Do you have difficulty deciding on charities to support?
It’s actually, I’ve found, a tough challenge. So many worthy organizations around. Or are there? Drilling deep, one can always find sound reasons for not doing something. Such qualms can be set aside when merely writing a modest check, but a major commitment calls for serious consideration.
Indeed, one of my own philanthropic efforts was criticized by my daughter, Elizabeth, based on her career experience in humanitarian work. We had intense discussions about what I was funding.
This concerned a Somaliland schools project.* I’d decided not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good; and that a good way to make a positive difference in the world is through education in less developed countries, especially for girls. Studies have shown that when they get more than a few years of schooling, it’s transformative for a society in a host of ways.
About that, Elizabeth doesn’t disagree. In fact, she got a masters degree in education development, and has worked for an organization involved with that, mostly in Africa.
Meantime she’s kept up her connection with Afghanistan, where she’d once lived and worked. Now she’s playing a key role in Charmaghz, an organization headed by an Afghan woman, Freshta Karim, focused on kids’ education in that country — pointedly including girls — mainly through access to books. Which is a very difficult endeavor under the current circumstances there. But that makes it all the more vitally important. It’s estimated that only 7% of Afghan 10-year-olds can read well! Such a medieval situation, if not improved upon, bodes dreadfully for Afghanis’ future lives.
Charmaghz’s latest annual report is a real eye-opener, showing concretely what the organization is actually managing to accomplish in the face of all the daunting difficulties. Read it here: https://charmaghz.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Final-Charmaghz-annual-report-.pdf
Another notable backer of Charmaghz is the Malala Fund, led by Malala Yousafzai. Shot in the head, on a school bus, at 15, by a Taliban gunman, because she was advocating for girls’ education. Malala survived and received a Nobel Prize for her redoubled efforts in that cause.
America has its own education challenges; impacting not only our socio-economic troubles, but political ones as well. With plain-out ignorance a big factor in our looming election catastrophe. However, lack of money for education isn’t the problem in America. Whereas in Afghanistan, if Charmaghz didn’t have the funding to do what it’s doing so valiantly, there’s no chance it could happen.
(Here is a link to Charmaghz’s donation web page: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/support-mobile-libraries-in-kabul/
