China's New Philanthropy
When a powerful earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province last month, international humanitarian groups from around the world sprang into action. A May 24 Economist article, "China Helps Itself," reports not on these agencies' exploits, but on things that the Chinese people themselves are doing to help survivors.
"A fast-growing middle class with money to spare on travel and, as it now seems, on charity, did not wait for official encouragement to help out in Sichuan," The Economist reports. Taxis helped the injured to hospitals. Thousands of volunteers showed up to help in a variety of ways.
To me, this is a very encouraging development. In 2004, my wife, Karen, and I traveled to China with the late Mercy Corps Founder Ells Culver and several other supporters of the global relief-and-development agency. One of our objectives was to conduct seminars on the concept of philanthropy. Knowing that this concept was relatively new to many Chinese, who were just beginning to profit from their rapid economic growth, we wanted to provide examples of how sharing these benefits could have positive impacts for their country.
Although we did learn about philanthropic efforts by participants in our seminars, these examples were few. Which is why now I'm encouraged to hear of the multiple and substantial ways in which many in China have responded to this disaster.
Digg
Facebook
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
StumbleUpon
Twitter
Printer-friendly version
Comments
Post new comment