(Short post which I believe will end up getting much longer than I expect it to be. )
It's been a while since I last blogged, mainly because there wasn't much to blog about or anything amazing happening that I haven't already mentioned. Well anyway today's post will kind of be an update on what I've been up to! - fundraiser/awareness drive for operation smile sg!
Ever since my trip to "child's dream" in chiang mai (pic I took at hq is above) I've had a better insight on the situation at Thailand's borders- in particular how children's rights are being exploited everyday. It's not just about the child prostitutes, but also the child labourers and the children made to walk through fields to blow up land mines. These kids have a life and a future ahead of them; the irresponsibility and selfish desires of adults is just appaling. Apart from a better understanding of the situation I understood what it means to be truly serving others overseas. It's not like one two weeks spent in these areas will change anything, but it's only with months of effort that any concrete action can be done to change lives of others.
More often than not, I find that service trips overseas tend to benefit the service team more than the beneficiaries, while yes the effort and the time spent making the children happy is a valuable lesson to learn, I wonder how large the impact on their lives truly is. And I don't think this is measurable/ I need to go overseas and see for myself if teaching children English as a one-off week-long volunteer project will really help them.
One of the most inspiring organisations to me is thus operation smile because I feel that the results are more tangible, in terms of the ability of the team to physically change a person's face through cleft lip surgery and in this way changing his/her life. It is a service that does have lasting impacts on the individual who receives the treatment. And I never thought twice about supporting this good cause because I've always felt that it is worth it.
This is basically why I am helping op smile to raise awareness and fundraiser in school.
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Today during booth duty (we are having the awareness drive for a week) someone came up to me and said that he wouldn't want to donate to our cause, cause he doesn't support what op smile does in the less developed countries. Upon my request to explain further, he cited the example of how kids in these countries ultimately end up being exploited as child prostitutes etc, because their facial deformities are now "fixed". This made me stop and think, because I had not considered the situation before. That perhaps what we see as doing good is in actual fact, causing harm to others...
I mean, it's hard to say which is worse to be, someone suffering from a cleft lip, or a child prostitute, and frankly, I too don't know for certain, with my limited knowledge and understanding which I would rather be.
And the harm done in this situation by fixing the cleft lip, is something no one anticipates, no one wishes a child would need to go through.
But what came out of this short exchange with the schoolmate of mine was this a more enlightened me, understanding why I really was drawn to this cause in the first place. On hindsight I think even with it's limitations, the intent of the organisation is to Help. No one anticipates or wishes that the children helped would be made us of and exploited, and no one knows the true fate of a person.
The situation of child exploitation is largely out of our control, but as long as we do what we can to make a difference, then the organisation would have achieved some of it's aims.
And I believe and know that, as long as we who have the ability to, can help and make a child smile, I think that is enough for me.
X
Maddy
