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Opinions

When Charity Becomes the Latest Trend

One day this past July, I logged onto my Facebook, took a scroll down my newsfeed, and was unexpectedly assaulted with a video (thank you, Facebook’s autoplay feature) of a few girls dumping buckets of water over their heads, screaming, “Ice bucket challenge!”

TOpinions_KS_Quotehe what? By now almost everyone has heard at least something about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, designed to raise awareness and support for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. A person is given a choice: either dump a bucket of ice water over her head or make a donation to the ALS Association (ranging from $100 to $10 to “a donation of any amount”). She then posts a video online, challenging friends to do the same.

ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a crippling disease affecting around 30,000 Americans each year. It causes the body to fail, eventually leading to death. A person will start losing muscle function, first in his legs and hands, later in his throat, until finally he asphyxiates. The disease shows no discrimination against gender, race, ethnicity, or socio-economic status. There is currently no known cure.

This in itself is enough motivation to care about ALS, isn’t it? Thanks to the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, $115 million has been raised for the ALS Association this year, which provides aid to those affected by the disease and conducts research in hopes of soon finding a cure. Let me be clear in saying that this is a good thing. Aren’t we as Christians especially called to serve others with acts of charity? Shouldn’t we strive to be aware of the world’s needs and do our part to help?

KatieSzwejbkaAnd yet, I did not donate, nor did I film a video of water being dumped over my head for all of my Facebook friends to see. No, I’m not a heartless heathen—but I have a list of charities I support every year and it isn’t feasible for me to support everything. I can’t help but worry that some who jumped into the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge with guns ablaze will now feel less obligated or unable to help other charities they may have previously supported. I wonder what kind of impact this challenge will have on the equally important charities that didn’t go viral.

Additionally, think back to that first video I stumbled upon, with the girls gaily informing me of the Ice Bucket Challenge. Nowhere in their video or Facebook posting did they say a single thing about ALS. If I had asked, I’m fairly certain they wouldn’t be able to tell me any information about the disease. I had to wonder, did they themselves even know what they were doing this for? Did they realize the whole point is to shock your body into stillness with freezing water, mimicking the symptoms of ALS? Did they care at all about the need to raise ALS awareness? Countless videos I personally watched merely said, “Ice Bucket Challenge! Do it or donate!” without any further information or explanation. This isn’t to say all, or even the majority, of these videos were so flawed. Yet, this is what happens when charity becomes a trend and not a heartfelt desire—we see some people joining along for the ride while missing the meaning entirely.

Then there’s this idea of “donate or dump water on yourself.” Why the or? Why are we treating this challenge like a choose-your-own-adventure book? Of course not every person has the means to donate money; the option to raise awareness for the cause even if you can’t financially support it was a great idea. Why not word it, though, to dump the water over your head and give a donation if you are able? I feel this challenge has a tendency to turn charity into an avoidance tactic, a coerced measure—you’d better just give the money so you don’t have to do something unpleasant!

Support for the ALS Association is a great thing. However, we must consider the impacts of this type of “challenge.” It shouldn’t be a fun trend, completed with ignorance, or a pressured act we begrudgingly agree to do. With an attitude like that, true service and charity are overlooked and undervalued.

Categories
News

Philippines Faces Crisis After Typhoon

In the week following the impact of the deadly Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines has struggled to recover from the aftermath. The typhoon left, at current estimates, more than 2,300 dead, with many more injured or displaced, and flattened major population centers. Haiyan made impact on the Philippines on November 7. According to statements made by the UN, a total of 11 million people have been affected by the storm.

The typhoon has thrown the country into disarray, prompting officials to declare a state of crisis. Looting and raiding have become commonplace in the affected areas which are mostly in the central Philippine islands. According to CBS, thousands of desperate Filipinos stormed a government-owned rice warehouse (an event that killed eight people) and made off with roughly 100,000 sacks of rice to feed themselves and their families. Access to clean water is also hard to obtain for the survivors. Reports say that people have dug up water pipelines, regardless of safety, in order to access drinking water. Shelter is also scarce and many have been forced to live in the open.

typhoon_haiyan_houses
Courtesy of http://l.yimg.com/

According to a report covered by Al-Jazeera America, another major obstacle facing the Filipino population in coming weeks is the lack of basic medical supplies and facilities. The storm damaged hospitals and interrupted the supply of medicine due to damaged infrastructure, leaving only scanty resources behind. In Tacloban, a city about 360 miles from Manila and one of the major sites of destruction, the current medical center is a run-down, single-story building at the city’s damaged airport. Along with treating pregnant women, children, elderly, and those with injuries from the storm, medics expect to be treating infections, pneumonia, diarrhea, and dehydration in the coming weeks as the effects of the storm and lack of clean water and food take their toll on the population.

Meanwhile, aid to the struggling country has been trickling in slowly, mostly due to damaged infrastructure. The first sign of international assistance appeared Wednesday with 25 tons of biscuits delivered by US military jets. More aid is expected to come to the Philippines soon, but it may take a while to distribute to the more inaccessible areas on the islands. The damaged roads from the storm are a problem. Looting and lack of order is also making the process difficult. A report from The Guardian said that a Philippine Red Cross convoy was attacked by armed men and its drivers were killed.

Typhoon Haiyan is one of the deadliest typhoons ever recorded in Philippine history. The typhoon, which a mature tropical cyclone, arose from the lower Pacific (near Micronesia) and made its way to the Philippine islands in about three days, making landfall in the country on November 7. At its peak, its winds were 195 mph. A few days later it receded in intensity on November 10 when it struck Vietnam as a severe tropical storm.

The American Red Cross and other aid organizations are currently accepting donations to help aid the Filipino people as they begin the process of recovery from this disaster.