I came across a really interesting organization today, called Mama Hope. But before going any further, first watch this amazing video of a nine-year old boy talking about the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, Commando [click here].
Inspiring, huh?
What inspires me about Mama Hope is the organization's focus on opportunity, potential, and joy... which is what similarly inspires me about Acumen's message of dignity, empathy, and an interconnected world.
Cynics can say it's all just marketing and fundraising. But this "marketing" is largely what enables Coke to reach remote rural villages, the enigmatic "last mile" that continues to elude global health organizations.
One of my favorite TED Talks continues to be Melinda Gates discussing what the global health world can learn from Coke, with its strong distribution channels and positive messaging ("I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony"). Contrast this with the often condescending messages of well-meaning NGOs, with ubiquitous health signs telling a community what it should and should not do. Little wonder that messages of "don't [sleep without a bednet/deliver your baby at home/have unprotected sex]" have about as much impact on people living below the poverty line, as they do for middle-income Americans, bombarded with messages of "don't [smoke/eat unhealthily/have unprotected sex]".
It's a welcome change that organizations working to combat poverty are finally beginning to realize that there's a diminishing marginal rate of return on guilt ads. That video of a fly-infested starving child in Africa may have been shocking the first time it aired, but it loses its power the 1000th time one sees it. Much more than that, images such as this feed into the negative cycle worldview that countries in Africa are doomed, awful places, not worthy of investment and incapable of growth. Some responses to the youtube video above prove the necessity of video campaigns such as this (one person posted that if you go to Africa, you will end up with AIDS or other diseases and probably die).
But as Coke reminds us, love gets more Google hits than fear, and there are reasons to believe in a better world.
Thank goodness development organizations are finally starting to catch on.
Inspiring, huh?
What inspires me about Mama Hope is the organization's focus on opportunity, potential, and joy... which is what similarly inspires me about Acumen's message of dignity, empathy, and an interconnected world.
Cynics can say it's all just marketing and fundraising. But this "marketing" is largely what enables Coke to reach remote rural villages, the enigmatic "last mile" that continues to elude global health organizations.
One of my favorite TED Talks continues to be Melinda Gates discussing what the global health world can learn from Coke, with its strong distribution channels and positive messaging ("I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony"). Contrast this with the often condescending messages of well-meaning NGOs, with ubiquitous health signs telling a community what it should and should not do. Little wonder that messages of "don't [sleep without a bednet/deliver your baby at home/have unprotected sex]" have about as much impact on people living below the poverty line, as they do for middle-income Americans, bombarded with messages of "don't [smoke/eat unhealthily/have unprotected sex]".
It's a welcome change that organizations working to combat poverty are finally beginning to realize that there's a diminishing marginal rate of return on guilt ads. That video of a fly-infested starving child in Africa may have been shocking the first time it aired, but it loses its power the 1000th time one sees it. Much more than that, images such as this feed into the negative cycle worldview that countries in Africa are doomed, awful places, not worthy of investment and incapable of growth. Some responses to the youtube video above prove the necessity of video campaigns such as this (one person posted that if you go to Africa, you will end up with AIDS or other diseases and probably die).
But as Coke reminds us, love gets more Google hits than fear, and there are reasons to believe in a better world.
Thank goodness development organizations are finally starting to catch on.
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