Here's to the "My Teacher My Hero" project, allowing us to honor those teachers who imprint us indelibly. Thank you Miss O! Thank you Prof. Trachtenberg!
Who are your favorite teachers? And who has taught you, directly or indirectly, about giving, philanthropy, social investment, generosity? What are the key lessons you've already learned? Teach us and each other! We want to learn from you.
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The "teacher" I credit most with teaching me about philanthropy, generosity, and compassion was my best friend and mentor Joe Opatowski. He was my facilitator on a trip with Free the Children to Ecuador. He was a magnetic figure, always the center of attention. When he talked to you, you felt you were the center of the world. He raised his two younger brothers when his family life fell apart, but learned that "he wasn't the only one" (as he used to say) and that there are always others with bigger problems in need of your help. He taught me how to change people through forgiveness and how to grow by giving without need for reciprocation. When he died (five years ago this month) at the age of 21, I kept these lessons close to me. I still try to double my impact to compensate for the gaping hole he left in the universe. In his honor, I fundraised to build a school in Kenya, then continued on insatiably to build a school in Sierra Leone. I've challenged myself in my grief to remember that I'm never "the only one." Whenever I see someone in need, I remember Joe and the courage behind his kindness. Then I step forward and try to make him proud.
ReplyDeleteI've had too many inspirational teachers who've had a profound impact on my life to pick just one, or even two. However, the teacher who currently has the greatest impact on my life and the choices I make is Monshin Paul Naamon, one of my college professors and the abbot of the Buddhist temple I attended while there. Professor Naamon taught a class on medical anthropology which helped me figure out how my different interests and passions fit together and where that leads me as well as a surprising amount about how the world works. He was also always willing to help me along outside of class with recommendations and simply as a knowledgeable person to bounce ideas off of.
ReplyDeleteThe person/teacher i credit the most with teaching me about philanthropy, genorosity, and compassion was my grandmother Ana Maria. Despite her strict and rather short temper, my grandmother Ana is the most giving and compassionate person I know. She became a school teacher in NYC after having 5 children! She sponsors an event every year, drawing attention to children and parents on the importance of education in our hometown in Guatemala. There are games, prizes (including toys and school supplies), food, drinks, and music. She holds this event before the school year starts in Guatemala to promote her upcoming fundraiser. She heads a small group of sponsors who commit to donating 120 dollars a year to provide a child a scholarship to attend a private school in town. It's a small organization that she started on her own and which she's included the entire family in. Many of us help her with her sponsorships and the annual event she hosts every year. She works closely with the schools the children attend and is VERY money smart! She is quite the bargainer! She works miracles with few resources and invests her own money towards the cause. Although it is not a large organization it has a high social impact in that specific area in Guatemala. That's what i've learned from working with her, that no matter how small and low budget a project may be, there are so many creative and cheap ways to make a difference in someone's life.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher that has contributed the most to my understanding of philanthropy, social investment, and generosity (although it is not my favorite teacher) is the world. Through violence, exploitation, white supremacy, and class domination, I have learned how to seek justice, love, and peace. As I came of age in my New Jersey school system, I was taught a history that is belittling to my ancestors, incomplete, and overall damaging to my self-esteem. I grew up watching movies and T.V. shows that showed people who look like me either doing something bad, being in jail, or being killed. After a lot of confusion and hurt, I began to look for questions and answers to heal the pain.
ReplyDeleteIs this really the way things are? Why are things this way? What can I do to change this and make the world a better place?
Nowadays I know that most of the stuff in movies and on T.V. is propaganda, and its the stuff that people calling the shots want you to see. I know that the majority of global history has been withheld from us in school and that what was told to us was mostly perverted. In my search of finding out WHY things are the way they are, I came to a pretty helpful tool: economics.
The material rewards and comforts that come from exploiting other people, stealing resources, and hording wealth, are all motivations behind acting in a greedy, selfish way. In our economy, businesses exist to make the most money possible, and they cut costs by any means necessary, even if that is destroying the lives of the workers who make the company possible.
So now I'm like hold up, no way, there has got to be a better way. I can't go along with this program because a) it hurts people all over the world and b) it hurts me inside to accept and encourage this way of doing business.
Social businesses, redistributing wealth/resources through philanthropy, and a consciousness and love for other people are the way to go to fill my life with joy. I want to hug people and eat food with them and laugh and be happy. It's too bad that to figure this out, me and a lot of other people have had to withstand A LOT of hardship and suffering, but it has taught me how to look for both questions and answers needed to find peace. In a world on fire, that might blow up if we don't stop damaging the environment, the best self interest for us all is caring for one another.
peace
your inspiring comments make me want to revise my "My Teacher,My Hero" video, so I can pay tribute to those great teachers from whom I'm always learning: my students.
ReplyDeleteMy mother has taught me how to think about the connection between money and values. She is constantly asking the question "what is money for?" Her teaching is that yes, money can help us to be happy when you use it wisely, but this does not mean accumulating as many material things as possible. It means using money, no matter how much or how little you have, to shape the world according to your vision. After 35 years as an artist, all of these thoughts led her to throw herself into a second career; She is now the director of communications for Green Microfinance. I learn from her every day about both how to give and how to receive.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I credit most with teaching me about philanthropy, generosity, and compassion is my mother. She always gives out food, shelter, clothes to the needs. She was and still deeply involve with the community. She taught me how to give back to the community. I try to follow her steps providing schools supplies for 100 young students in Koalack, Senegal who don’t have money to get their school supplies. I was so happy last year when one of the parents personally came to me, and told me how much I have helped her. I was happy that I made a difference in someone’s life. I hope to “Be The Change”.
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