Charity Marketing

If you're anything like me, you routinely receive emails from various charity organizations soliciting you for their latest and greatest fundraiser. One of my more frequent organizations is Invisible Children. Their latest campaign is called the Legacy Fund. It's really just the same old same old with a new simplistic idea on why you need to give them money. If I take the time to click the link and watch the video, I find myself annoyed with their solicitation. Am I just the outlier in their campaign focus, or are their others out there like me?

For example, here's a video explaining their Tri Campaign.

I actually am curious to know if I'm the oddball; am I the only one annoyed by campaigns like this? The video gives you no real explanation of what is done with your money, other than that it is really needed.

My opinion might be skewed by the fact that I got to see Invisible Children's programs on the ground in Uganda in 2006 and 2007. At the time, I was disappointed. The general consensus from the locals was that it was a young NGO that was still trying to figure itself out. My opinion was that they put young, inexperienced people in positions of power and were thus very ineffective considering the amount of money in their organization.

But as it turns out, my opinion of IC has changed considerably. When I investigated IC's latest capaign, the Legacy Fund, I came across a series of videos from their mission director, Adam Fink. Here's one of them where he explains the Schools 4 Schools program:

Schools for Schools from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

This video is one of four where Adam explains how IC is using their money effectively. As far as my interest is concerned, these 4 videos are by far and away the best videos ever produced by IC; they clearly and tangibly explain what IC is doing in Northern Uganda. I'm not surprised that IC has become a very effective NGO over these past 2 years, but I am surprised that I had to surf around for these videos. I get an email from IC just about every week, trying to motivate me to "make a difference", but never have they sent me an email showing me in much detail how they would make a difference. Why is that?

I've had it up to here with organizations telling me why I need to donate, and there is a definite lack of marketing focus on how an organization actually uses the money you donate.

A perfect example of this is the organization, One Day's Wage.

The Movement of One Day's Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

I get it, their's a lot of sick, starving children out there. But I can't figure out what this organization is doing about it. There are a lot of organization out there like this one. I personally don't understand it. In this case, I especially don't understand the "100%" promise. Eugene makes it sound like 100% of your money will be used on the ground. I think this 100% promise was innovated by Charity: Water and has since been used by many non profits. But the promise here is simply to get 100% of your donation into another charity, kinda of like a free middle man of sorts. Why not just use the website to promote other organizations, rather than just promote the idea of giving?

What I've concluded is that the majority of donors must not be motivated by how their money is used, they simply need a push to give some of it away. This realization makes me feel sorry for my friends who have to solicit donations in order to run their organizations. I think my friend Hugh refers to this as "pimping the Gospel". My discussions with Hugh have more than motivated me to keep my paid profession.

My biggest distaste with charity marketing is this notion that you are somehow saving the world by giving a monthly donation. In a sense, these charities are selling this idea to their donors. Shame on them. If you really want to make a difference in the world, I think you need to put away your wallet, and simply find some tangible ways to love your neighbor. I'm not sold on the power of money to transform the world; especially the amount of money I have in my wallet. Unless you're a millionaire, your potential to "make a difference" goes far beyond what you can do with your money. Once your heart is in the right place, your wallet will follow; I don't think it works the other way around.

I don't mean to belittle the need of money for non profit organizations to function, so I will suggest two organizations that I feel are very worthy and doing things the right way (and really need your money). Lemonade International is by far the best foreign aid group I know, and Love Wins a worthy local ministry. Despite my cynicism, I do like the way some groups are getting it done.

Acholi Crossroads

With Grad school and a girlfriend, I haven't kept up with some areas of my life as well as I'd like to. One such area is my friendships in Uganda. This week I had to sneak in a tuition payment for Francis, and I finally got a chance to skype with him and my friend Denis. Denis was interviewed on Monday in regards to a student protest in Gulu and he asked me to look up the article. In my search, I decided to just google, "Ocitti Denis Omoya". To my surprise I came across this teaser that my friend Michael (@Michaelfriberg) had put together. If you've ever heard me talk about Denis, please give this a watch and check out http://acholicrossroads.com/

Acholi Crossroads Promo from Nick Anderson on Vimeo.

On a side note, I also came across my own name in my search. It was nice to read Michael's recollection of our time together in 2007. I might have to drive up to Brooklyn one these days and pay him a visit, although I'd much rather cross paths with him again in Africa.

Broken Dreams

I have my job, I have my health, I have the love of my friends and family, and I know how to keep bad news in perspective, but at the moment none of that matters. When you set your sights on something, it's very disappointing when you don't reach it.

For the past month, my heart has been cast on South Africa. I was accepted into the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program and placed with an exchange in Sasolburg, South Africa. But just moments ago, my principal came by my room, looked me in the eye and told me that the exchange was a no go. He actually found out early this morning but struggled with how to break the news to me all day and even considered waiting till Monday. It turns out that our school is preparing to lose 30-40 positions over the summer and that this was the first of many difficult conversations my principal is going to have to make. Between the time and cost of processing an exchange teacher, and losing the flexibility of my teaching certificate, the human resource director for the county vetoed my exchange.

At the moment, I'm trying to figure out why this hurts so much. I suppose there's that period of time when you receive bad news that your reaction is purely emotional. At some point, I'll decide to move on and get over myself, but at the moment I am devastated. I've been reading, praying and literally dreaming about South Africa. In a few days I'm sure I'll act like it doesn't bother me and that maybe there's a blessing in all of this. But at the moment is does bother me, and I want to acknowledge what my passion is before I decide to forget it.

Right now I'm going to head home and enjoy a beer as I break the news to my girlfriend. This is probably good news for her, but I know she'll empathize with me and I'll be reminded of all the things I have to be joyous about.

Laker's Visit

My good friend David Laker, who I met and got to know on my two trips to Uganda, came and visited this past weekend from Minnesota. He's from Gulu and is studying Comparative Education at the University of Minnesota. He came down to speak at Viseo Dei on Sunday. Maybe the podcast will be up soon. It was an incredible weekend. I was thus inspired to make a video with some of Laker's pictures.

Going to South Africa

Or at least it looks that way at the moment. The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program just proposed an exchange for me outside of Johannesburg, South Africa for the calendar year of 2010. The proposal is not final yet, as both parties and schools have to finalize the agreement, but the chances of me going to South Africa are very high at the moment.

Unlike most traditional calendar exchanges, the South African exchange is on their school system's year round schedule. This is a huge plus for my travel possibilities throughout the region. 11 weeks in school followed by 3 weeks vacation. I believe this will give me three 3 week vacations while I'm there. I've already got my heart set on Cape Town for at least one of these trips. I've also got my heart set on traveling via motorcycle. The area around Sasolburg is full of endless weekend trips that I plan on taking full advantage of.

It's only March, and if all goes well, I'll still be here till January. I am very excited nonetheless. I'm going to begin my South African reading list though, starting with Nelson Mandela's autobiography. If I ever make it through that, I'll take your other suggestions. I'm also going to download some more Hugh Masekela and get more more SA in the Ipod as well. Wow Africa!

Can the ICC save Darfur?

In my humble opinion, the answer to this question is simply, no.

On Wednesday, the ICC issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese president al-Bashir. The warrant included charges of war crimes and acts against humanity, but did not specifically charge Bashir with genocide. This is the first warrant for a head of state issued by the ICC since it's creation in 2002.

al-Bashir dances after the announcement of the warrant for his arrest

I'm slightly surprised to see the enthusiasm over the indictment. George Clooney was very supportive of this action as were most of my friends who are interested in Sudan. It only makes sense to support such an action. Clearly al-Bashir is directly responsible for supporting the Janjaweed tribes responsible for all the death and rape in Darfur over the last 5 years. Over 300,000 people have died and the Western world is struggling to find any notion of a solution. Concerned citizens write letters to Congress, and Clooney even made it to the White House just last week, all with the message of "Please do something to save Darfur." Finally, after years of deliberation, a case was brought before the ICC and warrant was handed down for the arrest of Sudan's president. Justice.

Well, it's only been a few days and we are already seeing several predictable problems emerging. The most obvious being that it will be impossible to capture Bashir. The UN peacekeeping force already said they would not do the job, and I'm not sure who else the ICC could send. To go into Khartoum and arrest the guy would require a large scale military operation resulting in thousands of casualties, with a limited possibility of success. It'll never happen. But just for the sake of argument, let's say they were actually able to capture Bashir. Would that help Sudan? The citizens of Khartoum are now becoming more anti-West as each day passes. The removal of their president would cause such a stir that the next president would likely be much more radical than Bashir. Bashir is very popular amongst the Arab majority of Sudan, and you can't just rob a country of their president without a significant backlash from his supporters. This might in fact be the worse scenario for Darfur.

There are so many similarities here to our intervention in Iraq. How popular was the Iraq war on the eve of the invasion? How many people did we have to kill in order to capture Sadam? Now that Sadam is gone, how has that improved Iraq? After years in Iraq, if we were to leave today, there would likely be a Sunni genocide. This is certainly not progress, and removing Sadam, oddly enough, might have been the worst thing we ever did in Iraq. Let's not forget that the product of "The Great War" was WWII, a much larger catastrophe. Our hard nosed solutions more often escalate conflicts than resolve them.

The simple truth is that the ICC will not be able to capture Bashir. In retaliation to the warrant, al-Bashir has already removed 13 aid organizations from Darfur; Oxfam and Doctors Without Borders being the two most notable groups. My guess is that Bashir is attempting to remove as much of the Western World from Darfur as possible in order to achieve what he has already been charged with. If things were bad before, I'm deathly afraid that it could get much worse.

So without justice, how do we find peace? I firmly believe that the answer lies in the freedom of the press. The overwhelming majority of people who suffer from human rights violations live in countries who deny freedom of speech. Only when lines of communication are opened can equality be attained. Oddly enough, I thought al-Bashir was slowly (albeit, very slowly) sliding in this direction. News and aid organizations were allowed into Darfur, the South was finally getting a voice in government, and Bashir was open to meeting with just about anybody (he met with Franklin Graham just the other day). I'm not implying that Sudan was freeing itself from censorship, but it was opening up to the outside world more and more. The power of the open media is a powerful deterrent to those who burn down villages and rape women. People only commit these atrocities when they know they are not being watched. Instead of demanding justice, what the West needs to demand is openness. That is the pathway to lasting peace.

Unfortunately, what is left of Darfur is a group of people without modern weaponry, without media, and without the aid of doctors, waiting to defend themselves against radical militias who wish to destroy them completely. My prayers go out to them, and I truly hope that the ICC is right and that I am the one who is wrong.

Other opinions: Franklin Graham, Mohamed Ahmed al-Nur, Desmond Tutu

Intended Consequences

One of the difficulties I have with blogging is that my world often shifts back and forth between a set of polar opposite thoughts and philosophies. Unfortunately, this does not make for good writing. I much prefer the world of Jim Rome where the primary objective is, "have a take, don't suck." For me, sometimes it's tough to take a side.

Recently I came across the Intended Consequences project; my latest conundrum. Intended Consequences is a book and now a gallery exhibit portraying Rwandan women who were raped during the genocide of 1994. It's a series of portraits of mother and child, captioned with a description of the rape and often the mother's feelings toward the child. The dilemma for me is in determining whether this project is a sincere attempt to better the lives of women and children in Rwanda, or an exploitative project designed to bulk up a short list of aide organizations at the expense of these children.

The issue of sex crimes is very sensitive especially when children are involved. Typically it is unethical for journalists to photograph victims of sexual violence or even describe in much detail these types of crimes. There is certainly a 3rd world, African aspect of this situation that somehow makes it acceptable to do this sort of thing with these children in Rwanda. Let's not forget that these are just young children, who are well documented in this project as being unwanted and unloved. Does it make sense for a mother quoted as saying, "I don't love this child," to give proper consent for that same child? Wronging Rights has a great "take" for the argument that this project is not looking out for the best interest of these children.

But it is always my instinct to side with projects like this. Maybe it's just my bleeding heart, but I live for stuff like this. I'm in North Carolina right now, what do I know about rape victims in Rwanda unless somebody does something like this. There are reports that similar systematic rape is currently taking place in Darfur. What are we doing to stop this? The truth is that rape is quite common whenever a military force invades an enemy territory. The only way to fight this fact is to bring the issue to the front of conversation. It must have been a devastating blow to the moral of our US troops in Vietnam when images of child rape victims were published in the media, but I have to believe that this type of exposure now serves as an effective deterrent for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. If anyone is doing something to prevent large scale rape, it has to be Jonathan Trogovnik, the creator or Intended Consequences.

But above all, there is something about this whole project that is very raw. I almost wish that the intent of the book and the gallery wasn't to raise money for any kind of cause, but just to shed light on this issue. These are such beautiful women and children, stained with an incredibly horrific past. I want to hear them. America gave Rwanda a large collective cold shoulder back in 1994, and the worst thing we could do now is have similar attitude once again. I'm not entirely comfortable with Intended Consequences, but I am infinitely more uncomfortable turning my back on a group of people unhappy about their circumstances.

It's just a matter of time

The last two months have been quite horrible, but it looks like the LRA is finally trapped this time. I won't believe it till I see it, but this has has been a long time in the making. Thousands of truly innocent people have died, and thousands of children have been raped, enslaved, and forced to kill by the LRA. It will be a huge celebration once Joseph Kony is finally captured and all this madness is behind us.

I can't wait to go back to Northern Uganda. The world has rallied around bringing aid and attention to this region, and we are seeing change. I went to Gulu in the summer of '06 and then again in the summer of '07. On my second trip I was amazed to see the economic growth that had taken place in just 11 months: 3 banks had been built when there had previously been none in Gulu, buses to Juba ran daily, and there was substantial amounts of foreign investment throughout the city. Peace has remained in Uganda, and their economic growth has continued as the DRC has experienced the wrath of the LRA. But we all hope and pray that this has now come to end.

Will the ICC save Darfur?

"Judges at the International Criminal Court have decided to issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, brushing aside diplomatic requests to allow more time for peace negotiations in the conflict-riddled Darfur region of his country, according to court lawyers and diplomats."

I've been loosely following the conflict in Darfur and I just feel like, once again, the ICC is behind the times. If the ICC was somehow capable of preventing atrocities like that in Darfur, I wouldn't be such a cynic, but I just don't see them having a positive effect on the situation this late in the conflict. Al-Bashir has been in office since 1993 and is popular amongst the Arabs who run the Sudanese government. The problems in Sudan are much larger than this one man. If he actually gets arrested, and I doubt that he will, he will likely be replaced by someone even more radical. Sudan doesn't need a new president, what it really needs is a free press. I hate to say it, but my prediction is that this warrant will only increase the genocide in Darfur while also mustering more dislike towards the west in Khartoum. What's sad is that this was not the direction in which things appeared to be headed, and it does not bid well for a peaceful future in Sudan.

Someone please explain to me why I am wrong.

Violence Begets Violence

Ruling by force might protect your home or even your country, but it only makes things much much worse for those without the power to protect themselves.  The only way we will ever destroy terrorism is with education and peacemaking.  It is impossible to police the world and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has clearly made things worse in Africa, much like the US has turned Iraq into the deadliest place on the planet.  This article in the New York Times shows us just how bad a situation the ICC has created with the LRA in the Eastern Congo.  My heart goes out to these peaceful villagers who are suffering in such horrific ways.  Our attempt to rule with violence has lead to their destruction by greater violence.  

There are no easy answers, but I do know that death on a cross is more powerful than fire from the sky.  The solution in Africa is not force, and it is certainly not passivity.  The LRA is no longer fighting for any reason other than that they have been pushed into a corner with no other reasonable alternative.  There has to be a peaceful solution to this crisis otherwise many more villages will continue to burn.  

Northern City Football

Thanks to Shannon, I discovered animoto today. I had to try it out, so I put together a short little video of when we got to deliver uniforms and equipment to the Northern City Football Club of Gulu, Uganda. I got to scrimmage with the boys at the end and make a fool of myself in the process. It was an awesome time, and this video takes me back.

"Even Worse Than We Thought"

Every time I talk with my friends in Northern Uganda, I am surprised by how peaceful it is over there. I say to them, "I read about the LRA's recent massacre's. Are you guys fearful?" They tell me time and time again that people are continuing to move from the IDP camps back into their bush villages and that there is a strong sense of security. In December, the governments of Uganda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) agreed to work together in fighting the LRA. This agreement has made it near impossible for the LRA to cross the Nile, so the majority of the LRA is seemingly stuck in the DRC. This is good news for Ugandans, but horrible news for the Congolese. The Christmas Massacres are much worse than what was first discovered, and now this crisis is becoming the worst in Africa.

With this recent surge, I hope that groups like Invisible Children and the GuluWalk move their focus out of Northern Uganda and into the Congo where this tragedy has moved. I feel like there is another whole generation of "invisible children" forming right now, and it demoralizes me to watch a dark history repeat itself in a new location.

Do Martyr's Still Exist?

Now I’ve heard stories like that of Jim Elliot who was killed trying to share the gospel to the isolated Quichua tribe in Ecuador, but that was over 50 years ago. Do things like this still happen? There are fewer and fewer isolated tribes like the Quichua, and if you’re anything like me, you never hear of missionaries dying out in the field any more. With this in mind, I've decided to share a few of the great stories I’ve recently come across. It certainly is not my ambition to become a martyr, but if that was my destiny I would hope that my story would inspire others to continue the work that I gave my life to. So for this reason, I want to remember two martyrs who I believe have given their lives to incredible causes.

Unlike most people in America, most people in Nairobi, Kenya know the story of Father Kaiser, a Catholic priest from Minnesota. For more than 30 years, Father Kaiser served as a missionary in Kenya. As tribal hatred and violence grew in the 90’s, he began to collect information on specific acts of violence that he suspected to be politically inspired. The government denied these accusations as they had even denied that AIDS was a problem in Kenya.

Father Kaiser’s protests got him arrested, beaten, and thrown far out into the bush, but his real downfall began when he came to the aid of 2 schoolgirls in the summer of ‘99. The girls claimed to have been raped by a government minister. Father Kaiser raised the matter with various high officials and was first rebuffed and eventually put under pressure to cease publicizing the facts. When he kept at it, they attempted to deport him. With the intervention of US Ambassador Jonnie Carson (for real), he was eventually granted a new work permit. But In August 2000, Father Kaiser’s corpse was found on the side of the road. He was murdered. Less than a week after his death the charges of rape were dropped.

Before his death, Father Kaiser wrote a book about his experience in Kenya, entitle If I Die. In it he warns:

““I want all to know that if I disappear from the scene, because the bush is vast and hyenas many, that I am not planning any accident, nor, God forbid, any self destruction. Instead, I trust in a good guardian angel and in the action of grace.”

Clearly Father Kaiser knew the dangers of what he was getting into, and yet he stilled sacrificed himself in order to give volume to the voices of the weak and oppressed.

I am amazed and inspired by Father Kaiser, and I wonder how many people out there have the heart and the faith of this man. It was 7 years later when things finally got crazy with the Kenyan government. Initially I was in support of the government of Kenya in this conflict, but in lieu of stories like this, it is much easier to understand how widespread violence can break out among seemingly peaceful people. Corruption and oppression breeds violence. Let’s not forget what Father Kaiser gave his life to.

Another great story is that of Amy Biehl. After graduating from Stanford, in 1993, she was a Fulbright exchange scholar in Cape Town, South Africa. As a volunteer in voter registration for South Africa’s first all-race elections approaching in April, 1994, Amy had driven three African friends home to their black township as a favor. Seeing her white face, a mob of African boys preyed on her and showered her car with stones. Amy was dragged from the car and as her friends pleaded with the assailants, yelling, “She’s a comrade!” she was viciously beaten to the ground, her head smashed with a brick and she was stabbed in the heart.

At first glance, Amy’s death would appear to be the tragic waste of a great young life. But much like Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus himself, and 11 of the 12 disciples, Amy became much more powerful through death than she could have ever been through life.

Four young men were convicted for Amy’s murder and sentenced to 18 years in prison. After 3 years, they appeared before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and pleaded that their motive was political and not racial. The murderer’s freedom would have been impossible without the assent of Amy’s parents, but in 1998 all four boys were pardoned. Although the mother of one of the killers was so disgusted with her son that she could not face him, the Biehls embraced them. Amy’s father shook the hands of the murderers and said, “The most important vehicle of reconciliation is open and honest dialogue...we are here to reconcile a human life which was taken without an opportunity for dialogue. When we are finished with this process we must move forward with linked arms.”

The Biehl’s created the Amy Biehl Foundation, a multimillion dollar charity dedicated to empowering people who are oppressed. 2 of the boys, Ntombeko Peni and Easy Nofomela were given jobs by the Biehl’s and to this day still hold salaried positions for the foundation. Monday, August 25^th marks the 15^th year anniversary of Amy’s death. I will celebrate her life that day.

So, do you know any modern day martyrs?

An American in Africa

I have a friend in Sudan and I recently sent him a fantastic book called The Unheard, along with a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition (you have to read the book to understand this one). The book is about a young, deaf American's two years of Peace Corps service in Zambia. Upon finishing the book here are my friend's thoughts. Comments please.



i finished The Unheard on Tuesday. i liked it a lot! the people of Mununga in Zambia are SO much like the Sudanese in a lot of ways. probably it’s because of the level of poverty in the two places. Sudan is a bit more impoverished than what Mununga sounds like but a lot of the same things happen. a lack of a reliable justice system leads to Mob Justice. women are still considered assets, second class citizens and are still sold off for marriage. People are VERY tribally biased...the Sudanese are just terrible with that. the infant mortality and maternal mortality rates are astronomical.


reading the book i felt a noticeable level of despair creep in. i mean, it affirmed a lot of the frustrations i have with Africa. it seems like no matter what you try to do on this continent there are evil and corrupt men who simply won’t accept good things. we work with a lot of subcontractors and individuals in church leadership and i can’t implicitly trust a single one of them. not because of gut feelings or anything, but because we’re constantly burned whenever we try to trust people. i was talking to a guy who grew up in East Africa and works with us. we agreed that it seems like nobody has any hope that a better Africa can be built, so every opportunity they have to cheat the system, to cheat other people they take. they are interested only in making sure that at least their family is taken care of. it’s tough to consider that many people in the international community believe Africa will never be any better than it is right now.


take Mauritania for instance, a West African country north of Senegal. i read on BBC yesterday that after one year in office, the first popularly elected President in a free and fair election since the country’s independence from France in 1960 was ousted in a military coup this week. i mean, as soon as Justice plays out and things look like they’ll be OK some power hungry, greedy, irresponsible sons of bitches decide they want it for themselves. but hey, it’s job security for us in International Relief. i know, not cool. i’d much rather live in Africa promoting a booming tourist economy than propping up the innocent citizens of failed states who are spat on by their governments and ignored by most of the rest of the world. what’s their hope? only the love of Christ. i guess that’s ultimately why i’m here.


anyway, such a good read! i now see how the swimsuit magazine fits in. funny stuff. it’s so true though about the amount of sexual energy there is out here. it seems like sex and poverty are the two unifying themes that run throughout Africa.