My Christmas Wish List - "Gift Me Charity"

It's that crazy time of year again and right on cue the shops are buzzing with thousands of little consumer bees, all in the name of "giving". But what if this year, instead of spending our usual $500 million (throughout Australia) on unwanted and unneeded gifts, we used our $$$ to make a real difference?

Launched just in time for Christmas, Gift Me Charity, is an amazing platform (created by an inspiring friend of mine) which connects gift givers to their recipients’ charities of choice through online profiles, allowing friends and family the ability to donate on a loved one’s behalf rather than wasting money on unnecessary gifts. 

 

It's super simple, all you need to do is go to www.giftmecharity.com.au, login (preferably through Facebook), select your charity of choice and Gift Me Charity will create a profile for you which you can then share with family and friends.

The aim is to raise $1million for charity by the end of the year - who's in? I am! http://www.giftmecharity.com.au/Rachel

Sydney Speaks: Mobilising Communities for Social Change

City of Sydney Talk Panel, August 2011

 "Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those already doing it." - Anna Rose

There's nothing more engaging than getting a dynamic group of people together, putting them on a stage in a beautiful venue (say the City Recital Hall for example) and encouraging them to wax lyrical on personal empowerment, community and major social issues. The City of Sydney Talk earlier this week, 'Mobilising communities and citizens: dynamic action in a world of social change' ticked all the aforementioned boxes and then added a beautiful lyrical performance by Mr Percival to boot. If you've ever had any reservations that social activism can lead to real and meaningful change then you haven't met Brett Solomon, Executive Director of Access Now; Anna Rose, Co-founder and Chair of the Australian Youth Climate Coalition (AYCC); Darryl Nichols, Executive Director of Garage Sale Trail; Simon Sheikh, National Director of Get Up!; Amanda Tattersall, Coalition Director of Sydney Alliance; or John Dee, Founder and Managing Director of Do Something.

Not surprisingly, social media was one of the major reoccurring themes in the panel's discussions of community advocacy and change. Brett Solomon spoke of the use of new technology in the third world to bring about prosperity and dignity through vibrant, democratic digital activism and stressed the importance of advocating for uncensored internet as a basic human right. He noted the challenges arising in the face of this information liberation and stressed that the tensions between technology, the law and human rights which have recently been on display (eg. Egypt, London) cannot be solved by shutting down the system (as proposed by David Cameron) but rather by addressing the issues which have caused the uprising in the first place.

"What best counters bad speech is not its silencing, but more good speech" - Brett Solomon   

There seemed to be a general consensus among the speakers that while social media is altering the way we advocate for social change, it is still merely a tool, enabling the people and issues which have in many cases pre-existed it to connect, communicate and collaborate in meaningful ways. Anna Rose noted that the internet is undoubtedly an important element in supporting change from the bottom up but stressed the importance of advocacy groups integrating both online and offline involvement to creatively engage the 'whole individual' and thereby create a stronger and more committed foundation in the push for change. She attributed the success of the AYCC and similar advocacy groups to the employment of a ladder of engagement in which members become, and more importantly stay involved, as a result of three key factors:

1. They can see the group is having a concrete impact.
2. They are socially engaged.
3. There is continued learning, personal growth and development.

One of the most popular tweets from the night was the quote by Anna Rose: "We must do the impossible to avoid the unimaginable". For me the most inspiring thing about these words was that she (and every other person on stage) was a personification of them. As founder of the AYCC Anna's work has contributed to having a concrete impact on climate change policy; Brett Solomon founded the International Youth Parliament through Oxfam to tackle poverty, conflict and globalisation and is currently a campaigner for digital freedom; and Darryl Nichols has contributed to the reuse and recycling of 72,585 items (or 55,000kg of potential landfill) through the Garage Sale Trail. And that's only skimming the surface, I could easily create a detailed blog post on each and every one of the panel members and their  achievements and contributions to society but instead I'm going to give you the link to the video recording from the night so you can find your own inspiration among the brilliance: City Talks 2011.

City Talks are free events presented by the City of Sydney and Sydney Morning Herald. Visit What's On Sydney and subscribe to their email list to find out more about upcoming events.

Random Acts of Kindness: Keep it simple

The one reoccurring issue I've come across when exploring the social conscience, both mine and that of others is that we all have a desire to help but we become so overwhelmed with the problems of the world that we don't know where to start. Do I help homeless people in Australia or starving people in Africa? Do I save the whales or save the rainforests? Do I donate money or time? And what if I don't have enough of either to make a difference? Of course all or any of these are good but it's okay to take baby steps too. As Chris Abani muses in the video from my last post:

"The world is never saved in grand messianic gestures but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion, everyday acts of compassion". 

For me this translates into a phrase that I know many people are familiar with: 'random acts of kindness'. No matter your circumstances, employed, unemployed, rich, poor, young or old, we all have the capacity to participate in random acts of kindness every day.  Many people already do this subconsciously but imagine if we all started making a conscious effort to do something selfless on a daily basis to improve the circumstances of another person, animal or the environment.

The beauty of it is it can be as simple as a smile. How many people do you pass on the street everyday? How many do you make eye contact with and smile at? This is a simple act of kindness that we could all practice a hundred times a day: connect with people on the street (in the shopping centre, on the beach, at the gym, in the ocean, on the train) and acknowledge our shared humanity by making eye contact and smiling.

Now I must admit, as "simple" as this gesture seems, it doesn't always come easily. For someone like me who is inherently a little shy, the act of making eye contact and smiling at a stranger can be somewhat daunting and definitely takes a conscious effort to manufacture. But I figure what have I got to lose? What is the worst that could happen? Somebody could tell me to "Piss off, keep walking!" (as the local homeless man often says to a friend of mine)? I think I'm going to take my chances, I'm going to put myself out on the proverbial 'limb' in the hope that it just might brighten someone elses day.

"We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

I want to excel in random acts of kindness and this is my commitment to myself and anybody reading. I'm going to endeavour (step by step) to integrate random acts of kindness into my day to day life with the hope of one day reaching a point where it becomes so deeply ingrained in my being that I don't even think about it anymore. I know I am joining a kindness community of many and I hope that many more will continue to join. If we all start taking baby steps each and every day we could leave one massive footprint of kindness on the planet.

Rachel
HSNA5N7G67BD