Issue date: 3/2/04 Section: News

Rachel Fort has experienced life in third world countries for 14 years while living in Africa with her missionary family in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. She said witnessing poverty can be devastating.

"Poverty in third world countries is sometimes overwhelming, and it seems like there is nothing big enough to help," said Fort, a sophomore psychology major.

However, povertyfighters.com is helping to give those in need all over the world a hand up, not a hand out, said Paul Adler, media coordinator for the third annual Collegiate Click Drive, which ends on March 26.

This is Texas A&M's first year to participate in the drive, which is being promoted by the Student Campaign for Child Survival, an organization that focuses its efforts on improving the lives of the poor.

"I think that the more people that participate, the more impact it will have," Fort said.

The money generated by the click drive will go to provide micro-credit loans to the poorest of the poor in developing countries to aid them in creating small business, Adler said.

The money for the micro-credit loans, which is between $25 and $5,000, is donated by various financial sponsors such as Calvert Funds, Novica and the Greenstar Foundation.

Students can participate in the drive by logging on to www.povertyfighters.com, logging in under Texas A&M and clicking the appropriate link. Sponsors will give 25 cents for every click made on the Web site.

Currently more than 150 colleges are participating in the click drive. Last year, the drive raised $35,000, Adler said.

Adler said 95 percent of these micro-credit loans go to women in poor countries.

"For example, a poor woman in Bangladesh who lives in a heavy traffic area can get a micro-credit loan and start a small food stand, creating a source of revenue for her family," Adler said.

Diane O'Brien, president of the organization and coordinator of the click drive at A&M, said she registered A&M in the Collegiate Click Drive after hearing a representative speak about it and said she hopes it is a success.

"It would be cool if people could put the link on their Instant Messenger profile," O'Brien said.

The Collegiate Click Drive is run by students at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and was founded in 2002 by Brandeis student Ben Brandzel, who came up with the idea of organizing a competition of colleges dedicated to fighting poverty, Adler said.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools