PDC-2: The People Driven Charity Series

PDC-2: The People Driven Charity Series

With the ever increasing natural calamities, man-made disasters and the widespread need of the hungry world, we have seen the emergence of thousands of charities. No one can deny that charitable organizations have played a major role in responding to the neediest in societies for decades. Their value gets much reiterated every time, natural calamities, and disasters strike us.

On one hand many of these organizations have done a wonderful job and have been the source for hope for millions. On the other hand, at least some of these organizations have ignored the best practices followed in the charitable arena and have been sinks for disappointment and has tarnished the entire charity landscape.
Either way, it might make us wonder what have been the turning points between a successful and an unsuccessful charitable initiative. Who drives these initiatives? What has been the involvement of people in driving these charities? How democratic have these organizations been?

When we hear Democracy, the first thing that comes into mind is a people driven movement that is defined 'by the people and for the people'. In such a system, everything is open and transparent. Democracy emphasizes on the power of the people. Every decision is taken by keeping in mind the best interest of its people. As a result the outcomes are always close to ideal.
When we look at the power of people in driving the projects that make a difference in the lives of the needy, there are two schools of thought.1. The first school thinks that people do not have any control on how our mission is driven and that destiny is driven by and forced by the leaders or others.2. The second school thinks that people are empowered and they have the power to control destiny and can make the difference in the lives of the needy.
PDC (People driven charity) is a series on the people who believe in their dreams and work towards converting their dreams into actions to make a difference in the life of the needy. This series looks at different angles of charity and examines how a common man can influence the charity arena.

The previous articles of this series, will be archived in the ICON Yahoo group archives and at the PDC blog. ( http://peopledrivencharity.blogspot.com/ )

All the parts of this series will start with the abbreviation PDC. In case you are least interested in this topic, this would help you to skip the topic quickly :)

To be continued...

The next two topics:
PDC-3: Evolution of the Fish Curry for the Common Man
PDC-4: The Empowered Compassionate Common Man

Thanks,
Rajesh Vargheese
St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Austin, TX