Photo credit: www.nerdseyeview.com

By Lisa T. Bergren

I admit to passing by beggars around the world, giving here and there, but what always gets me are kids, begging, looking hungry, dirty, needing to be in school. As I trudge by, often with my own children in tow, I wonder where their mothers are, what their life is really like on the street. Are they sex slaves? Handing over P&B money (or their local alternative) to some master that rules their lives? What I long to do is see these kids in school. If they’re in school, they have hope, a future. Potential…about to be realized. It’s why we support a Compassion International kiddo, born on the same day as my Middlest. And it’s why we @TheWorldCalls is supporting this Passports for Purpose project.

Pam Mandel, of www.NerdsEyeView.com has been to Cambodia. I haven’t been there myself, but I understand her compassion. She wrote this for www.theplanetd.com:

Have you been to Cambodia? It probably doesn’t matter if you have or not — it’s likely that if you’ve traveled far or to lesser developed places in the world you’ve come face to face with a sweet eyed child selling you postcards, asking for money, or just roaming about looking underfed.

It’s a blow to my chest every time. I know in my head that I am supposed to say no, that giving to street kids often means your money ends up in the hands of thuggish adults, that it rarely helps. I know that I am supposed to give to causes that help, that I should find a way to support local businesses, that the way my travel dollars are spent makes a difference. I have this conversation with myself and then, sometimes I get back home, make a big donation, and feel better. But also, if I’m honest, sometimes I get back home and I forget, the memory of a kid who should be in school but is, instead, standing in the dust trying to sell me bottled water out of a dirty cooler replaced by the wonder of antiquities seen or stories of the funny and strange stuff that travels are made of.

Except that when I left Cambodia, I could not forget.

Here’s the thing. I can’t forget them either. Even though I haven’t been to Cambodia. The kids Pam describes are the children I can see anywhere, everywhere. As a mom, I see my own children, in a different year, a different location, a different circumstance. What would happen if something happened to us, our nearest and dearest, our home, our nation? What would happen to our kids? Could they make it? Would they have a chance at an education, a future?

The fact is, we’re all just about four steps away from disaster…maybe closer. And children around the world are really a bit our own—second- or third-cousins of a sort. So in the spirit of family…of a greater world, a vision for connection and love and hope and peace, please consider supporting Passports with a Purpose…

Bonus: There are prizes involved. Amazing prizes. Hotel stays.  Flip cameras. More. Every $10 you donate gives you a chance at one of the prizes! Your chance at ‘em ends December 21; prizes announced January 5th.

So please…give $10 o $100 or $1000 to Passports for Purpose. It’s a tax deductible donation. But it’s also an investment into children..humanity…the world. One link adds to a chain that can change the world. So join the chain. In a small, or a big way. $10 or $100 or $1000. It really can make a difference. I’m going to donate my own funds now…