kind of house we live in, etc but the best one was a description of some make believe story they told to their children to make them go to sleep and asked what stories we tell to our kids. We were going to get the chance to ask them things the following month but all correspondence with these women stopped abruptly. I learned later that ISIS had taken Mosul and the Yazidi were amongst a few groups who were targeted by ISIS. Some of them had been driven away, many of them raped and tortured and some were executed. I don't know what happened to the group of ladies i was connected with.
I can't really explain why I feel so pig sick about these women i didn't even know. To this day i remain as baffled as hell to the outpouring of grief that went on when Princess Diana died. ?? I just couldn't contain my indifference over her death. I can't explain it any more than i can explain why i feel for the things i do.
I don't think i have ever told an individual that they should donate to charity. There have been plenty of times in my life when i haven't either. I don't always give for altruistic reasons, not when i look closely. I can also see multiple 'jon' type adverts and not feel motivated. Or, i can see something on the news and be driven. I do believe I have every right to voice an opinion, to question and to challenge the decisions my government makes about aid. The budget they use is public money. I use my twitter account to tweet MP's and government departments all the time.
As for the urchin, yes he is very caring at times. He is very well up on 'current affairs' and no longer watches the kiddies TV in the mornings but has taken to watching Sky news with me! He tackled me the other day because I threw a plastic bag in the bin. I was given a lecture about reusing things and recycling. I do admit that I am not as
green as i should be! I do struggle to 'care' that much but it is good that schools are inserting such thoughts at an early age.
He is not all sweetness and light however and spent the whole swimming lesson on the bus because he said the 'f' word on his way into the baths.
