You can't change the world.

Surprised by my title? I don't really believe that. I know of a little old lady who lived in New Jersey who has had a greater lasting impact on the world than many political leaders. I also don't really believe a lot of the motivational blather we hear on TV and in movies. "Follow your dreams, and they will lead to great things." That doesn't work if your dreams are selfish dreams. Many of our ambitions and goals sound fine on the surface, but our underlying motivations are self-centered and egotistical.

So what do we need to change the world?

Here is what we need: convictions, and the reckless abandon to live by them. If you believe in something, don't just let it sit in your head; throw yourself, heart and soul, into acting on your principles. It doesn't do any good to have beliefs and ethics and morals if you don't DO anything about them. For example, a group of uneducated fisherman made such a stir in the ancient world that the "establishment" of the day said that they were "turning the world upside down." How? Because they believed that Jesus Christ had died a sacrificial, atoning death, and that he was raised from the dead by his own power. And then they all went back to their boats and tax collection booths and kept counting fish and counting denarii, and every once in a while they threw some alms to the poor who sat outside the Temple. No! They acted on their beliefs- they preached on street corners, in synagogues, and in the marketplaces. They were hauled into court, beaten, whipped, chained, and stoned, but they continued to act on their beliefs. Not just their dreams; I'm sure they dreamed of peace and solitude, maybe a quiet house by the sea where no one was trying to kill them. But they had something greater to follow than dreams: they had convictions.

My "impact the world" project stems from my conviction that God wants us to be his hands and feet in this world, not just his mouthpiece. And if someone reading this does not believe in God, he or she will probably admit that helping people in third world countries is a good thing.

People in other countries need fish [here I am using the "give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime" principle.]. In Africa, for example, people are starving. They need fish. So our government takes fish from everyone here (in taxes). Then they dump the fish at an o-fishal government fish receptacle in, say, Sierra Leone. This sounds wonderful; give away millions of fish for millions of people. But the government workers want some fish. So they each skim a few (hundred) off the top. And no one notices because they're all participating in taking fish. Pretty soon, there are only a couple of measly Perch left. Then by the time the paperwork is processed (with more workers demanding more fish to put the paperwork through), the one remaining fish in the receptacle has gone rotten. So they throw it away and say, "You horribly selfish rich country; you have lots of fish, and you didn't send us enough. Send more fish." And the UN and US send more fish, starting the whole cycle again. I could go on and on with the negative, but I won't. I'll skip to the "what if."

What if we didn't just give them fish, but taught them to fish? What if we didn't just teach them to fish, but we helped them to start fish hatcheries? And to start the industries to support the growing needs of the fish hatcheries? Why, within a few decades, the whole country would be industrialized. There would be more jobs, and more fish to go around the the common people. There would be better education so that the people would no longer elect fish-stealers to their government. Standards of living would rise, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Now doesn't that sound better?

My project (that I am trying to put together) is a fundraiser for World Vision's micro business programs. A complete explanation can be found at http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/appeals.nsf/stable/med_howmedworks . But a quick explanation is:
1.) Volunteer workers enter a country and set up a lending operation. 2.) Ordinary people with business ideas can get the ultra ultra low interest loans to start a business, plus advice on how to start up and run a business. 3.) With coaching, the business usually takes off pretty well, leading to business expansion.

That's basically micro business. The amazing thing is that these loans are made to the poorest of the poor who have no collateral at all, but 96% of loans are repaid on time! Some other interesting facts are that most loan recipients are women; most reported an increase in feelings of empowerment; and 80% reported improved family health (survey taken in East Africa).

Money donated to this cause is really the gift that keeps on giving; $200 (that's after processing for the sake of discussion) goes out in a loan to Mugabwe. He pays it back. Well, that money was donated to World Vision, so they recycle it. Iliwe gets the same $200 for her loan, then pays it back. Pearl gets the $200 next, and so on and so forth into infinity, or at least, into improved living standards and even industrialization.

Ok, so now we've got a conviction that something should be done. We have a good place to give money that will make a substantial impact on families and communities in the neediest of countries.

"I'm poor," says a college student "X" who will remain anonymous (partly for privacy, but mainly because X is based on every college student I have ever talked to in my life, including myself.... so "X" it will be).
X says this to me as she tries to dial up the right tune on her mp3 player. "I hardly have enough money for food," she says, stuffing her player down into her pocket and reaching for the laptop case beside her. "See?" she exclaims, turning out her pockets of her $50 jeans to reveal an Applebee's receipt and a quantity of pocket lint. "I just don't know how I could give anything without starving myself." To refresh her parched throat, she takes a sip of her McDonald's iced tea before taking a bite out of her supersized value meal burger. X chews thoughtfully for a while. We walk to her car after she finishes lunch. "I need to clean this out," she sighs, clearing out a space for her laptop case among the jumble of discarded Starbucks and Icee cups.......

Get the picture?

We have money. We do things with money. Now how many of those things do we need? We have 13,000 students at ETSU. Imagine if fewer than half decided to give up one fast food meal and have a sandwich instead for just one day. Average fast food meal is about five bucks. We could have $25,000 in just one day!

I want to challenge ETSU and Johnson City to save for a month. Just one month. Eat in a couple times instead of eating out. Switch from Starbucks to cheapo coffee for thirty days, or even for just three days a week. That right there is almost ten dollars a week! Instead of buying a candy bar, drink a glass of water. Hey, instead of bottled water, wash and refill from the tap.

There are hundreds of ways to save just a little bit of money every day. Of course, it is some inconvenience. Just imagine looking an African woman in the eye and saying, "Sure, I could have helped lift you from poverty. I could have helped feed your children....."

".....but it was just too inconvenient."

And with that kind of attitude, my title is correct. You can't change the world.