PAID vs. AID – Can A Choice Change A Life?
This fall on university campuses across Canada is a contest like no other. You could win a choice between: 1) WATER: help drill a water well in Benin 2) TUITION: $1000 towards your tuition 3) SHELTER: provide shelter for 2 families in Haiti or 4) ORPHANS: support 22 orphans in Tanzania.
Each and every day, we make choices. We make choices about our base needs: what to eat, what to wear, how many cups of coffee we want to drink. We make choices about relationships: Who we want to befriend, who we love, how we want to be loved.
Have you ever thought about how you make choices? The conscious or unconscious thoughts that drive you towards one decision or another?
Here’s a thought: maybe the decisions we make in life all stem from our cravings deep within. How much I experience a craving or hunger for food will dictate:
- How much of it I consume
- What kind of food I will consume
In the same way, what my soul craves the most will sway large decisions in life.
If you had a choice to choose from the following four options to bring change what would you choose?
- Water in Benin. Can a choice change Abeiuwa’s life? Abeiuwa lives in a small village in Benin. Every day she must walk to get water that is brown and dirty. Sometimes it has dried up before she arrives. She knows that this water makes her sick when she drinks it, but she has no choice. With help, a nearby water well can be built that will be easy to get to and will always be clean, so Abeiuwa and a thousand others can be healthy again.
- Homes in Haiti. Can a choice change Jacques’ life? Jacques lives in Cite Soleil, Haiti. After the earthquake, Jacques and his family made a makeshift shelter from things they found. With no bed, Jacques and his family sleep on the ground. When it rains at night, they cannot even stay inside of their shelter because it is not waterproof. It could be months before the government allows construction of permanent shelters. Before then, help Jacques get his life back by providing him and his family with a proper temporary shelter.
- An Education for an African Orphan. Can a choice change Ayubu’s life? Ayubu is 8 years old. Both of his parents died from HIV Aids when he was very young, Ayubu is now living at the Upendo orphanage in Tanzania. Your choice can help change Ayubu’s life and the lives of 21 of his friends by providing them food, clothing and school supplies. As we all know education helps give the poor and marginalized children of Tanzania a brighter future.
- $1000 Towards your Tuition. Can a choice change your life? Education is a valuable investment, and an expensive one at that. A thousand dollars seems small, but it could make a difference on whether you need to take that second summer job – or not. It also goes toward putting your degree to work so that you can be the change you want to see in the world. Invest in your education today so that you can make a change in the world tomorrow.
Paid vs. Aid is a contest running on campuses across Canada. Each winner will win a choice between WATER, SHELTER, ORPHANS or TUITION. Presented before you is a choice; it’s not a simple choice of what to eat or what to wear. It’s a choice that has ramifications for your future and for the future of others. The choice between money for tuition, or money to go towards those living in underdeveloped nations isn’t cut and dry; it isn’t meant to be a moral guilt-trip.
We know that the decision is hard. So why present a choice?
We want you to think about what drives you to make your decisions in life. What does your soul crave?
Do you crave success? Security? Meaning? Justice? These cravings all end up impacting decisions to pursue a certain type of career, choices to subscribe to a religion, or to enter a relationship.
Which craving ultimately wins out?
Which choice would ‘satiate’ these cravings?
When we’re presented with a choice, and brought to a place where both options have their merits and flaws, apathy is no longer possible. We’re forced to reevaluate life and those things that we crave.
Until we take note of our cravings, they may never be quenched.
Aid Details
To find out specific information about the “Aid” prizes and the organization we are partnering with to provide the humanitarian aid (GAiN) go here.
