Post #7, March 10, 2009, A Little Bit Goes a Long Way

After reading "The Science Behind our Generosity," by Peter Singer, in Newsweek, I learned that psychology plays a big role in what we donate to charities. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, tells us that "nearly 10 million kids under 5 die each year from causes that we could prevent [by simply donating]." These children die from illnesses that are inexpensive to treat, such as from the lack of clean drinking water, sanitation and a sufficient diet. Well if we can save the lives of these kids by giving money to charities like UNICEF, then why do we not? Researchers found out that people are more willing to help one person rather than many. In an experiment, the first group was given general information about how food shortages affected children in the African country of Malawi, while the second group was shown the photo of a 7-year-old Malian girl named Rokia and told that "her life will be changed for the better by your gift." The results were that people in the second group gave more.

Therefore, this shows us that more people are likely to give if they feel that they are the only one who is able to do so; psychologists call this the bystander effect. We also focus on the people who we can't save instead of those that we can, and as a result we feel overwhelmed and burdened about the issue and therefore do nothing about it. However, a state of mind such as this one keeps people from taking action against world poverty. Personally, I think I can put myself into this category of people because I know that after watching commercials about charities that help out poor children in third world countries, I always ask myself, "Would a small donation by me or my family really make a big difference to those people?," and then I go about the day trying to forget the horrible conditions that those people face. And after reading this article, I've found out that the answer is "yes." Our donations, no matter how small they are, do make a difference. With our money, a child could be able to get medicine and clean water supply so that he or she could survive diarrhea or could be vaccinated for preventable diseases or could be able to have a warm meal with an adequate amount of calories.

As Americans, citizens of one of the richest countries in the world, we often take these things for granted and might even think that some of it is ridiculous and exaggerated. Well, it's the truth and if you are a human and actually feel an uneasiness about the facts that I have told you, are you willing to act and donate to a local or online charity? And besides donating to help, what else could you do to increase public awareness about world hunger?

Here's a link to donate to UNICEF, an organization that raises funds for its programs for children in poverty around the world. https://secure.unicefusa.org/site/Donation2?idb=1743775928&df_id=1621&1621.donation=form1

If you're interested in reading the Newsweek article, "The Science Behind Our Generosity," click on this link. http://www.newsweek.com/id/187010