A Day in the Life
Photograph Donated by Simon Scionka and Poverty Cure Foundation
OUR GOAL
to get through the day. three loans at a time.
After completing our 10-10-10 campaign, the members of the foundation got together and came up with a new fundraising campaign: A Day in the Life.
Our biggest takeaway from our 10-10-10 campaign was that each of us, for better or worse, took so many things for granted every day. The hot water of a morning shower, the simple comforts of our home and family, the blessings we experience every day without a second thought. So we sat and thought through one average, run-of-the-mill day, and came up with seven categories. Each category represents a facet of our lives that somebody in an underprivileged country is unable to experience to the fullest. Over the course of the next several months, we plan to make three loans in each category.
The goal?
To make these people's days.
THE CATEGORIES
Water
The first thing most of us do each day is get up, walk groggily to our bathrooms, and take a shower. It becomes habitual, almost robotic; we turn the handle absentmindedly and step in the shower without even realizing what we’re doing. Then we get out, dry off, and continue on with our day without even realizing the miracle that just occurred. At least, someone in a struggling nation would see it as a miracle. Many people do not have access to indoor plumbing. Their water is fetched from wells that are often miles away. Bathing is considered a special occasion, not a daily ritual. As the first step in A Day in the Life, the GMF is going to make three loans that will help someone gain access to that all-important clean water, whether it’s through plumbing, irrigation, or creating new, clean wells.
Clothing
After we shower, we get dressed. Often, the most consideration we give the clothes we put on is whether or not they match or look good on us. We never really think about how those clothes got there, or how lucky we are to have a closet full of items we can pick and choose from. However, there are millions of people in the world for whom clothes are a luxury. Many people only have one or two outfits, shoddily made and rarely clean. Local seamstresses and shop owners cannot compete with the competitive pricing of large foreign companies, and many consumers still cannot afford clothes from those businesses. The GMF will make will make 3 loans to benefit small business owners trying to provide things like clothes to the communities around them.
Education
Once ready to go in the mornings, many of us send our kids off to school, or head there ourselves. A plethora of complaints will ensue, of course. The days are long, the homework is plentiful, and everyone would much rather stay home and watch TV. But the schooling we wish so desperately to avoid is vehemently desired after in developing parts of the world. Many do not have the gift of compulsory education, and most boys drop out of school after only a few years; the girls are rarely even given the chance to go at all. The GMF believes that education is a crucial steppingstone to escaping the cycle of poverty, and our third phase will deal with just that. We aim to help the students of the world get the quality education that they deserve, with special focus on the young women who are denied any education whatsoever.
Business
While the kids are at school, the adults go to work. Though we may complain about the rat race, bosses, and coworkers, having a job is an incredibly crucial part in the functioning of our daily lives. We are able to take home paychecks, provide for our families, and purchase the goods that so many people in need do not have access to. Jobs are scarce in the developing world, and so the best economic chance a person has is to start their own business. As the fourth phase in A Day in the Life, the GMF hopes to foster capitalism and an entrepreneurial spirit by giving loans to those fledgling businesses.
Arts
When we get home from school and work, we all have some way we like to relax. Almost every person has some sort of artistic hobby. Whether they are a musician, a painter, a writer, a designer, or anything in between, everyone devotes their free time to something. The arts have been one of the greatest driving forces behind progress throughout human history. Europe had a Renaissance powerful enough to drive it into a Golden Age of prosperity and learning. With leisure and creativity come innovation and the betterment of lives. The GMF hopes to provide that progress to societies in need through promotion of the arts and humanities with its fifth phase.
Food
Breakfast in the morning, lunch during school, dinner after work, snacks all throughout; we eat so much every day without even realizing it. The idea of three meals, let alone eating between meals, is a completely foreign idea to many in struggling nations. Hunger is the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. It is deadlier than AIDS, malaria, and war. Providing people with enough food to maintain a healthy weight and nutritional balance is the greatest reported struggle among humanitarian aid agencies. The slice of pizza we throw out after we’ve eaten too much contains more calories than a Sudanese child will consume in a day. The GMF’s sixth phase in this initiative would strive to, in whichever way possible, provide the greatest number of people with the greatest amount of food.
Family
Through it all—our morning rituals, our responsibilities, our meals, our enjoyment—is our family. The people that we love support us, encourage us, and bring us peace and happiness. Though we may not always get along with our families, most of us know that we can always count on them to be there for us. Unfortunately, there are many countries and areas in which war, rebellion, and feuding have torn families apart. Children are kidnapped into armies and marched miles away from their mothers. Fathers are killed in wars. Mothers are taken away as concubines for the sackers of cities. There are many gruesome and tragic situations that separate families permanently. That is why the seventh and final stage in A Day in the Life will help such families. We will aim to help an orphaned refugee, a fatherless home, or any of those families who are suffering most.