...after an interesting debate with my fiancee, I would like everybody that reads this update to consider something. TakingITGlobal is a great thing - a great resource, a great website and a great community with some wonderful people. But something that strikes me is that the community is growing ever-more elite; no disrespect intended - I'd like people to debate this subject. On the surface at least, the vast majority of TIG members (even those from deprived countries) seem to come from wealthy backgrounds and are mostly highly privileged individuals. Imagine if you were a stranger coming to read the updates posted on TIG, what would you think (on the surface)? Often, one hears about young people travelling on amazing journeys (how often does a truly deprived young person from a deprived country get the opportunity to travel from his homeland to Canada to attend a course?); expensive opportunities seemingly reserved for people who already have good opportunities. The majority of TIG members seem to be attending University, often good Universities; University is the reserve of those with money - unequivocally - I hear about certain TIG members from a country infamous for it's poverty going to Harvard, or another member paying a five-figure US$ sum per year to attend an ivy-league University in the USA. On the contrast, you hear of poor people from typically wealthy countries - desperately want to attend University but can't because it is too expensive and scholarships are FEW AND FAR BETWEEN.
I wouldn't knock the value that TakingITGlobal does hold in it's members; there are some worthy projects that are spreading opportunities for genuinely poor people. But it is more often the case that the 'young leaders' present in this community seem to be getting access to opportunities that they truly don't need; that would be better given to somebody from a genuinely poor background (from a developing or developed nation). We often hear about young people from poor countries getting to fly to Switzerland to attend a glitzy UN Summit (an opportunity usually given to somebody who already has a decent standard of living in his/her country), but we never hear of the person that has to walk four miles to school, who's soles are falling off his shoes - who can barely afford the investment in his future like University. Just look at the number of people who can communicate in English - English isn't something people are born with (unless they're born in an English-speaking nation where they are brought up with the language), it costs money to attend English courses; then people become too complacent to update in their own languages (congratulations to those of you that do post in alternative languages).
I’m not saying that these people shouldn’t have access to such opportunities, I do however feel that the constant riches for the rich alienates the people that TakingITGlobal’s members set out to help. What does everybody think? I realise that I’m probably alienating some people by posting the content of this update, but I don’t really care - opportunities need to shared a bit more equally and not reserved for the middle-classes, even the middle-classes of developing nations.
