Hi, my name is Anna. I’m studying medicine at the University of Heidelberg, Germany and I’m the initiator of 2aid.org. This is how I engage in the fight against extreme poverty.
I was born and raised in Germany and have therefore always enjoyed all advantages of a carefree life and free education. But from a young age I have also encountered the poverty my relatives in Sri Lanka have to endure and growing older I learned from friends from around the globe about the incredible sufferings people face each and every day.
The problem is we usually don’t see and hear much about it as these things happen in faraway countries and don’t relate to our everyday lives. Yet at the same time the internet, social media and mobile communication enable us to easily stay connected with the whole world.
In order to learn more about the poverty in the world I searched for keywords such as “poverty” on YouTube. The videos you find there are full of suffering, hopelessness, diseases, hunger and thirst, and they have touched me to the core. I have everything most people my age or younger than me don’t even dream of. I’m basically a princess. Globally around 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, earning less than 1.40 Euros (1.25 GBP/1.65 USD) a day, 511 Euros a year (457 GBP/605 USD). That’s crazy! That’s about as much as I am earning in a month with 5 night watches.
Why 2aid.org?
Simply put, 2aid.org stands for efficient and sustainable support in the fight against extreme poverty, globally linked, drawing on the experience of accomplished professionals, and driven by the spirit and motivation of youngsters.
For me sustainable support has always been more important than material aid (apart from emergency relief). Living conditions have to be improved by generating possibilities and supporting empowerment. With 2aid.org I aim to encourage, inform and inspire people to join the battle against global poverty and preventable diseases.
It goes without saying that global poverty can’t be eliminated overnight. To sustainably empower people worldwide and enable them to improve their living conditions is much rather a fight for years and decades to come. With 2aid.org I want to provide a platform for people who share my ideals about reducing global poverty and encourage them to pitch ideas and put them into practise – with as little bureaucracy as possible. I believe helping should be easy, and everyone should be able to help with passion, creativity, and joy. That’s another reason why we engage our supporters all the way, including a rating about the specific project area 2aid.org should engage in.
To organise our efforts as efficiently as possible, we draw upon the advice of experienced professionals from different organisations and enterprises who make our Advisory Board.
How It All Began
The biggest hurdle I faced when starting 2aid.org was a complete lack of funds to realise my vision. But that didn’t make me lose heart. I thought about how to best approach this problem. Through social media I quickly met likeminded people who were extremely supportive and surprisingly open to work for free for the good cause and use 2aid.org as a platform to spread their ideas. Seeing my approach being reinforced this way encouraged me to reach out to even more zestful people and creative minds.
Apart from that I believe it is our duty to help! We have never gone hungry or thirsty; have never had no place to sleep or been denied access to education. Millions of people have to go through unimaginable efforts to receive even the most basic resources, such as a jerry can of water, which takes us less than 5 minutes to get.
Let’s all make sure this world becomes a better place for all of us. Let’s start creating opportunities.
All the best wishes,
Anna
