Why make a donation ?
“Malnutrition is increasing rapidly. One has to take into account that the period between 0 and 5 years of age is decisive: it is at that time that the brain cells develop. A child that doesn’t receive enough calories and/or vitamins, even if its situation improves at 8 or 10, stays stunted for life”, says Jean Ziegler, the former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
“Looking after a malnourished child costs about 60 dollars a year”, explains Valérie Bemo of the Gates Foundation. Yet the reality is that malnutrition remains a completely neglected problem even though it affects about 55 million children. “Hundreds of millions of people suffer from malnutrition, but they suffer in silence as they know that the issue is not considered strategic by governments”, says Pascale Boniface, of the French think tank Institut de relations internationales et stratégiques (Iris).
The Millennium Development Goals only aim to halve hunger up to 2015. In 2010 about 1 billion people suffered from hunger or malnutrition, about 640 million in the Asia-Pacific region and another 265 million in sub-Saharan Africa, according to data from FAO (the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation).
“We face many challenges in our time. It is especially difficult for us to reconcile three different time spans: the short-term of the economy, the medium-term of life satisfaction and the long-term of the environment. There is however a thread which links them all and can help us to reconcile their apparently contradictory demands. I’m talking about altruism.
If we had more consideration for others, we wouldn’t indulge in savage financial speculation, we would insist on improving working conditions, family life, transport links and many other aspects of our existence, including our spiritual life and we wouldn’t selfishly damage the world we are leaving to future generations.
So altruism cannot simply be seen as a noble ideal, perhaps a little naive ; it is - more than ever - a necessity. We should be courageous enough to recognise that and to say it.
Mathieu Ricard, Buddhist monk (see his website)
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Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving." And he answered: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow? And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the over prudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city? And what is fear of need but need itself? Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
An extract from the book “The Prophet” by Khalil Gibran
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« Il apparaît que les gens qui participent à la vie sociale, que ce soit dans leur immeuble, leur quartier, leur ville ou leur pays se portent mieux et vivent plus longtemps. Chacun est donc invité à s’impliquer dans la communauté où il vit, à y faire du bénévolat, à y nourrir des relations en termes d’amitié et de solidarité.
Il s’agit d’une dimension essentielle à une vie physique et psychique équilibrée. Se guérir égoïstement n’a pas de sens. On ne se soigne vraiment qu’en intégrant l’autre à sa vie. »
Extrait de : « les 7+1 méthodes du Docteur Servan-Schreiber » Nouvelles clés avril 2010
