Every so often on Steemit we've witnessed some incredible efforts to make peoples' lives better. Obviously Steemit has brought a bit of good to all of our lives, but there are moments when the community really pulls through for particular members who are in need. We've seen this happen with medical bills, communities at risk, and even a burned-down family house. It's very energizing to see how differently we support one another (especially those we have never met in person) in this community vs. other social-media platforms.
This has really highlighted a new opportunity for Steemians and those looking to be involved more with Steemit – the capacity to monetize awareness. In real life for most of us, it's difficult to donate lots of our personal funds for social purposes. And unfortunately, we're not always 100% any donated funds will make its way completely to the people in need.
But on Steemit, just by upvoting, sharing, and resteeming, we can use a bit of our energy to help raise those needed funds.
Charity work isn't a big component on Steemit yet, but there have been some outstanding examples of its potential. I want to highlight exactly one such example today. As always, I'll be giving all Steem Dollars earned in these posts to the featured profile.
“Baby-box” Orphans
Throughout South Korea's post-war development from the 50s through the 80s, there was very little to spare. Every citizen was put to work in a nation-wide effort to bring Korea from ruins to the modern world. It's incredibly difficult to fathom now in one the world's most technologically and infrastructurally savvy countries, but the peninsula only recently developed past a third-world situation. Unfortunately still, many of the sentiments of that time persist.
One of those problematic practicies is orphaning children purposely. During post-wartime, poorer citizens would often abandon children they could not feed, in particular daughters who were seen as less favorable. Many were found in the trash and back alleys.
Today, the abandonment problem has gotten slightly better. Institutional orphanages are much more prevalent but the stigma and shame of orphaning their child still persuades many to abandon instead of going through a formal registration process and face penalties, both social and financial.
In more recent decades, some incredible individuals have set up “Baby Boxes.” These are basically mailboxes for children whose parents were resolute on giving up their children but could not bring themselves to an orphanage. Hosts would help take care of the children and transition them to more official institutions. It is a contested practice, one in which people accuse of promoting a harmful norm. But there is no doubt that it has had an impact as rates of street abandonment have gone down substantially.
For the best mainstream explanation of this, there is actually a movie on Netflix dedicated to this very problem and history.
Recently, I discovered that a new Steemit user was intimately involved with this cause.
@Girina79's Work
@Girina79 donates to and works with these orphans. In the past 2 weeks he's brought these activities to the KR community and has led efforts to raise both money and awareness. Not all the children at these centers are necessarily from “baby boxes” - some have been abused, some have run away from their homes. But all-in-all, they are children that have suffered mostly from within their families and need a new one. His most noticeable act has been to start the #kr-funding trail to curate his and similar efforts.
A great deal of @girina79's efforts has been “Steem-starting” donation drives with prizes such as postcards and other rewards.
On one of the latest donations, he registered the donor as “warm-hearted Steemians.” If STEEM can make an impact in this world, this is definitely a high example.
As we know, on Steemit every upvote counts. Not only for the funds that go directly towards these children but also as communal support for the fellow Steemians that invest their time and hearts on our behalf. I encourage everyone to follow @girina79 and send him your support in an upvote and comment. Check out one his latest updates here.
All photos taken by @girina79
Steem on @Girina79 님!
Girina님 저도 아이들을 굉장히 좋아하고 이런같은 기회에 저도 참여하고 싶습니다. 미국에 있으면서 한국의 엑티비티에 참여하는 적은것에 가끔씩 helpless 느낍니다. 글로, 스팀을 통해 기리나님의 활동을 조금이나 서포트 해드리고 싶습니다. 현실에서 몇 달러 꺼내는 일이 쉬운일이 아니지만 글과 업보팅을 통해 후원을 할 수 있다는 점 등 에서 스팀을 통한 펀딩은 큰 가능성 의미 있는것 같습니다. 이 포스팅 SBD 펀딩금으로 보내드리겠습니다. 기리나님께 부탁 드리는 것은 겨울에 제가 한국 갈 때 꼭 같이 함께 가고싶습니다.
Landing Image Thanks to Talented @soyo
Avatars Thanks to KR's Stellar @tonesquare
