The (developing) Third World, what can you do?

The hegemony of the North over the South, the constant abuse that the developing world sustains from the developed world, the fact that progress in creating equality in this world is moving far too slowly are all topics that interest me. Coming from (and having been brought up) in a developing country, and now living in a developed country gives me an advantaged view of the inequalities on our planet. In my daily life I try to address these inequalities wherever and whenever I can. This can be as diverse as informing someone of the repercussions of their actions to actually helping out in developing countries.

One of the hurdles that needs to be jumped, is to make people aware of the fact that unless they actively do something, the situation will go unchanged. Most people (in developed countries) would not be stimulated to do this, firstly because they are already (unfairly) benefiting from the inbalance in the world's resources and inplementing change would mean fewer resources for themselves, and secondly, due to ingnorance. The visible inequalities are happening in some other part of the world and not theirs, and as such they are unaware of its existance.

Thus what I try to do is to make people aware of the situation, and provide them with ways that they can help. One of the pitfalls here is that people alleviate their guilt by doing something small, but that unless they radically change their lifestyle, there will be no real change. However, still doing something is better than doing nothing.

Something that requires very little effort is clicking a mouse. Ripple is a way to donate real money to good causes by simply clicking and watching an advert. You can also add it to your Facebook or Myspace page and your friends can click to donate. The way that it works is that advertisers pay real money to advertise on the page that you are linked to once you have clicked. This money gets donated to the cause that you have clicked on. Real people benefit from your virtual clicking.

Once again, it may be an easy way of alleviating your guilt, however any awareness is better than total ignorance, and all it costs is the time to click and read the advert. Hopefully more people can become more aware and do all they can to distribute the resources of this world in a fairer way.