Yesterday I delved into the strange and unusual world of knock off products and why perhaps it's so prevalent in certain markets.
Though I stand by the fact that to combat the corruption large, sweeping changes need to be made from the top down; I been thinking that small, incremental efforts could also have an impact from the bottom up.
Yes, in a way buying cheaply produced goods does feel like a hack, but only if the consumer feels duped.
I am in by no means wealthy, but I can afford the basic amenities and necessities to provide for myself and my family, and even treat my kids to a vastly overpriced Lego set once in a blue moon.
However, for a multitude of other kids less fortunate The Changeable Robot is as good as three Christmases and five birthdays put together!
src With that in mind, My wife and I sorted through our stuff. Kids clothes that were too small or seldom worn and toys that we thought the boys didn't need anymore (shh they don't need to know) were packed up and put in the trunk of the car.
I had some business at the local immigration office (always LOADS of fun) but luckily our destination wasn't far away.
Krabi Protection Center for the Destitute houses orphans awaiting a family or a for a vacancy in any of the local Children's Homes which are often at maximum capacity.
While we didn't linger long, we did see a few of the children hanging around shyly. There were also a few boys helping to move bricks for a floral arrangement up front. Their eyes lit up when they saw the box of toys I was carrying in.
When we were waiting for the caretaker to come, we saw an infant in a stroller. He wasn't even two weeks old. Very tiny. He had been found a few days earlier abandoned in a laundry mat washing machine.. I was heartbroken for this child but at the same time grateful that he had been found on time and was healthy.
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These are the simple things that we can do, be it donating clothes and toys to orphans, volunteering in a school for mentally-disabled children, delivering food and water to small villages that have been devastated by natural disasters, or helping the local hospital fit free prosthetics of a group amputee victims.
It did not take much time or effort and there is a whole bunch more that I could and should do to help, but I'd like to believe that even the small things make a difference...
unsourced pictures are my own