Truth Dealer

Over the last few weeks I’ve been approached by WWF, Green peace, the Cancer Society. I’ve been asked to donate to school projects, school fundraisers, private trips, local churches, community organisations.
Every where I go, somebody wants my money.
Maybe it’s the circles I mix in. Maybe the voices of charity are getting louder and shriller during [...]

The word poverty seems almost meaningless.
On a global scale we use the figure US$1.25 income per day to indicate someone in extreme poverty, or US$2 income per day to indicate someone in “run-of-the-mill” poverty (source).
You might ask “US$1.25 in Zambia can buy me a whole lot more than in the US”.  It probably can – [...]

Helping poor people in developing countries seems abstract and remote. A few comments you might hear:

“Charity begins at home”
“Let’s deal with the poor here in our own country first”
“Not our fault”
“Somebody else’s problem”

Are these comments fair?
The world is not what it was. Every day we consume products and information that came from another country. [...]

The Internet is awash with the power of pragmatism.
Every one of life’s ills can apparently be solved in a 5 point bulleted blog post. I should know. I’ve probably written some of them.  Self-help is popular. Who wouldn’t be attracted by an article called “6 Simple Ways to Overcome Every One of Life’s Problems and [...]