d'Arcy Lunn

I love Australian Rules football and cricket, I always have and I still do. But until the age of 22, that was about all I had a passion for.

Then I decided to follow up on a then new passion of mine: climbing mountains. So I chose a small country with big mountains to go to named Kyrgyzstan (also the world’s most difficult country to spell). I was instantly mesmerised by the 7000m mountains that filled my horizons and the beauty of the culture and people. While I was getting my Kyrgyz visa in London, one of the consulate staff said they had a friend who I should visit while there, a professor at a university in the east of the country. I was a newly graduated teacher myself so I thought this would be a good idea to go and visit and maybe volunteer for a week before I took off to the mountains.

That week has more or less lasted for the past 15 years and now in over 80 countries.

I completely fell in love with volunteering, cultural immersion and working with people to address issues of equality and justice. In my first month of volunteering in beautiful Karakol, in eastern Kyrgyzstan, I worked with an incredible group of women my own age and learnt more from them that I had learnt from anyone else in my life to that point. While I got a degree from a university in Australia, it was really the university in Kyrgyzstan that gave me an education in life.

A few months after my volunteering in Kyrgyzstan and then Mongolia I did some paid teaching in South Korea. There was a moment in South Korea that it hit me:. Why…? Why me…? Why was the world so unequal? That moment was when the paper money of Korean Won hit my hand after my first week of teaching. 

I had just been paid more money per hour than my friends and colleagues in Kyrgyzstan earned in a month, but here’s the thing - I didn’t worker harder than my friends, I wasn’t smarter, I didn’t work longer hours. The only difference between us was where we were born. Having been born in Australia, I had access and opportunity to do what I wanted in the world.

When I felt the world shift as the cold facts of reality and injustice dawned on me, it struck me that I had to do more to find out answers and work on solutions. My journey since Kyrgyzstan 15 years ago has taken me into two definite strands of life:

Listening, learning and trying to be of service to communities in developing countries

Advocating, campaigning, awareness-raising and educating others in developed countries.

What Giving What We Can has added to my life is not only a framework to have my financial justice house in order by giving at least 10% of any money I earn (since I don’t earn a salary from any one organisation and mostly still volunteer). 

It has also given me an opportunity to advocate on why overseas aid is important, how effective it is, and why I care and contribute not only in donations but also in time, effort, energy and passion towards making sure we all have access and opportunity no matter where we are born.

In September this year I visited Kyrgyzstan once again for the first time in 15 years. I no longer saw the same level of extreme poverty. It seemed people no longer had to make terrible choices between less food per day or to buy the medicines they needed. That is the basic kind of choice and opportunity I hope to see for everyone, everywhere and forever.

Giving What We Can is not only about getting our finances in order. It is also about engaging us with great people doing great things. So be sure to not just give your money but also lend your voice as to why giving is important to you. I strongly encourage everyone to share with others - especially your local MP - why you care about making a difference in the world and be a part of the solution for a better world for everyone, everywhere and forever.

Your voice is just as important as your donation. It is up to us to create a community and culture of being generous to others, so that our community, business and political leaders can also follow our lead or make good decisions on our behalf. We are lucky to be able to be part of the movement that can end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and protect the planet. Make sure others know about it and the positive impact Giving What We Can is having on the global community, contributing to opportunity for all.

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Why I not only give what I can but also campaign for Giving What We Can

Greetings from the Protection of Civilians (PoC) camp in Bentiu, Unity State northern South Sudan. I’m here working with UNICEF South Sudan as a communications specialist for the polio eradication program.

That paragraph should suggest that Giving What We Can is a natural and almost automatic fit for me. But I’m happy/sorry to say I am a new recruit to Giving What We Can.

In the past 15 years I have dedicated my time and energy working towards the end of extreme poverty. My goal is that anyone born anywhere will have access to a life like the one I am fortunate enough to have, and which over a billion people today still don’t have.

give not out of sympathy or charity but through empathy and justice

the lottery of having food, water, shelter, education, health and security should not be decided by where you are born

One of the reasons it has taken me a while to make a financial declaration of my global poverty ambitions is that I have largely been a perpetual volunteer. I still spend most of the year not earning money. But this should not be an excuse, especially as I set myself the enriching pursuit of being the best humanitarian I can be.

I will always have more than the people I aim to serve and support.

 It is a privilege that I can afford to volunteer, work, or be in their country, either out of my own pocket or on an organized program. I don’t have to financially support my own family and community in Australia or make any sacrifices to my lifestyle (let alone my own well-being) - as I see people doing on a daily basis here in South Sudan.

But here’s the secret that I already knew but didn’t convert into dollars…

The more I give of my time and efforts, the more I receive in learning, sharing, experiences, perspectives and more. I feel filthy rich from my learning and experiences in the past 15 years in over 70 countries around the world. It feels good to commit at least 10% on any money I earn regardless of my accumulated wealth (or lack of it over a year), adding my value to the world, and increasing my effectiveness as an active global citizen, including financially.

If anyone should already know this it should me, as I connect with great people doing great things in difficult circumstances on a daily basis. I know donations translate into the vaccine that went into the elderly woman’s mouth today so she can escape catching cholera this rainy season; to train tireless home health promoters to deliver important and new messages on routine immunisation; to allow mothers to access health facilities to give birth; and also to the folks from UNFPA who lead a graphic but significant discussion with community leaders on gender based violence. None of these programs would happen without support from UN agencies, NGO’s, local Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and now committed donors like me and hopefully you!

I’m fortunate in my life that I gain from giving in many ways, but I also don’t have other responsibilities. 

If you are giving what you can, know that it has a significant part to play in reaching a world without extreme poverty

My time with UNICEF in South Sudan is close to an end and for the next six months I will be back on the volunteer trail doing the other form of giving (and receiving) that I love: advocacy, education and global awareness presentations. I will be travelling from the Middle East to Australia via Turkey, the Balkans, Europe, Central Asia and SE Asia on a global citizen presentation tour called 

. I will be sharing personal choices, decisions and actions that have a positive impact on people and the planet. I hope to create teaspoons of change and advocate for Giving What We Can as a very significant teaspoon of change.

I thank Giving What We Can for providing the platform, ignition and support for me to commit on a financial level. Anyone, anywhere can also share in the gift of giving and all the receiving that comes from it - so be sure to check it all out by exploring the Giving What We Can 

d'Arcy Lunn

Articles

Why I not only give what I can but also campaign for Giving What We Can

Giving Is Receiving