Listening attentively to a paper on Aid and the Millenium Development Goals at the NZAE ‘09, it occured to me that perhaps the traditional aid model should be completely ditched. I let that thought swirl for a few moments whilst i considered the ramifications and then came back to the idea with a simple vision.

Let peer to peer aid be the new model driven by people not governments.

Why are governments involved anyway? Well that’s not about aid really, its about influence…ok let’s be brutal it’s about money and power. Yes it’s all about politics: quid pro quo, backhanders and the rest of it. We’ll give you money and you help us out, vote for us at the UN or give us some nice contracts for whatever.

That’s the good bit. Now let’s see it in action. Up the government chain on one side and down the other. Hands out all the way up, across and down. Let’s not even go there. Of course some governments take this seriously and see aid as a genuine redistribution of national income but the model has been sorely abused over the years.

Even locally we had the Niue government telling the NZ PM that if it didn’t receive aid quickly it would turn to China instead. It doesn’t get more blatant than that. More and more aid has become a strategic tool in the foreign office of wealthy nations.

Francis Fukuyama recently reviewed two books on the subject both with similar themes but differing opinions: “The Challenge for Africa” by Wangari Maathai and “Dead Aid” by Dambisa Moyo. What I like most is that these are books coming from Africans themselves and women as well. It’s a refreshing change to Western University academics. It’s also an area of quite passionate debate. Here’s a great debate with Dambisa Moyo, Hernando de Soto, Paul Collier and Stephen Lewis on whether foreign aid does more harm than good.

Some issues are clear: corrupt governments and a weakened civil society; years on the western government welfare teat; trade barriers and resource depletion. The West carries the guilt and assuages it with cash even if its straight into the Swiss bank account of the latest tyrant.

So if governments are the problem why not remove them from the picture?

Well perhaps that is what will happen. Today the UK Conservatives unveiled a new policy on aid. As part of that they proposed a Gbp40m fund called “My Aid” which would allow the people to vote on their favourite aid project. Ok this all sounds a bit like the next reality show but for me it signals a subtle change in direction.

What if governments simply dropped their Aid budgets and gave that money back in either tax cuts or tax credits for giving? What would happen?

- Microfinance would take off.

- Giving platforms would widen and internationalise.

- There would be more targeted and personal involvement.

- Social Media would drive this (TwitterAid?).

- This would lead to grassroots build up and development of localised civil society.

- It may lead to an increase in giving as government moves out of the way.

- And maybe less celebrity nonsense as well!

Above all this p2p Aid model would be people driven and . as with microfinance, be very empowering. The aid infrastructure will still be necessary but that too may require some modification or restructuring. The Kiva and Wokai models will be very useful for this as will giving and donating platforms.

Here is a moving story from our intrepid Kiva fellow in the Philippines, Sloane Berrent. It details the lengths to which people will go in order to be educated. The desire for education and the knowledge that it can lift people from impoverishment is clear and stark.

Within the story lies another imperative: the desire to give. Giving has become my passion whether it’s time, money or stuff. Yes reforming the global financial system is interesting but nothing will ever surpass the desire to perform service to others in a direct way. It’s our most universal law.

To raise $42 for a boat would take a few seconds these days. It’s that low cost, diversified approach that makes the web network so powerful.

These Stories from the Field are wonderful to read. People want connections, they want to see they are making a difference and they want it to be real.

Well it doesn’t get any more real than this.

According to my colleague and friend, Branton Kenton-Dau , human beings are intentional devices. We are here for a purpose, a reason and our human form is a structure for expressing intention. I like that. Every time we act we are expressing something about ourselves even in the most nano way.

So when it comes to managing our money we are faced with the same questions: who am I and what is my intention?

It seems to me that we have 3 ways of using our money: Giving, Lending or Buying.

Giving is the simple act of directing one’s money to somone else with no expectation of financial return inclduing the original gift. But there is a clear intention that the gift should have some kind of impact. Simply this can be regarded as giving money to charity or a fundraising appeal. Your return is hopeful, that some positive outcome or impact will be achieved by way of your contribution. This is a powerful way of expressing your intention. Of course one can also give your time, goods and services for no financial return and this is a more hands on approach.

Lending, otherwise known as saving, is also a powerful tool. When you deposit your cash in the bank you are in effect lending to the bank. In legal terms you are an unsecured creditor of the bank. There is little intention here as we tend to see the process as the bank doing us a favour. But when it comes to peer to peer lending, microfinance or simply lending money directly to friends, the process takes on a deeper signifiance. There is a more direct energy involved and a desire to participate in an outcome. The personal connection to borrowers helps create this possibility. Another form of lending is to large business via corporate bonds. This is akin to saving in the bank except again there is a directness involved. A large business wants to raise $100m and I lend it $20,000. I’m a small piece of that but I’m essentialy helping to fund the business. But there is still some distance there as I’ve probably dealt through a boker or investment advisor. What I am keen to see is more peer to small business in developed countries. We’ve seen Kiva open up loans into the US now and soom we will see more acceptance in people lending larger sums to small businesses. Not so much microfinance as peer finance. What better way to create strong and trusted communities than people lending to businesses they buy from.

The third form of intentional money is the process of buying. This is two parts: buying for ownership in a business and buying for personal consumption. The latter is the world of ethical and values based purchasing. It’s a well developed market and I won’t got into that. But actually directing your money into businesses through ownership is another way to direct the flow of your financial intention. Whether it’s ethical investing at the macro level (buying into ethical funds) or at the micro level (investing in start ups that share your goals and values). The micro level is more interesting because the impact of your investment is greater. In the macro world of stock markets and large companies your investment is not so influential because of the way institutional investors control so much of the market.

We have many choices when it comes to dealing with our money. Each time we make a financial decision we have an opportunity to express our intention. Its a very powerful force. The more we align our choices with who we are, the more powerful our impact becomes. We become an efficient intentional system

As they say money talks.

You may not know it but this last week has been Volunteering Awareness Week in New Zealand. Here are some facts and figures to consider:

· New Zealand is a leading nation in contribution made by volunteers. A recent study of the New Zealand Non-profit sector estimated that volunteers make up 67 per cent of non-profit workforce equal to 133,799 full time positions, a higher proportion than in any of the other 40 world countries participating in the research project. This represents 6.4 per cent of economically active population.

· Non-profit institutions contributed 2.6 per cent to New Zealand’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2004. When volunteer labour is included, non-profit institutions’ contribution to GDP increases from 2.6 percent to 4.9 percent.

· More than one million New Zealanders are actively involved in volunteer work. Statistics NZ estimated that in the year ended March 2004, there were 1,011,600 who volunteered for one or more of 97,000 non-profit organisations. This represented 31 percent of the population aged 12 and over.

· New Zealanders contribute 270 million hours of formal, unpaid work for non-profit organisations annually. The time given has been valued at almost $3.31 billion in the year ended March 2004.

· Volunteers contribute these millions of unpaid hours to human rights, faith communities, health, education, sports and recreation, social services, arts and culture, emergency services, the environment and conservation, animal welfare, and community support and development.

· When reporting on unpaid activities undertaken in the 4 weeks prior to the 2006 NZ Census:

- 460,143 people (14.56%) aged 15 years and over looked after a child who did not live in their household

- 258,708 people (8.13%) aged 15 years and over helped someone who was ill or had a disability, and did not live in their household

- 437,241 people (13.84%) aged 15 years and over were involved in other helping or voluntary work for or through an organisation, group or marae

· Some community and voluntary organisations report shortages of volunteers, but others have waiting lists and have more potential volunteers than they need. The underlying reason for either of these situations is often how the organisation manages its overall volunteer programme from recruitment through orientation and training to support and manage the volunteers. In addition, the issue might be a supply and demand one – volunteering hasn’t declined but demand has gone up, and many people prefer ‘project-type’ volunteering over long-term commitments.

· There is an ongoing research into various aspects of volunteering in New Zealand. An inventory of existing NZ research is available at www.volunteeringnz.org.nz/resources/research.php and www.ocvs.govt.nz/work-programme/volunteering-research.html.

Those statistics make impressive reading. It’s clear the social fabric of the country would be seriously impaired without the contribution of this army of volunteers. So why volunteer?

Why not is the obvious answer. For me though it’s about making a contribution and performing a service to your community. You can think of it as giving back something or simply being grateful for what you have in your life and projecting that gratitude out into the world.

And it’s free. All you give is your time. It keeps your feet on the ground, teaches you humility and opens your eyes to people and situations you may not come across in your daily life. All in all its a fabulous thing to do.

I’ve been a volunteer for a 3 years now and am involved in 3 different organisations. I’ll tell you a bit about them because I simply want to promote them and hope that maybe someone out there will find that it spurs them on to get involved.

I’ve been a Budget Service Advisor for Christchurch Budget Services for a few years now. It’s a debt counselling service focused on helping people understand basic budgeting and how to navigate their way out of the debt trap and take a responsible approach to managing their financial position. i’ve met some interesting people and hopefully helped them on their way to a better position for themselves. Sometimes i’ve felt like a personal counsellor as well as often money issues can reveal personal problems. You don’t have to be an expert in money issues as full training is provided. What i like about it is there is often a very concrete outcome and i love taking financial and lending organisations to task! I’ve yet to meet anyone who isn’t serious about paying off their debts. But boy I wish i’d been around before they started!!

Nearly a year ago I joined up with PILLARS, an organisation dedicated to improving the lives of children who have parents in prison. They match volunteers with these children for a year’s worth of mentoring in the hope that it will have a positive impact. It really does. It’s a proactive approach to ended the cycle of criminalty and making sure these children are not lost and forgotten by adults when their parents disappear for no fault of the child’s. It’s been anincredible experience getting to know a young boy who has come from a very difficult family situation. The role is to spend 2-6 hours a fortnight with your mentee basically hanging out and doing stuff and be able to commit for a year. We’ve done all sorts over the last year: biking, climbing, mini-golf, walking, playing in the park, reading in the library, wandering around town visiting the various sites. It takes time getting to know a child who is often naturally wary of strangers but the rewards come later. Again all it takes is a bit of your time and a belief that all children deserve a decent crack. It’s a wonderful organisation to be involved in and lots of training is provided with courses throughout the year.

This year I decided to volunteer at Refugee Services and help a family resettle in Christchurch. Each year the UN resettles thousands of refugees in third party countries, where there is no hope of return to one’s homeland and the country they are currently in will not take them permanently. New Zealand takes about 750 a year of these “quota refugees” and helps them settle into their new life. There is a very thorough training program to prepare you for the job ahead. It’s a 6 month commitmnet but usually it’s the first 4 weeks that are full on and then it settles down. You work in teams and all undertake different tasks such as dealing with WINZ (that’s me!), housing, education, health, english language and general hospitality. My team has been helping a Bhutanese family settle in. It’s been a marvellous experience and has really stretched me at times. The families arrive almost as a clean slate and hurriedly must put a new life together. Yet they are so keen, hopeful and desperate to start a normal life, get jobs and contribute. They are immensely grateful for the help New Zealand has provided. As a volunteer it’s a chance to make a real difference and also experience a new culture and have your eyes opened to the lives that some people live through no fault of their own. Globally the refugee community numbers over 11m people……people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes and in many cases will never go back.

It makes me feel very humble and very grateful for the comfortable life I have. I think that’s what volunteering really does. It makes you appreciate what you have; it connects you with your fellow man; it teaches you new skills and it takes you out of your comfort zone.

As the proverb states; ” You must give in order to receive”.

So what’s stopping you?

This is a no brainer.

Intel donating 25cts for every time you click on this page.

There are links to Global Giving, Save the Children and of course Kiva!

Giving as a way of life, monetarily or time wise, is a growing movement. Technology and social media is helping this really transform the process of philanthropy. It’s creating social innovation and driving potential long terms changes in how society can work.

Perhaps even sending a signal to the tax and welfare system. Maybe we don’t need big government. Maybe something new will come from all of this.

This story comes from those good folks over at Ode. Remember the days of VSO, working abroad as a volunteer, helping out in any way you could? Well now you can do it from the comfort of your own home.

Nabuur.com has launched an online resources to connect villages with helpers…online. Projects get posted up and help asked for. Then volunteers with particular skills can connect with these projects and provide the service. It sounds like another great way to connect people and let ideas and skills flow around the system.

It also allows for a wider pool of people to offer up knowledge and skills they have but may, for whatever reason, not be in a position to share in person.