Charity adverts

[boabab]

Anyway else fed up with relentless African charity adverts. I'm expecting vitriolic replies and all sorts of unfair accusations. Or am I saying what many think but don't dare say?

I don’t like the ethos of Oxfam since the scandals of not using funds responsibly .
I have a great deal of time for Wateraid as that one charity saves lives - particularly of women whose role is one of drudgery carrying water for miles .
So fume at Oxfam ads and give to Wateraid.

They frustrate me as I feel whatever I give won't really help. The governments are so corrupt nothing will change.

Why "African charities" in particular? Granted there are questions about where the money ends up, but the same applies to many in the industry

And it is an industry, which is why I fundraise and donate only to local ones ... and then only those who are at pains to be utterly transparent

Your point about 'African' charities is a fair one. I suspect they sprang to mind as one appeared as I was posting this message.. it seems that barely a moment of watching TV passes without being slammed hard in the face by a charity advert.

As I said, I'm expecting an avalanche of replies disparaging my character however the constant unrelenting scenes and messages regardless of the time of day or who could be watching should not be passively allowed just because it's a charity.

This is a case of "taking a bit of responsibility for yourself". If you don't want to see charity adverts, don't watch them. Or change the channel, or press mute when them come on.

I don't much care for their either.

In fact, this past Friday, I was settling down to watch Gogglebox (favourite trashy Friday night prog), when they announced it was a 'Stand Up To Cancer' special...
Now, sobbing at a story about a kid dying of cancer isn't my idea of a fun Friday night, so I just turned the tv off and did something else. It's no big deal. You don't like it, don't watch it then.

Jesus zingally, you're all heart 😳

I fund women's education (reduces birth rate), and saving the bees.

I'm afraid that I'm of the opinion that human life isn't innately worth sustaining or propagating. In western countries, consumption is insane, but I find it questionable to try and save lives in places where the environment isn't especially liveable.

Take the flood plains of Bangladesh - is aid helping prevent people living there? Is it building 'safely' on the land? Is it helping survivors to the extent that they no longer live in those places, and have small families that will live to adulthood and also not go live somewhere that will be flooded in the next big event?

And without the bees we're all fucked - including animals.

I think the whole charity issue was brought home to me when I was watching a program on drought where a small lake was drying up and the local tribe starving, it was it seems due to the water table dropping due to too many wells being dug in villages some distance away. In the middle of the program was a break with an advert for a charity to dig wells.

Doing good for one set of people can have a knock on elsewhere. Some places help can provide relief, help for homeless, refuges, sick dogs even. Relief for disasters etc fine. However providing help to fix global problems of drought & famine etc can make the problem worse.

What is your issue with 'African' adverts particularly? Would a Syrian one suit you better?

the constant unrelenting scenes and messages regardless of the time of day or who could be watching

So you think kids/ the elderly/ men/ women/ SAHPs should be protected from seeing poor Africans as it might upset them?

If it wasn't for these adverts would we turn a blind eye and forget about the people and animals that need our help? If you don't believe in giving money then you can simply donate food/supplies to your local animal shelter (just an example).

Doing good for one set of people can have a knock on elsewhere.

Very true. When the likes of Comic Relief raise funds for things like mosquito nets, they spend it on importing a load of nets in, thus destroying the market and the current and future livelihoods of the local hardworking mosquito net-makers and their families.

It's the same when European teenagers flood over to African villages to help build orphanages. Why wouldn't it make more sense for 16yos to travel halfway across the world to do a skilled job in which they have no experience rather than supporting the infrastructure and making funds available where necessary so that experienced local builders, plumbers and other tradespeople can use their skills and earn a living doing a proper job in their own communities....?