About Needs or Wants

Despite my best intentions, I have come to the sad realization that I cannot single-handedly save the world, reform the government and eradicate poverty - not during the course of my 18 month volunteer position anyway.  So I have decided with heavy heart and much regret to abandon my goal of being the first western president of the Lao PDR, and have began to focus my efforts on helping individuals directly.

Consider this - Laos is a developing country, and one of the poorest in the world.  The average wage of the people that I work with here is a little over $1100USD per year.  Not per month. Per year. This works out to be around $42USD a fortnight - take a second to compare that to your current fortnightly salary.  Note also that I am working in the capital city, Vientiane, where things are considerably better off than in the provincial areas of the country where infrastructure and services and access to basic health care and education are lacking.

Yes, the cost of living here is dramatically lower compared to Australia, but no where near enough to enjoy the lifestyle, benefits and opportunities that us lucky westerners do living in a developed country such as Australia.  Far from it.

The purpose of this blog is to provide friends, family and anyone else that is interested, with a way making a small contribution to something that will have a big and direct impact to people I have personally met whilst living and volunteering over here in Laos PDR. This blog will showcase a few small needy projects that I have either came across or started myself, that would benefit from a few extra dollars to help cover the costs for equipment, materials or tuition fees.

How does it work?
The the idea is  simple - read over the project descriptions that are listed on the top right hand side of this page, and then throw me a few dollars towards the one that takes your fancy.  The suggested donation amount is $5 which is just a little more (perhaps less?!) than most of you would spend on your morning coffee break.  Once enough money has been accumulated for a specific project, I will then personally purchase and deliver the goods to the recipient and then monitor to ensure that all remains in order.

Throughout the whole process I'll keep this blog updated with progress and photos so you will be able to see where your contribution is going.

What's in it for me?
A warm fuzzy feeling inside that comes from knowing that I have made a difference to someones life.

What's in it for you?
A warm fuzzy feeling inside that comes from knowing that you have made a difference to someones life.

What's the catch?
There isn't one. The only thing you have to lose is your next cappuccino or Boost Juice.

Note that the people I am wanting to help out are by no means poverty stricken as such, but they are people that I know personally and that I feel are worthy of a little assistance to provide them with an opportunity that they would not easily have access to under their current financial circumstances.

So if you are interested in helping out, arrange a morning tea at the office and pass the hat around, then use the Donate button to get the funds to me.  Be sure to sign up as a follower of the blog as well so you can keep track of how the projects are going.

Thanks, Joe.