and while running a delivery to one of our biggest clients, i stumbled across this odd charity:
it insta-boggled my mind, so i had to google it.
why is this important? according to the do something website,
Because when I met people in TZ, it was so sad that they had no money to buy glasses. I couldn't imagine not being able to see the sunset, see the blackboard, see the flowers, or your family--just because you had no money.My project is called Eyeglasses for Africa, and it was started to collect used glasses and deliver them to Africa.i've never been to africa because i've simply never had the money to go on overseas vacations. but despite that, i feel like this red shoebox is not a lot more than a grand mixture of noble and naive.
like when crocs sent 100,000 of pairs of their ridiculous pool-shoes to japan, and japan was like, "wtf, guys. we just had a tsunami, please don't make things worse for us."
sending anything to any country is nice. everyone can use a hand, here and there. but if i were to name five things africa might want sent from america, eyeglasses would not make the list.
in fact, my list would be as follows:
2. food
3. medicine and/or first aid kits
4. efficient power generators
5. kiera knightley
it is entirely possible there's a serious EYEGLASSES SHORTAGE PANDEMIC that i'm oblivious to. after all, i've never been to africa, and charity stats say 75 entire people have been helped by Eyeglasses for Africa.
i just don't get it. i'm going to start my own charity, and it's going to be way more helpful.
i haven't figured out just what it is. but there's a good chance it'll have to do with poop. because everything does.
I say you ship Africa all of your leftover condoms.
ReplyDeleteFor both parties involved, maybe sending the magnums would be best....
I know if I was in Africa, I would definitely want as many #5s as they could send.
ReplyDeleteAS far as the eyeglasses go, it feels more like a crafty way to dispose of garbage in the form of eyewear. How likely are you to match up somebody's prescription to some kid in Africa? They'll probably go blind trying to force his/her eyes to resolve the focus. Wouldn't just make more sense to develop super cheap glasses and donate those big "which is better, A.....or B" machines? It's all a conspiracy with the drug companies who will have to sell aspirin to 3rd world countries to relieve the headaches caused by the "recycled" glasses.
As for the Washington Post article, I have no love for Crocs and their ilk (hey, let's wear clunky, bright, ill-fitting rubber shoes! It's so fashionable.), but have you seen the way kids walk?! Dragging their feet, walking sideways or backwards for the hell of it...and then you put them in rubber clogs, that probably don't fit properly (see article photo-at least 2 sizes too big) and you wonder why their feet are getting sucked into escalators?! The whole situation just has too many layers of stupid.
If you are going to be stupid, at least have the good sense to own it and not complain.