For those of you who think Facebook is a waste of time, think again. This article shows that we can put to use things we (I) never thought could be useful.
Graduate student Ailie Tam recently moved to Madagascar to volunteer for an HIV prevention program there. She then entered a program that pays for the winners to work on charitable project abroad, and thanks to her 4000 votes on (surprise!) Facebook, she won $45,000 for her project in Madagascar.
Of course her motivations weren't so pure... she's doing it all to build her resume and apply for a job in international social work (and trying to get her PhD). According to the article, she was rejected by some graduate schools, and went to battle to make her experiences on fundraising matter. And it worked! her past projects won her much respect from "people that matter", and all thanks to her networking skills, such as... yeah, Facebook.
Considering the benefit that her study will bring to Madagascar (the lady will, after all, help fight the spread of AIDS), her motivations don't really matter. What matters is that she's out there, making good use of everyday commodities for us, and planting a little hope for this internet generation to use their addiction for something else =P. The projcet's goal is to "inspire multitudes to volunteer". Facebook rehab, anyone?
Graduate student Ailie Tam recently moved to Madagascar to volunteer for an HIV prevention program there. She then entered a program that pays for the winners to work on charitable project abroad, and thanks to her 4000 votes on (surprise!) Facebook, she won $45,000 for her project in Madagascar.
Of course her motivations weren't so pure... she's doing it all to build her resume and apply for a job in international social work (and trying to get her PhD). According to the article, she was rejected by some graduate schools, and went to battle to make her experiences on fundraising matter. And it worked! her past projects won her much respect from "people that matter", and all thanks to her networking skills, such as... yeah, Facebook.
Considering the benefit that her study will bring to Madagascar (the lady will, after all, help fight the spread of AIDS), her motivations don't really matter. What matters is that she's out there, making good use of everyday commodities for us, and planting a little hope for this internet generation to use their addiction for something else =P. The projcet's goal is to "inspire multitudes to volunteer". Facebook rehab, anyone?
What a great thing to do! It's true that we might as well try and make something good of something that so many people use every day, multiple times a day! I'm glad that her impure motivations might be used for something good!
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced that her motives were so bad. I imagine that she was trying to get into a good PhD program so that she could gain the knowledge and experience to do more good. Now if you told me she was applying to a PhD program in Computer Science or Chinese Literature, I'd have to agree with you :)
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