The Dilemma of Contribution

Hello, everyone~!

As some of you might notice by reading previous posts, I've been interested in the current situation of poverty around the world, and the solutions to be a better world. It's because of the fact that Bono, a famous musician and an influential leader on global issues, and Wangari Maathai, who won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, visited Japan just a little ago.

And Lately, on the SNS website called "mixi"(mi-ku-shii, it's like the Japanese version of Facebook), I've read my friend's diary about contributing to others, especially for those people in need most now in developing countries.

As a way to help others, she's done two things. The first one is to buy the Product RED edition of iPod. According to her, 20 dollars will go automatically to the foundation that helps to eliminate AIDS, malaria, and other diseases that threaten the children throughout the world. I really think that it's a good idea because we, as customers, don't need to do anything other than just purchasing.

The second one is to buy "My Hashi."(hashi means chopsticks. So, it's like chopsticks just for your own to use wherever you go.) I once was thinking about doing it because the Japanese people are said that we use too many "waribashi" at restaurants, and I thought that I should do something. (waribashi is chopsticks made to be used just once, so we always use them when we go out for meals.) However, the fact that "My hashi" is usually made by plastic, the material that we can't live without today but made from oil, made me think twice. Also, "My hashi" needs to be washed every time it's used because it obviously gets dirty when you eat a meal. So, what I thought was that, the water I would use for washing it also needs to be clean by a waterworks department or something. If it all comes together because of obtaining "My hashi", would I be a person who contributes to the earth or a person who actually does harm to the earth?

Well, that's what I've been thinking since the idea that bringing your own chopsticks to everywhere you go has come out there. More and more people now go for this idea, and the related businesses are everywhere. Hmmm..... don't they see only what they want to see? Or don't they think about how it turns out to be at last?

It's just my opinion, so there's nothing wrong about choices my friend made. But when it comes to myself, I just can't make a decision for it. I even think that getting much information about global issues confuses me sometimes. It's like, the more I know about it the less I think I can make a difference. At this point, I truly can understand why a certain famous person said previously that having hope is really important on the matters like poverty and diseases.

Alright, that's all for today!
See you soon. ^^