Starving Children on TV

C

Caleb

Member
How do you people think when you see starving
Children on ad's like unicef, do you look at the
unicef type of ad's and then when the ad finishes
go on with your business not thinking about the
ad or do you think about the ad after the ad and
do something like sponser a child.

How I have been thinking about these ad's I see them
on TV and then after the ad's I think of other thing's
not thinking about the ad's. Am I sowing bad seed
because of how i'm treating these ad's.
 
ah man i was hoping noone post something about this jk. well im not sure bout this. the Bible says to be broken hearted with the things that break Gods heart. now in response to these ads you should support the ads that dont give like 64 cents of your dollar to pay the people involved
 
if you have the means to sponsor a child, look into the companies beforehand, there are Christian ones out there that I would do next time around. I sponsored a child once through children international and they must have closed up shop in India or somehting and offered me another kid...not sure why they closed shop or whatever. But the timing worked well for me because we were having financial changes anyways. But the next company I work with I'll make sure they don't up and leave etc.
 
Like any kind of trauma, repeated exposure deadens the effect. I'm sure anyone who was around during the 80's remembers the first time the plight of the Ethiopian's was brought to our attention during Live Aid. Can you remember the shock, how the sight of those malnourished bodies made you feel sick - hell even I gave money and participated in the charity events!

Of course, by now, we're all the equivalent of Sarajevo snipers over this issue - well developed thousand yard stares. It's not that we're evil - just that the mind has a way of growing "scar tissue" over time.

Eon
 
The problem I have with UNICEF is that organization is more political then it is about relief of the needs of the children it is supposed to serve. As was mentioned above, about 35% of each dollar does go towards the administration. And when you look into other services, you will find that this is an appalling figure. And one of the biggest contributors to that 35% admin cost is the cost to place those commercials during prime time.

I sponsor a child through Compassion Canada (part of Compassion International) And the monthly amount is about the same as with UNICEF (about a buck a day). But the amount that goes directly to the child is about $0.80 per dollar. And that is considered an acceptable ratio.
 
My wife and I were sponsoring a boy in Uganda untily recently. The program was run out a school which in Canada that oversees a school in Jibaale, Uganda. All the admin costs (or at least the majority) were covered by the school in Canada, so all our money went to Mattheas.

I have trouble with the short term sponsorship deals. A major organisation moves into the affected area and sets up sponsorship. The locals start getting back on their feet just to be knocked back down two years later when the charity aid is pulled out from under them. This makes them embittered and in the long run does more harm than good.

I remember the first time I saw the Ethiopian famine. I cried. I couldn't do anything about it. I am still moved when I see the "starving children" ads, and I will sponsor another child some time. I refuse to give to any company where more than 15% of donations go to administration costs though. I think that those costs should be covered by other fundraising measures. Not skimmed off the top of some poor kids milk money.
 
Eon,

you made a very good point. We're supposed to be taking care of our widows and orphans. Unfortunately, when you see some vastly rich person hugging on some starved child, you begin to wonder what's up. At least, I do.

When I see those commercials, however, I do wish I had a million dollars just to give to those kids and their families. So, yeah, it pulls the heartstrings (and should).
 
I always pray for them if I see the commercials...Im only 16 and I can't really do much atm. Most of my money goes to food/car/cs/church
 
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