Five for Fighting — What Kind of World Do You Want?
January 27th, 2008
I am working on a visit for you in China with an NGO that works with orphans in China. This will help us better understand how non-profits work in China, their challenges and opportunities, and how they differ from their US counterparts.
If you are in such a disadvantaged class, China is one tough place to be. The chances of you making a decent life for yourself if you are an orphan or somehow disabled there are very, very low. I can’t at this point promise this NGO visit will work out, but will do what I can to push this along.
So a friend sent me this amazing and beautiful video, and it made me stop for just a moment, and think about children in places like China, America, Iraq, the Sudan, now Kenya, and the rest of the world who are in need in some way, shape or form.
The band, Five for Fighting, is generously donating $0.49 to Autism Speaks for *each time* this VIDEO is viewed. The funding goes toward research studies to help find a cure for autism. When you have a moment, please visit the link below to watch the video and pass it along to your friends and family. And as you watch it, turn up the music as loud as you can and let the words and their power hit you.
They are aiming for 10,000 hits, but hopefully we can help them to surpass this goal.
And this is apparently the real deal and and autism research gets money for each time viewed. Check it out.
Entry Filed under: Pre-Departure, China
11 Comments Add your own
1. Sin-Yaw Wang | January 27th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Chris, enjoyed you blogs and have subscribed it.
Poverty and war are cruel natural selectors. Disadvantaged perishes much faster when subject to them. China (and few more countries/regions) is no stranger to both of them.
2. Simeon Trieu | January 27th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
The video was very touching.. I can imagine that the disadvantaged are given no preferential treatment in China. Even the advantaged ones aren’t given enough due to the enormous population. I will definitely forward this around. Thanks for the post.
3. Pierre Michael | January 27th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
wow, that was an incredible video. 1 out of 150 children are autistic, I wonder if that holds true in China and India. That would certainly be a lot of people.
4. Chris Carr | January 28th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Sin-Yaw,
Thanks for the check in. Good to hear from you!
5. Gary Chou | January 30th, 2008 at 2:03 am
Wow that [visiting NGO in China] is the most exciting proposed event for me so far! (I am not excited about tourist type events actually, but more interested in visiting companies and places I wouldn’t be able to access as a tourist. I can come back to China as a tourist whenever I want, but the opportunity to get into the heart of its business leadership with a business school is rare!)
Anyway, thank you for scheduling such a meaningful and enlightening event. I really really really am interested in the non-profit sector, especially charitable/philanthropic organizations in China!
6. David Zarcone | January 30th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Not only was that a a great song, but it was a moving video. I think it’s great what Five for Fighting is doing, as many bands now take political stances. I can’t believe that they had a aim of 10,000 hits… they are well beyond that at 1,581,885. 1581885x$0.49 = $775123.65. That’s really impressive.
7. Catriona Banks-Orosco | February 5th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Thank you very much for the link to this video and cause. I suspect the actual number of kids with autism is higher than what is recorded on the video. Many kids are “borderline.” I friend of mine has a son that has been diagnosed with turrets, which is considered a form of autism. I also know at least 4 other families that have autistic children.
One “cause” that has been extensively denied by the medical community, but pushed by concerned parents, is the connection between heavy metals, including mercury from early vaccines, and autism. Infants in the US are bombarded with vaccines beginning days after birth. While I am grateful for the progress we have made in combating serious disease, I am also concerned that our current method of vaccinating for as many diseases as possible, as soon as possible, may not be the best idea.
It would be heartbreaking, but an excellent experience, to visit an orphanage in China. Thank you for looking into this opportunity.
8. Simeon Trieu | February 6th, 2008 at 12:37 am
While I don’t discount the seriousness of autism, I do question the numbers that are being put out here.. sometimes, physicians want to label a child and discount what parents say about their own children. [Video] Also, misdiagnosis and changes in diagnosis standards. Some children are misdiagnosed with autism instead of ADHD, and vice versa. We just need better information, more standardized diagnoses and more communication between parents and doctors.
9. Robyn Bowie | February 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Wow what a touching video. I’m going to have to remember to go back and make an effort to watch it again. It would be really amazing to learn about non-profits in China. Non-profits is something I am very interested in because I’ve worked with many over the years and they always face many challenges. I’m sure the challenges for a non-profit in China are much greater. It would be interesting to see the differences.
10. Frank Wallace | February 10th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
That was definitely a well put together video and it was very touching too. I am glad I can contribute 1 view to the cause. I had no idea the number of autistic children in America was so high (1 out of 150 will be diagnosed). Also, since I am a male, it’s even scarier that males are 4 times more likely to become autistic.
Pierre brought up a good question that I was also curious about, so I did some research and found that “a report on China Central Television (CCTV) claims that China has 1.8 million autistic persons, 400,000 of which are children.” Click here for more. That is a huge number and it just proves that autism is a serious problem around the world. I’m glad this video was made and is getting so many views. Update: Video now has been viewed 2,107,144 times, so Five for Fighting is going to dish out $1,033,2500.56, which might be more than they were expecting.
11. Frank Wallace | February 10th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Sorry, I can’t figure out how to hyperlink stuff. Here’s the link:
http://www.autismvox.com/statistics-for-autism-in-china/
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed