This CNN story follows some Hollywood celebrities visiting Kibera, volunteering and using their star-power to raise awareness and support for some projects on the ground. Sounds like a very good idea. However, it is very hard if not impossible to get access to the funds they raise, and the direct impact of such celebrities on the ground is sometimes invisible or harmful. The Red Rose School gets some food support from the World Food Program for instance, but we have never been able to trace a single project in Kibera that is supported by funds from American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" charity events. Such high profile campaigns leave the people in the community feeling betrayed and used when there is no real help that follows all the hype and hope brought by visitors. What do you think? Please leave a comment below.
2 comments:
"If you are coming to help me, you are wasting your time but if you are coming because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together." -Indigenous Saying
ciao a voi da scorzè
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