Here at TDC we’ve been doing a lot of work. We’ve honed our mission and vision, formed a coalition of student groups to organize the Month of Microfinance, and been working on the Poverty Action Conference for this October. We’ve also incorporated as a nonprofit in the state of Virginia, Read more
By Meredith Greenwell and Laura Dick
Monsignor Ivan Illich, in his address (“To Hell with Good Intentions“) to the Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects (CIASP) in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on April 20, 1968, presents a biting condemnation of student volunteer programs abroad for their arrogant idealism. Even today, his critiques apply to students from developed countries taking part in any “development” venture. The Two Dollar Challenge, as a student-run organization recognizes that we cannot help anyone with good intentions, however, we would choose to add one word to Illich’s critique: alone. We cannot help anyone with good intentions alone. (more…)
Nearly half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. For one week, we are asking you to join them. During the month of April, students across the country can among other things live on $2 a day to help raise funds and awareness for their domestic or global microfinance organization Read more
With the support of Whole Planet Foundation, four US college students spent the summer of 2010 shooting a documentary in Guatemala to demonstrate the reality of living on less than one dollar a day. In order to gain this understanding, they conducted research on how the rural poor manage their money. In a creatively youthful way, they did their research by working alongside their neighbors, conducting interviews, and creating financial diaries, all the while subsisting on less than one dollar a day themselves. The goals of this film are twofold. First, to increase awareness about how access to reliable financial services, such as microfinance, can help the poor. Second, to raise $100,000 dollars for Grameen Guatemala and Fonkoze in Haiti, whose borrowers have been recently devastated by natural disasters:
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The Two Dollar Challenge and Opportunity International were selected, after a nationally competitive application process, as a “Top 10” program by the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy. On Wednesday, November 17, during the summit convened by the USCCD in conjunction with the U.S. State Department, TDC and Opportunity presented their efforts to involve citizens in fighting poverty and disease—one of seven “global challenges” highlighted at the summit.
The Two Dollar Challenge rolls out an Instructor’s Guide for Challenge Week! Challenge Week can be integrated into any class that touches upon the issue of global poverty – economics, business, geography, sociology, political science, engineering, and environmental science. Challenge Week has been proven effective at both the university and Read more