ONE DAY'S WAGES

Have you ever calculated your daily wages?

Well, Eugene and Minhee Cho have done exactly that and have formed a global movement out of their calculations. In their quest of ending extreme global poverty, the Chos donated their 2009 income to combat global poverty.

But they didn’t stop there.

They created One Day's Wages (ODW), an organization dedicated to ending extreme global poverty by partnering with existing organizations to raise funds to aid their work. This movement encourages individuals to be conscious of their own daily earnings by donating small amounts to their ODW’s partner’s work. ODW works with non-profit organizations including charity:water, Partners in Health, Heal Africa, and Not for Sale, among others, to raise funds to aid those suffering in extreme global poverty.

Kate, ODW’s operations director, changes for ODW “because it invites people to give what they can, as they’re able. It’s the knowledge and awareness that even small amounts of money can go far in the fight against extreme poverty.”

ODW has reframed the notion of giving.

As Kate mentioned, ODW illustrates the power one individual has to impact the large fight against global poverty. In dedicating just one day’s wages, whatever your salary may be, you become conscious of your earnings and the impact just one day’s work can have in helping to save another’s life.

“3 billion people [who] live on less than US $2/day and 1.4 billion people [who] live on less than US $1.25/day.”

The numbers are staggering—but innovative solutions are on the way.

By using social media and investing in existing organizations which are already involved in impoverished communities in “doing effective and transparent work to empower people to uplift themselves out of poverty,” ODW is reshaping the giving world.

Things aren’t as expensive as we imagine.

ODW highlights the direct effect organizations have created through individual small donations:

“Malaria Net: $10
Clean water for one person for 20 years: $20
Child’s tuition for education: $45
Teacher’s salary in jungles in Burma $60/yr”

Contributions pour in from across the globe. Kate explained that “Every so often, we'll get kids - sometimes really young ones - who save up their allowances, or get their school friends together to host a fundraiser of some sort....seeing a younger generation recognize the importance of generosity is really inspiring.”

One of ODW’s newest ventures in 2010 is “Birthdays for a Cause!” Tapping into new social media networks and technology, ODW will serve as a forum for individuals to “create your own page and choose a cause that ODW is currently fundraising for, forward it to your friends/family/coworkers and invite them to donate in honor of your birthday.”

Think about it as volunteering one day of your work. Use the wages from your “volunteer day” at work to help someone else live a dignified life.

Thanks, Kate, for teaching us how to use our wages wisely!

Please visit onedayswages.org to learn more.

(One Days Wages is a movement focused on ending extreme global poverty.)