Eshin Direct

I’m really pleased with the fund raising efforts of my friends and family, and everyone who has donated so far to my Swim for a Cause. And so is the UNHCR it would seem¹.

Naturally, like any activity that is competing for scarce resoures like funds and attention, charities have their fair share of competition. Since my company is allowing us to choose our charities that we want to support, there is some friendly competition going on at our offices as my colleagues vie for share of wallet.

There are some interesting comments being made. For example, one view is that donating to charities that support things that are more likely to touch people’s lives are easier to raise money for. Take cancer – it’s easy to imagine that you might be touched by it at some point in your life. The plight of refugees can seem a world away and irrelevant to your life.

I agree. It’s easier to raise money for these charities. Does that mean we shouldn’t raise money for organisations like the UNHCR because the plight doesn’t touch us as directly or as forseably?

No, I think it is even more important for us to proactively raise awareness for these other charities that don’t have an “easy” pull for people. There is humanitarian crisis that is going on today in the world, and at some point, it will impact us all at some level.

Yesterday, we celebrated International Women’s Day.

A 48-year-old Somali woman, Hadja, told the gathering that she had been abducted and held by a militia group for four years in her homeland before managing to escape. “I was subjected to a lot of physical and mental violence and the numerous scars on various part of my body are a reminder of the pain and hurt I had to endure,” said Hadja, who has been living in Islamabad for the past three years.

Her husband, a former UN driver, was killed by militiamen in Somalia along with her father and eldest son. She said that she had been warned that she would be killed if she returned to Somalia because Hadja had refused to marry her brother-in-law. She lives in Pakistan with one of her daughters, but her three other children remain in Africa.

Hadja survives largely on an allowance of 4,500 Pakistani rupees (US$52) a month from SACH. She has a refugee card from UNHCR, but no right to work or permanent residence. Despite this, Hadja’s strength has made her a leader among the Somali women in Islamabad.

I can’t imagine a world where someone is abducted for four years, suffering brutalisation by her captors. Nor can I imagine a world where death, flight or marrying someone you don’t love are the only options available to you. And I certainly can’t imagine living in a world sustained by a meagre $52 a month.

Perhaps because I can’t imagine it, along with so many other people, it more important for me to bring attention to it than other “popular” causes.

Swim for a Cause

1. “We at the UNHCR in the UK wish to thank you for your support! It’s great to see people committing their bodies and minds to raise money for good causes and we feel honoured that you chose us. With an estimated budget of $3.2 billion US dollars for 2010, and with over 95% of our funding coming from donations, your cause is a great asset in our bid to help the 34.5 million people around the world who rely on our services and support.

   Thanks!” [↩]

Tags: charity, ironman, unhcr