ONE (SINGAPORE)
A few weeks ago, web designer Peter Chow called me to talk about ONE (SINGAPORE). Remember the Live8 concert a couple months ago? ONE was one of the supporting groups behind it. Peter decided to launch a Singapore chapter. Then he approached me to run it.
I told him he was nuts. I said I have too much on my plate already. But we talked about it and I saw that there's a strong synergy between ONE (SINGAPORE)'s mission and SUPERSEED's. So I agreed to take it on.
ONE (SINGAPORE)'s mission is to promote public awareness and take concrete actions to Make Poverty History. We've identified two projects to support, in addition to SUPERSEED:
1. AID THE VICTIMS OF FAMINE IN NIGER
In the best of times, the West African nation of Niger is one of the world's poorest countries. However the harvest was exceptionally poor this year due to drought and a devastating locust invasion. In the words of aid agencies, more than 3.5 million people are currently facing "a severe food crisis". In plain English, that means children are dying from malnutrition and related diseases.
2. "TEEN TRUST FUND"
Singapore children's home require most residents to move out at the age of 16. When these teenagers leave the homes, they don't have resources, they usually don't have a family network and they don't
have anywhere to go. Many end up in prison. Our plan is to create a trust fund to ease their transition into society - perhaps giving each child enough money to take care of their first month expenses and put a deposit on a HDB room.
PUBLIC AWARENESS
ONE (SINGAPORE) will sell and distribute white wristbands as part of its campaign to raise awareness about poverty issues. We are also encouraging people to sign the international ONE Declaration.
TAKING A STAND
ONE (SINGAPORE) will meet once a month to discuss programs and initiatives. In between meetings, we hope you will also participate in at least one of the society's projects - though it does not have to
be one mentioned above. We are also open to bringing in other projects under the ONESINGAPORE umbrella.
ONE (SINGAPORE) is registered as a Singapore society. As of January 2006, we have over 30 members.
For more detail, take a look at www.onesingapore.org.
Comments