Figmentations

Blog Action Day 2008 has finally arrived! What a great campaign this has been. There was an appropriate amount of reminders to raise awareness, to keep the issue of Poverty top of mind, and to focus on the “Action” part of the event.

Here are three things that stood out for me in the months leading up to today’s “Blog Action Day”:

(1)  From the folks behind “Blog Action Day”, there was a steady, yet appropriate, amount of buzz, a.k.a., reminders, in various online mediums, focusing not just on the upcoming event date but also on providing easy-to-consume resources as well as telling compelling stories of what people were actually doing for the event. This really kept the issue top-of-mind over a longer period of time (several months if I recall correctly) yet without being overly intrusive or annoying.  All causes should be about more than just a one-day drive-by type of activity.

(2)  And, what great timing for this Day, too. Had you also heard the great news announced last week regarding aid for poverty-stricken countries? I was so glad to hear that amid the uncertain financial turmoil that the developing countries are now facing, and especially considering the man-made nature of this occurrence, that despite that, the World Bank and the IMF had unanimously agreed ”that as governments turn their attention to domestic matters, they do not step back from their commitment to provide billions in aid to poor countries.”  I think we can take a lesson from this, perhaps that even in bad times, we need to remember that there are always those less fortunate than ourselves.

(3) I was also amazed to find out that there are so many different ways people can really ”do” something about poverty.  You must check out the awesome list on BlogActionDay.org under their Action Blog entitled: ”88 Ways to DO Something About Poverty Right Now“.  Making a difference is about so much more than just sending in money! 

So, what will I DO!  Well, the activity that caught my eye is relatively simple yet quite effective in more than one way.  As best I can, I will cut out (or at least drastically reduce) my consumption of plastic and aluminum bottled drinks and I’ll take the money I put aside from that and donate it to a Poverty Elimination cause.   What’s really great about this idea from the list is that there are the additional side benefits of doing something good for the environment, too, (by reducing consumption of plastics/aluminum) and also a benefit to my own health (by cutting out the soft drinks.)  No doubt a big enough incentive is there for this to get done.  I’ll be doing my best to follow through!  What will you be doing?