You ask what sort of charitable cause people are most passionate about… location, reason, etc. Having seriously considered it, I almost agreed with your triage approach, which would result in a passion for inner-city schooling, but realized that there was a gut reason why I’m so drawn to 3rd world countries and the poverty over here. When it came to it, I think I take a sorta Rawlsian “original position” attitude… that being, I thought “if I were to be born into a society and had no control over where that was, into which position would I least likely want to be born?” That is my basis for charity, to try to help as many people as possible avoid the worst of scenarios… With this in mind, I have to argue against focusing on the US or developed world. While I realize life, education, etc in NYC is hard, its not void of opportunity… with or without charity, a few special cases will still rise out of the streets. I’m not saying that its easy or that its not critical to have education systems improve, but I do think that if I were to choose lives in which to be born, I would pick life in innercity simply b/c you are surrounded by opportunity even if its extremely difficult. Hence the decision to go third-world.

Having decided to work in the developing world, again there are about a million different causes & each seem worthy… but I’ve settled on schools for girls often that run away from their homes. I actually have become more & more interested in this though admit I have done little research so I can’t recommend one in particular (though I think Kristof has documented some in his columns) because when I think about all the problems, this is the most poignant. Disease, water, etc is all horrible, but partially fixing one won’t solve the other & a lot of it should be implemented by governments, but the culture girls are subjected to are downright horrific.

When it comes to “what would I least likely wish to be born into” I can only think of this world in which girls are forced to work at a young age, only to undergo FGM at puberty to be married off to a man at least twice her age. In truth, it disgusts me… what’s even worse is those in many countries such as India who are sold into prostitution… sometimes people like to go with the “ignorance is bliss” argument and claim that people in rural villages actually are happy, well, if you spoke to many women, then you’d learn quite the opposite. No girl, no matter how ignorant, is going to enjoy be married off to an older man at a young age where sex is nothing short of frightening and especially none would say “oh, being a prostitute isn’t that bad”. Yet these girls have absolutely no options, they have nowhere to run and are forced into a miserable world.

So that’s where my interest in “safe homes” for such girls was sparked… basically, its simple, they are like orphanages for girls who have run away from their husbands (there are also those for child prostitutes), they get meals, a bed, & an education. Sure, they may not go on to an ivy league school, but even life as a cook or other menial job in which they have control over themselves is exceedingly better than anything they would have experienced without such a place.

A lot of larger projects are frustrating in the sense you are not sure how many lives if any are changed, but these schools really do provide the most basic opportunity for girls to at least escape the worst of the worst. Really, for me, its about providing opportunity and making sure no one is subjected to nothing short of a life of horror. Would I like to see less children die from malaria? Yes… but when it comes to making choices, I’d rather save a single girl from being forced into sex than to provide malaria nets to 50 infants… the latter has the potential to save more lives, but sometimes I think I’d rather die before the age of 2 than to be subjected into the life of the former at age 10.

Overall, I’m a sexual health/reproductive health person… hence my interest in the clinics for which I support (really, if nothing else can be solved, I feel better knowing we help women get family planning so at least there is control over the amount of children born into these circumstances… from there women can perhaps support fewer children rather than a swarm, if not, at least they are less likely to die during childbirth…) Still, every time I think of child prostitution it makes my blood boil… it truly SICKENS me. Though not quite as bad, child marriage does the same to me… where I am, men get married after they complete their time as a moran (usually mid 30’s) so the first wife they take is already 20 years their minor… it becomes worse when they are on their 5th or 15th wife and are taking some poor child to bed when they are 50+ . Again, blood boiling… so yeah, if you want to hear about passionate causes, that’s mine.

Blogged My Favorite Cause here.

Here’s my contribution, Holden. Thanks for hosting.

Do you know someone who is sick and goes from doctor to doctor because none can identify their illness? “In Need Of Diagnosis, Inc.” (INOD) is a newly created non-profit that will make a difference for those who’s illnesses have defied diagnosis. Some relatively minor tweaks to the medical system can make a big difference for diagnosing illnesses more accurately and quickly. Please go to INOD’s web site to read of their plans. www.INOD.org

I can answer this question with relative clarity and ease thanks to something Holden told me some months ago: organize giving around a purpose of one’s own rather than a cause of someone else’s. My purpose is to secure, expand and increase access to reproductive freedom for women. That’s not a euphemism for “abortion,” though abortion rights are essential and the self-regarding contrarian parts of me love supporting something others disdain. Reproductive freedom includes access to birth control for any women who want it (which turns out to be virtually all women worldwide: notwithstanding the old saw, the best birth control is not economic development–it’s birth control); pre- and post-natal care as well as appropriate care during labor and delivery (including treatment of fistula, a consequence of early childbirth and unattended labor that destroys the productive lives of its victims and is fixable with a relatively simple operation); protection against AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases; and reduction (if not elimination) of violence against women particularly in the form of sexual assault. In supporting this goal I’m swimming against the tide of fundamentalism; so much the better. How people who deprive women of access to the things they need to keep themselves and their children alive (including the ability not to have children they can’t afford) can call themselves pro-life is one of the eternal mysteries of rhetoric.

So I give money to the Chicago Abortion Fund, which provides funds to women who need but can’t afford abortions thanks to Henry Hyde’s disgraceful prohibition of the use of Medicaid funds for this purpose, and I give money to the UN Population Fund because my fundamentalist government refuses to support it.

My other personal goal is to enlarge appreciation of dance and theater, my two artistic passions; so I support one theater and one dance company in Chicago every year. I do that anonymously because I’m a theater and dance critic and can’t be seen as compromised by support of any one entity.

Thanks for hosting. I blogged it!