A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity

Chapter 16 is about using social networks and fun ways of giving in groups to increase donations. The context of this is an organization called charity:water, founded by Scott Harrison. He was living a playboy’s life in New York when it suddenly dawned on him one day just how empty it was. Wanting to do something meaningful, he got a job as a photographer onboard a medical ship that docked in ports around Africa to provide free medical care. When he returned to New York, he threw himself a birthday party at a nightclub, drawing on his many contacts to invite people to come, have fun, and donate to a new charity he was founding to dig wells. It was a big success.

Harrison realized that he had a role to play: He was gifted at getting the word out and getting lots of people involved. Many organizations have a hard time telling their story in a compelling way, and Harrison thought he might help. After a rocky start, he decided that charity:water would focus on fundraising and marketing, then distribute the money raised to existing charities that dug the wells. Using his own party as a model, he started a trend of using one’s birthday to hold a fundraising party. One such party was the subject of Chapter 1, in which a nine-year-old named Rachel Beckwith used her birthday party to raise money for charity:water. She was disappointed with the small amount raised and wished she could do more. Shortly after, she died in a car accident, and people began donating in her memory. Word spread online and the amount grew to over a million and a quarter dollars.

This chapter looks at the question of why people are altruistic. In the Darwinian perspective on life, it would seem that selfish people would win the “survival of the fittest” contest. However, Darwin himself noted that survival of the fittest may apply to groups as well as individuals; groups of people cooperating in a generous way could win out over a collection of selfish individuals. In a dynamic known as “competitive altruism,” altruistic acts lead to greater social standing, which attracts better mates, resulting in offspring with both the right qualities to succeed and an altruistic nature.

The authors talked to researcher Sarina Saturn, who studies the brain chemistry involved in giving. The hormone oxytocin interacts with two other neurotransmitters, dopamine and serotonin, “to make us feel good when we do good” (265). Saturn has observed that people who have two copies of a gene called the “G allele” tend to be more empathic and may be more generous as a result. The science is still in its infancy, however, and it can’t be claimed with certainty that genetics determines altruism. As with most things, genes and environment play complementary roles. Even with a propensity for generosity, one researcher notes, people need to learn the proper outlet for it.

The authors end the chapter with an interesting example of this in action, writing that “[i]f evolution has indeed left us hardwired to be social and derive satisfaction from altruism, then it’s obviously not just the affluent who have these needs” (271). They explain that a group of poor students in Uganda are part of a program called Restore Leadership Academy in which they raise money to donate to needy kids in America. They were surprised to learn that such children existed in a rich country like America, too, and it gives them a sense of empowerment to know they are strong enough to help others.

This chapter begins with the story of Catalina Escobar, a wealthy Colombian woman who lost her 18-month-old boy in an accident. Just before that, she had encountered a poor woman whose own baby had died for lack of a $30 medical fee. Fueled by her own grief and the thought of the other mother, she started the Juan Felipe Foundation in Cartagena to provide assistance to mothers living in poverty so they hopefully would not have to endure such pain simply because they lacked money. The foundation provides a peaceful campus setting where the mothers receive counseling and job training to better their situation.

Escobar is not alone in dealing with her own pain by reaching out to help others. Studies show that this can be healing. As the authors write, “Volunteering has been associated with lower mortality, better physical function, higher self-rated health, fewer depressive symptoms, diminished pain, and greater life satisfaction” (279). Another example, mentioned in the introduction, is the Experience Corps founded by Lester Strong. Strong left a successful career in the news media to start a program in which adults over age 55 are paired up with primary school children in schools to mentor them. Many are retirees, and research involving Experience Corps participants shows it helps them both mentally and physically. The areas of the brain that show the most benefit indicate altruism might even help delay the onset of dementia.

The focus of this chapter is the trend toward start-ups in the development world. Instead of donating money or working with an existing organization, young people today are starting their own aid ventures or devising new methods or products. An example the authors give is Elizabeth Scharpf. Working briefly in Mozambique as a graduate student, Scharpf heard complaints about women workers who stayed home when they were menstruating because they couldn’t afford sanitary pads. She soon learned that female students often missed school for the same reason. Before long, Scharpf was working on a solution. She started Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), which researched local resources that could be cheaply made into sanitary pads. They settled on fibers from banana trees and made pads for the half the cost of imported ones.

The authors both commend such can-do spirit and inject a dose of caution. Established organizations sometimes wish fewer new groups would be founded each year. Without any experience or the scale large enough to make them sustainable, many fail. “To be harnessed effectively,” the authors write, “idealism needs to be grounded in a practical sense of how to get results and a grassroots understanding of the lay of the land” (291).

The PlayPump was an example of just such an endeavor. It seemed like a good idea and won design awards: a water pump in the form of a small merry-go-round would be used to draw water from a well. Kids would play on it, killing two birds with one stone, and villagers would no longer have to take time to get water with a hand pump. In practice, there were problems: It only worked if used nearly constantly; when this didn’t happen, women had to turn it by hand, an action more tedious than a simple hand pump; and when it broke down it was expensive to fix. They soon fell into disuse.

Despite the science that indicates humans are “hardwired” for altruism, many people still don’t give, especially in developed countries. The authors see several reasons for this. One is that well-off or middle class people don’t often encounter people in need in their everyday lives. When people are insulated from dire need, they give less. The authors note that in their travels around the globe, they have often seen the generosity of people who are poor or in trouble; they surmise that it’s precisely because they are surrounded by need that they give so much. Other people think that nothing can be done—the problems are too intractable, for example. The authors argue that there has never been a time for more optimism in the world. They list the strides made in the 20th century in the areas of health and education and emphasize that emerging technologies will allow us to tackle old problems with new solutions.

Yet another reason people don’t give is that they don’t think a small monetary donation can make a difference. The authors prove this wrong by describing a condition, common in much of the developing world, called trachoma. As a result of eye infections, the surface of the eyelid becomes rough; eventually the eyelid turns inward, scraping the eye with its lashes. The pain is intense and prevents people from everyday tasks. The cost per person for antibiotics that can cure this is 75 cents. For those whose eyelids have already turned inward, a surgical procedure costing around $40 fixes it. Small amounts like these can make a world of difference in someone’s life.

The authors end the chapter with suggestions for how to get involved. They return to the three methods outlined at the beginning of the book: give money (after researching where it would be most effective), give your time through volunteering, and advocate for causes you believe in. Finally, they recommend keeping perspective and being patient. Much, if not most, positive change did not happen overnight but through incremental efforts. As the authors write, “we need to stop our quest for silver bullets to create opportunity, and instead turn to silver buckshot” (312).