Tweet of the Week 3/12

The Tweet of the Week process was very exciting, but also a lot more difficult a decision than I thought it would be. I had no idea how far $40 could go, there were so many choices!

Using the site Laura and Mallory used, Jolkona, along with another site called GlobalGiving, I looked into a lot of individual projects that could make a visible difference with the money we collected. While there is nothing wrong with donating to a large organization, as we discussed in class, I really wanted to see how big an impact $40 could make.

After a lot of searching, I decided to put the money towards buying a goat for an underprivileged family in Guatemala. This project was sponsored by Save the Children and was found on the GlobalGiving website. The project addresses the issue of poverty, which the class established as a core value. While the outline of the project says its main goal is to address childhood poverty, the goat actually has an impact on the whole family and even the whole community.

This is how: a goat produces milk. In Guatemala, childhood malnutrition is a growing problem. Goats milk can provide extremely valuable nutrients to a child that does not have access to a sufficient amount of food. The milk can also be made into cheese to further increase the food supply. Additionally, goat manure is an excellent fertilizer, meaning that the crops that are grown locally can be more successful. While this increase in food supply has extraordinary benefits to a growing child, the rest of the family can certainly benefit from the easy access to more nutrients. The family can also benefit in other ways. If the goat produces more milk than than is needed, excess can be sold locally improving the financial situation of the family. The donation of a single goat also has the potential to affect the rest of the community. If the goat mates, the kid can be given to another family in need. This process can be continued through further reproduction, benefiting the community as a whole.

I was attracted to this program due to the long-term effects produced by such a small amount of money. Goats can live for 15 to 18 years, meaning that a family has access to a stable supply of nutrition for a significant period of time. Goats also have an average of two kids, but can have up to five. This means that an investment of even one goat could lead to multiple, extending the benefits of the program to more people in need and over a larger span of time.

Before I made the donation final, I wanted to make sure that this was in no way a scam or illegitimate charity. A quick search on Charity Navigator showed that both Save the Children and the GlobalGiving website were credible charities to support. The only catch was that in order for 100% of our donation to go to the project, GlobalGiving required a six dollar maintenance fee for upkeep of their own program and staff. If I chose not to pay the extra $6, about 80% of the original donation would go towards the goat. I chose to pay, but I liked that they gave me the option. I also really appreciated that they were upfront with their intent to spend my donation on administrative costs. I did not have to worry how the money would be split up, and I had a choice in the distribution process.

The GlobalGiving website has e-mailed me stating that they will give me further progress report updates about the program and how our funds are being put to work. I will keep you all updated on anything I hear!

Also, for anyone who wants to check it out, here is the program page. You can even look at reports from project leaders about the progress being made in Guatemala:

http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/goat-guatemala/?utm_content=Thank%20You%20from%20GlobalGiving&utm_campaign=Receipt&utm_source=email2.globalgiving.org&utm_term=natalie.r.bock%40gmail.com&utm_medium=email