BRAC seems to be “processing the poor”, not teaching them to work together globally for the good of all.
Meghan, Donella Rapier, Irene Khan,
In your story of Beethi, how much time, how many people, and how much money did it take to address her basic needs? It was two years, and several interventions. The work you did, should have been done by someone in the country. It seems cities and countries, health and social services, schools, governments and communities are failing, and individual needs are ignored.
Shahina lives in Dhaka. She is still fairly young. She married a couple of years ago, but within three weeks her husband, Shamim, broke his neck at C4 and completely paralyzed. He died this last summer, probably from pneumonia. She was his sole caregiver. Shahina is trying to work and go to school, but it seems there is no one there to help her. She supports her mother, whose health is not good. I have tried to help them. Is there anyone from BRAC who can check to be sure they are OK? And help Shahina get a good education and a stable good job to support her and her mother? She is interested in working online. I am worried she is being taken advantage of, as a young widow. She might be able to help BRAC, help individuals in Bangladesh (and elsewhere) share their experiences online.
I do not have the resources now to build a complete global online site, at the scale required, but perhaps the AI companies could pool their skills and resources to make a place for people to go to get answers in their own language, specific to their needs, no matter how small. I have tried to encourage OpenAI, Google, Twitter(X) and others to make their AIs socially and globally responsible – and to encourage global collaboration of the people affected, not just more closed groups saying they serve. Not just press releases, but people who have been helped – working together in near real time globally, to help themselves and others.
When I set up the technology and training for the Famine Early Warning System (FEWS.net) more than 35 years ago, it was at the cutting edge of what was possible. But it did NOT address “human-made poverty and inequality”. Most famines and difficulties, then and now, are because of humans. Today there are about 100 Million displaced, but many 100’s of millions more needing knowledge and learning. The people who have been through unique experiences can help – themselves and others. July 2023 was the 25th Anniversary of the Internet Foundation.
Your BRAC seems to be “processing the poor”, not teaching them to work together globally for the good of all.
