Philanthropy and Charity: The role it plays in ensuring a better education for deprived communities

There are many broad definitions of the word philanthropy. Some say it is the general goodwill to one’s fellow people as well as the active effort to promote the welfare of people. Others put it as voluntary, organized efforts intended for socially useful purposes. Yet another definition says it is the love of humankind and involves giving money, time, or skills to solve social problems. Often used interchangeably with philanthropy is the word charity, though there remains a slight difference.

Charity involves a natural, emotional impulse to a sudden event and here giving occurs in the short-term.

If there’s a major disaster in a part of your city and you give towards that cause then it is referred to as charity. Giving to a random person on the street because they asked you for money for the bus is charity.

Philanthropy on the other hand seeks to address the root of a problem with focus on specific areas or segments of people or populations, from pre-problem, during problem and post problem.

Our Project Esi, a project which seeks to renovate educational facilities in deprived communities in Ghana can be considered as a philanthropic venture. Funding a group to undertake a social impact project is also considered philanthropy. Philanthropy also includes support for research or innovation which in turn benefits society. Formerly specifically ascribed to the wealthy upper class who give, today we all can be philanthropists or charitable.

Whether there is a difference between charity and philanthropy, one thing is for sure; it is a means to spread love, support the needy and make society better for all.

Here’s a little story once written by an unknown author:

A little boy is informed his mother is diagnosed with an illness. He remains uncertain what exactly that means but reckons a lot of money is required for her treatment. He thinks day in and day out how he can be of help till one day, he comes up with a brilliant idea. His plan is to go round the neighbourhood with some clippers and ask people to shave his head and give him a small token in return to support payment of his mother’s medical bills.The boy returns home after a while with his head shaved and a sum exceeding 1000 dollars. The neighbours understood the little boy and went out of their way to give to the boy. The conclusion? People are willing to give to support worthy causes and that is exactly how philanthropy plays a big role in access to quality education for deprived communities.?

In Ghana, most rural communities are faced with a series of challenges from poor road networks to lack of storage facilities for farm produce in some farming communities. Yet a challenge that remains pressing amongst most is the access to quality education. The issues of education when it comes to rural areas are broad. They range from absentee teachers?who often abandon posts simply because it is a rural community, dilapidated school blocks, issues of schools under trees which subjects students to all kinds of weather, absentee students sometimes due to period poverty amongst girls and a lack of study materials among the student populace. Prevalent among them is poor infrastructure.

Through philanthropy however, the stories of most school children in these communities can change. This has been demonstrated through Project Esi, a partnership between AKAYA and Harold Ofori. Preparations for the next round of Project Esi is underway and philanthropy; giving, has everything to do with it.

Give today to cause a change in a child’s education, give to today, and invest in the next generation of future leaders - https://donate.stripe.com/aEU29XcIkewz6cgaEE.

Article written by content writer intern - Edna Dorgbefu