Today was my lazy day.

There is so much money in this world; but money is wrapped up in various assets, or in an account reserved for the future; the future is laid out to be harsh, difficult…all are afraid to suffer ‘not being able to afford’. So money remains locked away in some asset or account. But we all die a rich man. Everyone of us will die with lots to leave behind. Then our children will lock more money to avoid that harsh future and their children will be left lots…..and so the cycle repeats itself over and over again.There will be too much locked away and none left to give.

I have enough to live comfortably; at least I am beginning to. Can I leave the rest surplus for a better cause? Hmm……

I was asking (begging, pleading) people to donate to the Zabuli School. People are more willing to give money to me than to Zabuli School (funnily so..). I think people are more generous when the relationship is more proximate. So many rather donate to me or the cause I support because they sympathise with me, or they choose to help or support me. An advertisement calling for donations towards the Zabuli School might not get the same people taking their wallets out. Proximity helps. Everything is strategic in this business.

Sometimes I get a rejection, or indifference towards the children, harsh comments…..its part of the trade I think. I don’t like fund-raising. But it’s necessary. I don’t like fund-raising. But it’s necessary. I don’t like fund-raising. But IT IS necessary. Test of patience, …. how long will it outlast you?

I had a few conversations with Gladys (dear, dear friend) and Donna about what it takes to raise money. What kind of passion? What kind of charm? Ultimately, the fund-raiser has to build some kind of relationship with the donor. That is the trick. What relationship? The donor must think you’re credible, must believe you are passionate about it, that you know the cause well, that you’ve seen and done what you can and must. He must be inspired to move, challenged to adopt, touched to care. There again and again and again, it’s not so much the subject matter (the cause). It is the delivery. Why one man can raise more money than the other? It is not because one cause is greater than the other. One man is just a better marketer. So something meaningful can be run like a business…….it’s troubling but maybe something all fund-raisers and Ngo’s have settled to. What does it take to raise money!?

For Human Rights in Practice last year we discussed the use of images of poverty, naked babies sprawled-skeleton across harsh environments, bodies of the dead and deteriorating. Where is the ethics in the use of such images? If I was one of them, would I be pleased that my picture is being circulated around the world, for all to see? NGO’s run like a business. They market like a business. They have a product to sell. Their product is your satisfaction (direct from the feeling of giving money and indirect from the improvements the money has made to lives). Businesses ask ‘what does it take to make this man take his wallet out’. Ngo’s ask the same question!

The thought of the pound – yes, we lock our money in assets and accounts believing our future will throw upon us such drastic fates that we ought to be prepared. Then we prepare ourselves to die peacefully; and leave the riches for the next generation to live on and to save even though they might never need it. What is left to give of this worldly-wealth?

I shudder at the thought that I might die a rich woman someday. But I pray I give all I can. And that my children will be left to live and build their own lives from scratch as I did.

xx