I'm living in the US. I want to help out the poorer parts of Africa,
India, and China with their problems (poverty, disease, oppressive
governments...). I'm not willing to give money, and I can only spair
about three hours per week. Is there anything I can do that would help
them?

Examples: Brands of products I should or should not buy. Habits I can
change that somehow affect things over there. Laws or politicians I
should support or oppose. Issues I should make my friends aware of.
Organizations I should do volunteer work for...

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Clarification of Question by gnu-ga on 03 Jun 2004 09:01 PDT

I realize there will be no one correct answer to this question. I
invite anyone with an opinion to comment, and, if you feel your
opinion is especially well informed, and you can support it with
research, I encourage you to post an answer.

The purpose of my question is this:
Normally, in the U.S., most policy debate centers around what is good
for the U.S. If you're deciding whether to vote for Bush or Kerry, the
debate centers around who will help the US economy, who will take the
US in the right direction, who will protect the US from terrorism. I'm
saying, let's start the debate with a completely different set of
assumptions. Let's assume that I'm living in India and I don't care
about what's good for America. All I care about is India (or China, or
Africa). And I'm trying to decide whether I support Bush or Kerry.
What would that debate look like?

For instance, on the immigration question, the pros and cons of the US
allowing more immigrants in would look like this:
Pro Immigration: "Immigration to the US is good, because it allows
people to escape bad living conditions and start a new better life."
Anti Immigration: "Immigration to the US is bad, because it drains
places like China of their brightest individuals. Immigration to the
US hurts the Chinese economy."
Pro Immigration: "No, immigration to the US helps the Chinese economy,
because eventually, many immigrants return home to China, bringing
knowledge and money with them."
Note that whether immigration would hurt the US economy was not a
consideration in the discussion. Assume, for the purposes of this
question, that I simply don't care about America.

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Clarification of Question by gnu-ga on 03 Jun 2004 09:11 PDT

I appreciate the suggestion to read papers on ECOLOGICALLY
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD). That's was a good idea. However, in
response to parubok's suggestion that I read newspapers and form my
own opinion, I already read international newspapers, and I already
have my own opinion. My reason for asking this question is that I want
other people's opinions. I promise not to take anything you say with
blind faith.

Dear Sir,
Please don't take this in a wrong way. I welcome your idea of 
improving habbits and doing volunteer work. As far as the others ...
You want someone to tell you which products to buy (1),
which politicians to support/oppose (2), and
which issues to make your friends aware of (3).


(1) It is not clear (to me at least) if the effect of sweatshops is good or bad.
On one hand sweatshop workers are underpaid and are subjected to a
high risk of injury, since the company does not want to "waste" money
on improving safety. On the other hand, those thirld-world citizens
who do not have any job live in a worse condition than those who work
in a sweatshop.


(2) This is like asking your neighboor which president to vote for.
You must have your own opinion, which you can back up if necessary.
There is not always a simple answer, every politician is a human who
makes mistakes, does good and bad deeds. Certainly, some behavior like
support/neglegting of genocide should not be excused. But say if a
politician decides to reduce the number of immigrants accepted from
say, Africa. It sucks if you are that starving immigrant with three
kids and a sick wife - it would be nice to get into USA. On the other
hand, immigrants who come emptyhanded generally pull the economy down
- they require financial assistance from the government (your tax
money) and they are more likely to become criminals. (Not to say that
they are bad people).


(3) What to make yor friends aware of ... In order to be successful
you must be able to convince them that the issue is important, to
explain what you think and why you think that. If those arent your own
words, if your are just trying to recite what somebody else told you,
then then the effect could be quite the opposite.


To sum this up - nothing is certain, there are only opinions. Do not
just accept somebody else's opinion (this way is too easy to be
correct) - form your own. It certainly helps to talk to someone who
knows more than you, but please question  what you hear.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So far I have been telling you what not to do, but did not answer your question.
Here is what I recommend:
Folow the news. Being up to date helps to form an opinion. Your
opinion counts when it comes to election.
However, be careful. respect logic, reject propaganda. American
television is not the best source for news, most channels are very
pro-government and they do not cover what is going on in the world
very well. I recommend newspapers and news on the net. It is best to
use different sources, both  American and foreign.

If you keep at it, soon enough you will not have to ask who to
support, what to buy and what to make your friends aware of.

Regards,
parubok

P.S. I have not suggested any good news sources. I do not watch
television but I read google news once in a while. Whoever will be
adding to this post, please recommend some good newspapers, TV
channels, etc.

Here is your solution to assist without money: Visit the United
Nations web site or use the Internet and learn about ECOLOGICALLY
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (ESD). There are numerous web sites on ESD and
many organisations. ASt the UN web site, read a document called AGENDA
21, then move on to ESD.

The answer to all your aspirations will come from reading what I have
suggested, this I promise. After you have read the Agenda 21 and
learned all you can from ESD you will never ask this question, or
wonder how you can help again because it will consume you. Enjoy!

For a momeny, I actually sat and thought.. (very unlikey) :)

One way I see you helping is educating people in your country that the
Call Center operations which are being hosted in third world countries
are actually benefiting people back in your country.

Yes !!! and I do agree that people in your country  are loosing jobs,
but the products are getting cheaper, because their cost of operations
are going down.

So, you would rather have in-expensive quality products, rather than
having expensive quality products :)

Just a thought, you might thing otherwise though (and I would respect
your thinking in this sensitive issue) :)

momeny=moment (sorry for the typo)

I agree that outsourcing helps America, but what I'm more interested
in is what helps India.

Oh, nevermind, I see what you were saying.

I see what Gnu is saying, and understand what they are talking about
because the same notion had occured to me.  For instance, I remember
hearing about how a Peace Corps worker invented an easy way to filter
previously contaminated water by using mason jars and other common US
household materials.  What can I, as a US citizen sitting here, do
that would benefit a village, town, or city in the way that the above
example did?  What if I were to build one of these water filters and
send it over there?  What kind of goods or services would make the
biggest impacts over there?  Is there a central depository functioned
by the Peace Corps, or equal agency, that will distribute these simple
devices or services?

Hello GNU

I clearly understand what you are looking for. I work abroad in PERU
for an NGO that provides mental health programs for children and teens
living in rural areas of Peru. From my point of view, you could
provide volunteer work depending on your personal skills, for example
if you have any knowledge of computer web design you could donate your
time to create or improve a web site for an NGO. Another option would
be to travel abroad for a short period of time(summer or something)
and teach english.

Anyways to me, it all has to do with your personal skills before you
look for ways to help out

I am a current Peace Corps volunteer and I have worked on many
projects where people have helped me without sending me cash.  A
number of people have donated time and resources to building websites,
graphic design, referring me to people that could help if they could
not.  I even got my church to ship down clothing for the very poor. 
(Though the shipping can cost a bit!)

Ask around, if you don't know a volunteer, you might now someone who
does and we are always in need of help!