Good Intentions

I’ve started to drive. Yes, that is a story in and of itself, but not the one I’m thinking about at the moment. You see, now that I’m driving on my own, I am confronted at each red light with a dilemma: To give or not to give.

At one point in my life, I couldn’t walk past a homeless person without giving them a dollar or dropping fifty cents into their cup, but here, you can’t stop at a red light without having four people come to your window – if they’re not outright asking for money, they want you to buy the newspaper or plastic hangers or sunglasses, or pay them to clean your windshield. It would be impossible to give money to everyone, and if I did, I would soon find myself on the street begging as well!

And yet I want to help, but how?

I watched the “Idols Give Back” show this past Wednesday (it may be a few weeks behind, but there’s no escaping American Idol – even in Africa), and it was very affective in tugging at my heartstrings. My first instinct was to call the toll free number and make a donation, but there was no toll free number on my screen. In its place was the scrolling message stating: “not intended for solicitation outside of the USA.” This was a bit of a deterrent. I could go online to donate, I thought, but then it hit me – I’m already here, in Africa. Maybe there is more I could offer than just money (especially seeing as I’m not currently generating all that much of it).

As I watched Ryan and Simon visit the AIDS patients and feed the malnourished children, it reminded me that it wasn’t so long ago that I was pretty actively trying to make the world a better place…through campus organizations or an internship with a charity or even volunteering at a center for the elderly. Since college, however, about the only thing I have done is open my checkbook – which is important, of course, but not exactly what I meant when I wrote my college essay about “making the world a better place.”

Wanting to help must be the first step, but what exactly is the second one? Who do I talk to about going to an orphanage and singing to the children like Carrie Underwood? Am I even invited? (Okay, I’m definitely not invited to sing, but you get my point.) Maybe I should go visit someone dying of AIDS – who do I see about that? Or perhaps Oprah needs some help at her new school. Or how do I find out about becoming a UN Ambassador? Don’t get me wrong, I was Team Anniston all the way, but there is something to be said for Angelina’s strategic plan to save the world one baby at a time. Maybe she needs an assistant? Or perhaps I should jump on the adoption bandwagon and find myself a baby in Malawi (that could kill two birds with one stone – save a baby AND get the in-laws off my back about grandkids).

I’m sure my mother is terrified as she reads this and imagines me swapping my designer jeans for a loin cloth and moving to a hut in the Sudan. I’m exaggerating, of course (plus, she trusts my husband to be the level headed one). I know I don’t need to be quite so extreme, but where to start? I visit the UNICEF website for South Africa. I read story after story about the issues South African children face every day. Yes, this is where to begin. I click on “Support UNICEF” only to find ways to donate money. I type “volunteer” into the search engine, only to find articles about volunteers – nothing about becoming one. Hmmm. There’s no phone number, no “Contact Us” tab. I can’t even find an address. This might be trickier than I thought.

But I do want to help. Really, I do. I guess it will just take a little research. I’ll ask around. Maybe I’ll make some calls this week after my book club meeting. Or perhaps someone at my girls’ night out will know. I have that work event to attend with Roger this week too; maybe someone there will point me in the right direction. Oh, I’m also taking my nephew to see Spiderman 3, and I must go downtown to sort out my work visa. Actually…maybe I don’t have time to volunteer after all. Well, not this week anyway. Maybe next week – yes, I’ll start making the world a better place next week.