UPDATED: September 10, 2006
Ok, so Jovan at the Bajan Dream Project has his shorts in a knot over our original comments. We encourage everyone to attend at his website to read his response (link here).
Good for him, because it is important that a person believe in what they are doing – especially if they are asking for money.
We’re still not clear on a couple of things, so may Jovan can help us out…
– While Jovan indicates that the Bajan Dream Project is “on sabatical” until sometime in 2007, they are asking for donations for a single mother burned out of her home. Very commendable, and we see that now (as in today after the BFP article was published) the Bajan Dream Project has announced that they will be making a presentation to the single mother.
Well and Good.
Now, Jovan, can you tell us what else you’ve done with any donations you’ve received so far and exactly what programmes you have in mind to lead people from poverty?
Not the big picture stuff, Jovan. The nitty gritty get your hands dirty stuff. Details. Who, what, where, when, how. Milestones and trigger dates.
Real stuff.
You want our money, no problem. Just give us some details and we will send you some money and further give you a weekly spot at Barbados Free Press – complete with access to a couple of thousand readers on a bad day.
That is a promise.
Original Article Below…
Jovan Reid of the Bajan Dream Project – a charity – wrote and asked Barbados Free Press for some assistance in the way of publicity. Well, OK Jovan – but with BFP publicity comes debate and discussion.
Let’s see what Bajans think of the Bajan Dream Project. First, here is a bit of Jovan’s letter to BFP…
Hey BFP,
…I was wondering whether it would be possible to put a reciprocal link on your site to mine (jovanreid.wordpress.com), which is a blog about a charity I set up with some friends of mine to help the poor down here. We mostly have articles about poverty/land crisis/life in Bim in general, and many times we also get people emailing and asking for assistance and we use it to get clothes, money etc. for those people from time to time.
For some reason we get a lot more non-Barbadians than anyone else, and generally the visitors per day are fairly low (avg. 40/day). It’s really a labour of love for me but I work otherwise and I also study, which gives me little time to really spread the word online about the blog… so most times I feel like I’m talking to myself and a clique of ‘regulars’ from overseas.
I’m hoping to exchange links with some other popular blogs…
Thanks for any help..
Jovan Reid
Project Manager
Bajan Dream Project
www.bajan-dream.com
Competing Philosophies: Buy A Meal – Or Teach A Man To Fish
While Jovan and his friends are to be commended for at least trying to do something about the poor, we at BFP believe that simply giving money or goods or house repairs to healthy, able-bodied “poor” only perpetuates their condition.
We say “Teach the Poor to Fish”, but Jovan and his friends appear be of another opinion. Although they use the words “intervention” they really mean “give money”. From Jovan’s blog…
The undersheltered can’t take themselves from poverty
We believe that, without intervention, the poor will remain poor. They make little or no income, yet have to survive in an economy with an ever increasing cost of living. They may not be employed, and may not have the skills to become employed, or the know-how to be entrepreneurs. Unless someone intervenes and examines their individual situations to provide relief, they’ll remain poor.
Will Giving Money Eradicate Poverty?
We don’t think so. How about our readers?