Student Activism: The Life-Saving 1%

As one of the 3 million members of the ONE Campaign, I’m here to talk about an issue close to all our hearts: Foreign Aid.

I know it seems weird to have an emotional connection to foreign aid, but to me it’s strange when someone doesn’t! I’ll give people the benefit of the doubt - the term ‘foreign aid’ can sound a little scary. Truthfully, I’m not an expert in politics - I graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in biology. But after joining the ONE Campaign a few years ago (a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to the eradication of extreme poverty and preventable disease), I started learning more about global health and global living disparities. Once I saw the real individuals behind the statistic “1 in 7 people in the world suffer from chronic hunger”, it became personal. Now I spend a good chunk of my time working to minimize those disparities and change those statistics.

So, Foreign Aid. Let’s debunk a few myths first.

1. A recently conducted poll found that the majority of Americans think that foreign aid makes up 10% of the US budget and 1 in 5 believe it makes up 30% of US government spending.

TRUTH: Foreign aid makes up less than 1% of the US budget. In other words, a person making $40,000 a year only spends $58 on the big F.A. I spent more money on graduation gear this weekend! (Check out this cool tax calculator to see how much of your taxes are going toward different government programs).

2. A statement I hear a lot when discussing foreign aid is, “we’re in tough economic times, something has to get cut!”

I agree, completely. But let’s be smart about it. Eliminating <1% of government spending isn’t going to solve anything. Something we ONE members like to say is, “you can’t balance the budget on the back of the world’s poorest.” Which leads me to my next point.

3. Many people believe that foreign aid is a waste of money because it gets thrown at developing countries or guzzled up by corrupt political leaders.

Unfortunately, I partially agree. We don’t always know exactly where our foreign assistance goes or where it’s gone in the past. But this is why we need to ensure transparency and demand results when we invest our money. That is where SMART aid comes in – investments in proven, sustainable development programs that save lives, lower disease burdens, and improve education.

That’s why I <3 foreign aid - it’s small, its effective, and it saves lives.

I’ve been able to discuss this (somewhat touchy) subject with multiple Michigan political leaders, and guess what? They’re all on the same page! It seems that a common theme on “The Hill” is that political leaders do realize that we can’t balance the budget by reducing foreign aid – they just need to hear why we, the constituents, don’t want to see it cut.

So here’s my thought: There are 40,000 ONE members in Michigan and I’m sure many more individuals who care about those in need living across an ocean or two. Maybe its time for all of us to become a little more attached to foreign aid and let our political leaders know WHY we can’t seem to let it go.

A good first step is to check out the ONE Campaign website to read up on the issues and hear some great first-hand stories that put mine to shame. Or you can even jump right in and sign the current petition or send a cool postcard to the white house asking that some of our most important development issues be brought to the forefront of the upcoming G8 Summit.

But the most important thing to do, in my opinion, is to get a little emotional, make it a little more personal, and find a way to get involved in the fight against extreme poverty. ‘Foreign aid’ isn’t scary, global poverty is.