My first two weeks of action entailed that I researched for non-profit organizations that help make clean/ safe water for third world countries or countries in general that needs it overall and pick two of those organization that I would like to support and advertise them all over my social media sites. I have accomplished the first part of my plan and I have found two organization that I would like to support and those are The Clear Blue Global Water Project and The National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation. I went with two organizations that are headquartered in Ohio because I fill like I would have an easier access to them if I ever want to get involved in volunteer work. The Clear Blue Global Water Project is based off Akron, OH and it focuses on making clean water available for Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Iraq, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Tanzania, and Uganda. The National Ground Water Research and Educational Foundation is based off Westerville, OH and focuses on research, education, and charitable activities that the foundation can do to get clean water available overseas. They also rely on volunteers to construct water wells and service/ rehabilitate existing water wells and pump systems. Both organization majorly rely on donations and funding from outside sources in order to accomplish their goals. Finding nonprofit organizations for my issue was not hard it was hard just picking two of them but when I narrowed them down to Ohio it got easier. Now advertising them on my social media hasn’t been as good because I’m not very active on them but I’m going to do a better job when I try raising money for each organization in the following weeks. The hardest part about my goals though is going to be raising funding for both organizations. But I’m going to try to do my best.

So when I first looked at non-profits organizations I thought that they had to get loans from banks and such to start the organization and build it. But I learned from class though that that was not the case, it was that they had to make a proposal about what they were going to do and what they were going to be involved in and present it to the city council in order to get a grant from the city so they could accomplish what they had set out to do. I thought that that was interesting especially since I had my information all wrong and it was also very smart and beneficiary towards organizations because they didn’t have to worry about paying back money, they could just focus on what to do with the grant that they had received and just figure out how to spend the money to get the best results. I was also very interested that both speakers for their organization were eager to get people involved with helping out in their organizations but was also surprised that they were willing to pay some people that volunteered their jobs and ultimately get a job at their organizations. After finding all of these out I’ve now got an interest into finding a non-profit organization that deals with obtaining clean water for third world countries and volunteer some of my time there. And since I now know that there are positions that can be paid I can also look into that so I can just work and volunteer at my organization more time without having to worry into cutting into the time that I should be working and making a living for myself.

For the first week I’m going to dedicate my free time towards finding two nonprofit organizations that help out with obtaining clean, safe, and drinkable water for third world and developing countries. What I going to be hard about this action is narrowing down my choices towards two organizations that I want to focus on and help. For the second week I’m going to advertise both of the organizations that I have picked throughout all of my social media sites. What’s going to be hard about this is remembering to post them and daily but not to over post because then I lose interest of those that I’m trying to get their attention. For the third week I will focus on one organization throughout my sites and hopefully fund raise money that I can donate back to that organization. What’s going to be hard about this is getting people to donate money for a cause that doesn’t affect them so they don’t think their money is worth it. For the fourth week I will focus on the other organization and do the same thing: advertise it and try to collect funding for it. What is going to be hard about this one is trying to collect more money from people who have already donated for the other organization and also trying to find a new audience so I have a better chance at collecting money.

Non-profits organizations are businesses that outside income solely goes towards maintaining the business afloat and the rest of the money goes toward a cause. Non-profits are beneficial towards communities and issues worldwide but are hard to start up because of the money element. Just like any organization to start it up you need to invest in buildings and licenses to get approved therefore, it takes quite a while before you’re actually making an income that could go towards outside issues. Although non-profits are different from social enterprises in the way that they don’t have to sell something in order to get money to go towards an issue. Non-profits income mostly comes from donations from outside charities, companies, and people. In order to get involved with non-profits you have to search for one that helps out your issue. Afterwards you can volunteer for the organization or make monthly donations because they don’t have to be a lot. Every penny counts. I myself am going to find an organization that pertains towards my issue and volunteer for it if I can. Some challenges that I’m going to face is finding an organization that takes volunteer because now community service is a big part of education growing up that too many people are involved and not enough positions are open. The most important thing to consider when looking at how to help out my issue through a non-profit work lens is knowing what organizations have already broke even with their loans and which on is doing the most change positively towards my issue so I know that I’m contributing more directly towards my issue and not the organization itself. Non-Profits based on the justice oriented model on the first level of Personal Responsible Citizen the person who donates towards a non-profit is taking action personally. In the second level which is Participatory citizen would be someone who just doesn’t donate towards a non-profit organization but also takes a leadership volunteer position within the organization. In the third level which is Social Justice Oriented Citizen the non-profits leadership board is contributing because they are the ones that have to research the best methods to get donations and how to use that money to cause the greatest impact in their issue. The Ted Talk that I found that addresses my issue with non-profits is called “What Non-profits can learn from Coca-Cola” given by Malinda Gates. The Ted Talk addresses how non-profits should think like the Coca-Cola organization such as they insure that every remote village can get an ice cold Coca-Cola. Therefore non-profits specially those for obtaining drinkable water for third world countries should have a marketing component that ensure your corporations gives people in remote villages to get their hands on at least a safe drinkable cup of water. It goes into detail how non-profits need to put themselves out on marketing more in a way that is observable for all people to think that their donation gives people in hundreds of remote villages a chance at getting their hand on drinkable water.

What I heard in class from our speaker abut social enterprise gives me a different view to look at. I thought that a company/ business would only focus on one issue and support it but what I took away from the speaker was that they decided every month to support different issues around the world. Also, I though their money went directly to the country that the issue was at to do something about it but the money actually goes towards another company that does specify in an specific issue and then they put it towards the issue directly. So, I thought everything was done in the spot and directly but it has actually got to go down a chain until it gets to the issue. Therefore when I go to use a business to support an issue I have to figure out all the companies that they might support and see towards what issues my money could go towards. My biggest takeaway from the class and speaker was how a little could go a long way and how little by little things accumulate and you have the potential to make a big difference in somebody else’s life. What I personally would like to do now that I have learned more deeply how social enterprise works is find a business that potentially supports my issue of clean water in third world countries and issues related to it. Now I know that businesses could support many issues at a time so I would have to find one that covers my issue specifically and issues that surround it.

Social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being—this may include maximizing social impact alongside profits for external shareholders. The issue I’m focusing on is having sustainable water available for third world countries. Companies over time have done social enterprise to help get sustainable water to third world countries. Although they just don’t invest right off the bat at accumulating money and buying water to send overseas. They actually invest in tools and scientist so they can go to the third world countries and dug up Wells if they can so a city has access to water. Although some may have to walk a little bit to reach the water they at least now have a reliable and safe source to get water from. A way that I can get more involved in my issue through social enterprise is researching deeply to see the majority of the companies participating. Also, I should look more deeply into what exactly the money is going for when it comes to getting water available for third world countries. Such as if they’re investing into tools to dug up wells, contractors, developers, etc. After I get all the information I need, I would decide which company in my opinion has the most to offer with my money towards helping out people in third world countries because water specifically safe water is needed for an organism such as humans to live. Some companies collect your money by putting a percentage of the sales of a certain product towards their well-doing, so I would go in and by the product if I have extra money. Even if I didn’t need the product I would still get it and maybe give it to someone else because the money is going towards a good cause, a cause that I have had personal experience with. Challenges that I may face is trying to find in detail what each companies money is specifically going towards because sometimes what they say is not exactly what they’re doing especially when it comes to big corporal companies compared to local shops. The most important thing to consider when viewing my issue through social enterprise is that the money is going towards what they are advertising and make sure that it is. When it comes to the Justice-Oriented Citizen Model on the personally responsibility citizen level those who are buying from a company that puts some of their money towards an issue are taking personal responsibility to see good changes being made in an issue they care about. In the Participatory citizen level the companies that are volunteering to make money for an issue to be resolved are making a change indirectly but providing the most important thing towards the issue which is financial backing also put in the research of what they have to do to be able to contribute and get the word out. In the Social-Justice Oriented citizen level  the companies involved toward helping out the issue research what people are buying and in need of so they can promote the product and the fact that some of the proceeds are going towards a good cause.

The Ted Talk I found is by Michael Porter called “The case for letting business solve social problems.” My key take away from this ted talk was the reasoning of why businesses decide to tackle on social problems and that is publicity. It makes the company look good so people would want to buy more from them which lets them make a bigger profit even if some of the proceeds are being sent away.

Ted Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_porter_why_business_can_be_good_at_solving_social_problems

The three issue that I have chosen for the issue exploration assignment are food, water, and access to education. I have chosen these three issues because I have personal experience with being born in Peru and living there for half of my life, not a third world country but still less fortunate and harder living conditions compared to the US.  Saying that I’m not solely concentrating on how this issues effect just the US but can affect the lives of people worldwide.

Starting with food, it’s an essential part of keeping humans alive. Without it entirely people would die, but having it and being contaminated or not plentiful can also lead to death. Comparing the three pillars of sustainability between US and Peru when it comes to food can be eye opening. The US overall has a better economy which means that they have the availability to buy and sell organic products which are better for the environment such as it’s not being polluted by pesticides and the animals are not being put under growth hormones. This also means that the US society has more options as to what they want to put in their bodies and how it’s going to affect them. Peru though has a lower population income which limits their availability n what types of food they can provide their population. Although they have less income the process of agriculture and meat industry in Peru is more environmentally safe then in the US because they don’t have the income to use man-made chemicals to speed the process of making food. Although the society has less options their options are better to consume then those from the US in general but the amount of poverty in Peru also keeps some of the population hungry.

Water is a big problem in third world country such as those found in Africa, Central America, and South America. Because the US has the income and availability to provide water all around the country, the society doesn’t have to worry that much about if they’re going to have water available to them and if the water is safe although there are some problems around the US with safe water such as the case in Flint, overall compared to Peru a much better situation. Because the water is safe it’s healthier for the environment in the US because it helps maintain the land fertilize and keeps it from dying because of unknown minerals in the water or feces. In Peru though water is not available to the whole country because of economic issues and to those that it’s available it’s only available for a couple of hours each day. This causes the society to struggle when it comes to hygiene and food because they need water to get those two needs taken care of. Because the water is not available all day people who have the income have to buy big tanks of water so that when the water is available they can store water for the rest of the day and hopefully won’t run out. The shortage of water has to do also with how people in Peru treat their rivers and water sources, a lot of time trash and feces is thrown into the rivers which ruin the environment by drying out the rivers and contaminating the water and also because of the water shortage people wash their clothes in rivers which also contaminates the water with chemicals. In Peru, you must boil water before any kind of usage, drinking tap water is not a thing in Peru like it is in the US.

Access to education in the US is available throughout the nation to all social classes. Due to the government being involved with the nation’s welfare when it comes to education and having the income to support it there’s public school nationwide that accommodate all social classes. Because the nation is able to get an education it raises the standard of living for US citizens compared to those of Peru because of the availability to schools more people are able to get an education. Being educated also can relate to knowing what to do in order to keep the environment more sustainable and alive, such as recycling and what to throw in the rivers. In Peru though there are public school but just a few that it’s on a first come first serve basis for an education. Also because of the amount of poverty in Peru some kids have to opt out from going to school in order to help out their family economically. As a society, nationwide Peru is not the best when it comes to academic scores compared to those to other nations such as the US. Also, the lack of education can correlate as to how Peruvians treat their environment such as their water supply which they throw chemicals into without knowing how much that can affect them in the future as to how bad the water supply is already.

I have decided for the rest of the semester that I’m going to concentrate on the issue of water because of its importance to human life. To get engaged with my issue I will throughoutly research it and go worldwide also. I might stumble upon getting all the right facts and statistics depending on how websites contradict themselves overall and because of the abundance of knowledge I’ll have trouble on deciding what to use and not.

The Roosevelt Coffee House was the second coffee place that I went to. There I got an iced cafe latte and it was pretty good, not too strong or too weak. Where you had to order at was pretty confusing because it wasn’t clear to see and the atmosphere was too modern fro my taste. There was lots of space to sit at and the music was lively but the atmosphere overall didn’t really sit well with me and it was also pretty far away from campus and a little bit of a walk after you got out of the bus. I wouldn’t personally recommend the place to one of my friends.

Mission coffee was the third coffee house that I visited. There I got an ice chai latte which was really good. Sometimes when you get anything with chai it’s watered down and you can’t really taste it but this drink was strong and you could taste all the herbs and spices. It was probably one of the best chai lattes I had ever tasted. Although the drink was great at this place the actual place wasn’t very impressive. It had a couple long tables that sat about 8 each table and then some couches and some bar stools. I didn’t like the way that the sitting was organized because it was inconvenient such as you had to sit with people you had never met and also if you were trying to do work there wasn’t enough space for you to lay your stuff out without getting in someone else space. The music was nice and mellow. I would recommend this place for the drinks but not to stay.

Impero was the fourth coffee house that I visited. There I got a honey latte that was delicious although a little too sweet for my taste it was still really good. Although there wasn’t a lot of sitting available me and Ursula were able to snatch ourselves a table which was pretty nice. They also had free wifi so we could work on our laptops, you do have to ask for the password but after you get it it’s great. The music they had playing was a soft soothing jazz I think but it was great background noise while I studied. I would definitely recommend this place to anybody that’s looking for a quite spot to study while sipping some delicious drinks.

Fox in the Snow Cafe was the fifth and last cafe house that I visited. There I got a Pecan sticky bun that was super duper delicious. I opted out for a pastry instead of a coffee drink here because they make all of their pastries and I was getting kinda tired of coffee. It was a great choice and the atmosphere was lively but with an old feeling kinda vibe. Definitely would recommend this place for anybody that has a sweet tooth.

My favorite experience of this semester so far was going out in Columbus and learning how to work public transport in order to get to the coffee places. Figuring public transport has led me to venture out of campus and visit sites such as the zoo and even going out to the Easton Mall. For somebody doing the same list as me in the future I would let them know to not be afraid to get lost on the way to a cafe because you might come upon something cool especially if you’re in the short north.