Teaching for change

While visiting Busboys and Poets, an educational café and bookshop in Washington DC, we rediscovered the book by Peter Singe titled – The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.

Singe points out that as many as 27,000 children die every day from poverty that could be easily and cheaply helped by existing charities. He notes the psychological barriers to charitable giving in the western world, including cognitive dissonance where a public belief can be held – for example ‘we are all very generous donors in Australia’ – that is contradicted in practice. Read more

What comes after Africa?

We’ve left Africa and are now back in ‘civilization’. Being here raises the question – how do you live back in Western society after you’ve lived for a short time in Africa? Read more

How do you fight poverty in Africa?

If there is one thing we’ve learnt in Tanzania, it’s that dealing with poverty in Africa is complicated. We arrived full of energy and passion, ready to contribute and make a difference. But the more you learn and experience, the more you realise that it’s going to take a lot more than that. Read more

Businessworthiness: a business and social innovation?

Oslo is a beautiful city. We have already commented on the Noble Peace Centre and the opportunity to learn about ways to make peace – or to or to dismiss it as of less value than going out to dinner (see our last blog). But Oslo also impressed us with another unique idea – the Oslo Business for Peace Award. Read more

What makes a change agent?

“I can’t believe we paid money for this.” They were two American tourists, and we were standing in the Nobel Peace Museum in Oslo. We were surrounded by stories of awe-inspiring individuals who had changed the course of history through their commitment to justice at whatever cost (and many paid a very high price for their convictions and activism), and apparently (for some) the experience wasn’t worth the $20 entry fee. Read more