It’s a lovely simple word isn’t it? Yet it conveys a great deal.
People care for their families both emotionally and physically. We tend to “care” for older and younger people, the disabled, the ill, the needy, but also “care” about issues: politics, global warming, sustainability, traffic. Well at least we argue with people over these issues, often getting very heated when our personal opinion doesn’t match others.
But having an opinion and not doing anything about is isn’t really “caring” is it? We often say we “care” about the poor but never lift a finger to help, we care about the un-employed, the waste problem, the disabled, but have no real involvement, just an argument over drinks or dinner.
Here in Bali I have met a lot of people who “care” over the years, and set about to prove it with a dedication that just astonishes and shames me every time I meet them or hear about them. Quite a few are noted in our monthly magazine (charity ad section) where we try in a very small way to help some of them: David Booth’s amazing East Bali Poverty Project, John Fawcett’s Cataract Program, Mike O’Leary’s ROLE and WISE Programs, Coca Cola Amatil/Quicksilver’s Beach Clean Up, the Bye Bye Plastic Bags girls, Bali Kids, The Smile Foundation, these – and many more – are really helping Bali, which despite its huge wealth still has serious poverty problems.
So when you hear a well-heeled property agent or any of the get–rich–quick kids who make money out of Bali, who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year selling Bali’s rice fields to the world’s wealthy people say “I care about Bali” stick a copy of this magazine in front of him/her and say “for which charity”? And don’t leave without a donation! That’s caring!
Alistair Speirs
– If you want to read more about Bali’s great charitable and social organisations, visit the Our Bali Heroes category.
