Cuba and Philanthropy
By Tyler Greenleaf
Philanthropic in Tibet
By Jason Guay
Philanthropy in Peru
By Marcia Llacuachaqui
The Inca Empire: Religion, Culture and Philanthropy
By Priscilla M. Madrigal Saballos
Cuba and Philanthropy
by Tyler Greenleaf
Cuba is a country of contrasts when it comes to philanthropy. For this article, it will be viewed through an internal lens (philanthropy done in the country) and external lens (philanthropy done by the country, specifically, international aid).
Internal Philanthropy
Modern communist philosophy presumes that the state and its institutions are owned, operated and controlled by the government without private ownership of capital. As a result, the possibility of an individual or corporation making a monetary donation is not part of the culture. The state is supposed to provide for everyone, and on a basic level, does. In a western sense, the giving of dollars to help support an individual or program does not exist in Cuba.
While the articleis a bit dated (from 1994) Kimberley O. Dennis contends, “there is no evidence of private philanthropy in Cuba”. While the article has an overt free market and pro-American bias, Dennis does note that in general, a robust for-profit sector helps create a more robust non-profit sector. The absence of a for-profit sector in Cuba does not necessarily mean there is no giving being done in the country.
Some groups do exist to provide relief to those in need in Cuba. One example is a charity for children suffering from cancer created by Mother Theresa through the Catholic Church in 1988. This group does not operate easily, and since its inception has faced bureaucratic trouble and harassment from Cuban officials.
There is a lack of information regarding the existence of a culture of giving among Cuban people. The Association of Fundraising Professionals has a profile of Cuban-Americans in central Florida. While the cultural behaviour of Cubans obviously has many other influences (such as Catholicism), clues may be gleaned from this document. Most interestingly, the writer notes:
Cuban-Americans consider giving a voluntary activity rooted in family and community. As a culture, they do not respond to the "obligation" to give to community. Group background includes having succeeded through hard work and enterprise, and therefore group members respond more to positive motivators rather than guilt or obligation.
External Philanthropy
The Cuban government does participate philanthropically, most often through educational support and offering the support of its doctors and medical staff to other countries in need (commonly to other islands in the Caribbean following a hurricane). The Cuban medical and educational systems are commonly applauded for being of very high quality. This assistance is voluntary, but is very important in keeping good relations with its neighbours. Cuba has received assistance after hurricanes as well, more recently after hurricanes Gustav and Ike 2008.
The Future of Philanthropy
in Cuba
In the past couple of years, there have been slow and marked reforms on economic controls in Cuba, which have allowed things such as private ownership of cell phones, computers, salary bonuses, and the ability for a citizen to purchase their own taxi for employment. Further entrepreneurial opportunities are growing for citizens as well. Cuba is the world leader in urban organic farming. The people who run these farms are allowed to keep the profits and are some of the more highly lucrative employment opportunities in the country. As a result of the lifting economic controls, opportunities for collaboration between Cubans and other countries and economies will increase. As a result, further opportunities for philanthropy will grow for Cubans: through donating money to support organizations, sharing ideas, and giving goods away. An opportunity exists and on some levels is likely in practice for owners of the urban organic farms to share or subsidize food for their immediate families and community.
Works Cited
Kimberly O. Dennis "Philanthropy has lost its way". USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_n2590_v123/ai_15594528/
“Disenchanted With Castro's Revolution” http://www.cubastudygroup.org/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=4727&Type=Press%20Release&Month=1&Year=2009
“Characteristics of Cuban-American fundraising” http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3331
Cuban support is noted on several websites: http://www.canadacuba.ca/news/Free_Health.php; http://www.nevisblog.com/tag/cuba; http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/22/world/AP-Haiti-Earthquake-Aid-Glance.html; http://havanajournal.com/politics/entry/the-us-cuba-and-haiti/
Philanthropic in Tibet
by Jason Guay
What is the most you have willingly given to charity? One Hundred Dollars? Five Hundred Dollars? How about giving half of your hard working income such as famed fifty percent club. By most Canadian standards, the 50% club is deemed very unique, and if it were an I.Q test they would no doubt be at least 3-4 standard deviations above the norm or 99.999 percentile. Other charitable acts might take the form of teaching a skill to those whom lack it, or volunteering, acts that we all consider very noble. Recently, I began studying eastern Buddhism and I found that their sense of giving to be a bit different than the westerns prototypical views. We have all had visitors coming to our door asking for donations and most Canadians are a hospitable bunch and normally are willing to bestow when feasible. Let me pose this proposition to the reader. What if someone came to your door and did not ask for any monetary funds, your time, skill, but rather asked for your 1 ½ year old male child? I envision the reader at this point would most likely have a knee jerk response, and would either slam the door, alert the police or outright laugh! That would be the typical Canadian response and would be mine as well. I will explain this tradition no matter how odd we might consider it, and hopefully help the reader understand that giving the child to a complete stranger is not by Buddhist traditions out of the ordinary (Williams, 2005).
According to Buddhist teachings, we are involuntary reincarnated back into existence. A being who has reached a level of enlightenment, a Buddha, can choose their next life form willingly. The great Tibetan masters called Lamas continue to reincarnate to guide their followers and all beings to enlightenment (Smith & Novak, 2003). What is unique about Buddhism is that for 700 years Buddhists have witnessed the tradition of seeking out their reincarnated masters. Their “heart disciples” often go on a quest in search of the reincarnate. Great effort is given to spiritual guides who provide an area of land that the enlightened being is said to have reincarnated. The heart disciple’s goal is to locate the correct reincarnate through a series of tests that attempt to ascertain with certainty the authenticity of their master who is now a child. Once the child is found and passes the tests, the parents are then asked to forfeit their biological imperative of keeping the child. They are asked to relinquish their child and abruptly stop forming an attachment, and give up their child to the monastery for the greater good of humanity. If the parents refuse to do so, their wishes are honored and the blame is placed reincarnated Lama for not choosing a suitable family that would relinquish the child, not on the family itself. Most would agree that charity is best when it is a choice not forced.
Imagine giving up a male child in China or India, as an act of charity. I find myself culturally conditioned to oppose this very premise on a both limbic biological state and on a rational state. So it would seem that while we have our Western charity hero’s such as the fifty percent club, Eastern Buddhist have their own form extraordinary club. If the knowledge of Eastern charity was better known, maybe Canadian’s would open their pocket books and give more liberally?
Works Cited
Smith, H., & Novak, P. (2003). Buddhism: A Concise Introduction. . SanFrancisco.: Harper.
Williams, P. (2005). Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies. London: Routledge.
Philanthropy in Peru
By Marcia Llacuachaqui
Peruvians have a rich history in philanthropic activities, back in the time of the Inca Empire; “ayllus” were the basis on the Inca society. Ayllus consisted of families living together and sharing land, animals, and crops. Ayllu members worked the land cooperatively to produce food crops and cotton. This attitude of community assistance and helping each other in any situation is still alive among the descendants of the Incas today.
Two great examples of how Peruvians participate in philanthropic actions these days are seen in communal kitchens and carnivals.
Communal kitchens or comedores populares are well-known in Peru. Women created communal kitchens in the late 1960s in order to alleviate the consequences of economic crises by cooking meals for small children and sick family members in the community Now, communal kitchens have the support of governmental and non-governmental organizations. Interestingly enough, the first communal kitchens in Lima were composed of migrants from rural areas, where the “Ayllu” is still practiced. This means that traditions of solidarity are still present among indigenous Peruvians and collective labours can still benefit communities in Peru.
Similarly, philanthropic activities are also seen in carnivals. According to historians, the celebration of Carnival, which was brought by the Spanish, gave the Peruvians an opportunity to rebel against the Christianity imposed on them as well as the repression opposed on them.
Carnival celebrations take place in the month of February every year. Carnivals are no longer associated with rebellion in Peru. On the contrary, they are joyful and involve people throwing water balloons or buckets, eggs, flour or talc and even water based paints at each other, as well as a traditional ritual of cortamonte in the coast, yunza in the mountains, and umisha in the jungle. This ritual involves a music band, plenty of food and drinks, and dancing around an enormous eucalyptus tree decorated with gifts, balloons, and streamers that is especially-transplanted somewhere until it is ceremoniously cut down. Several couples then try to cut down the tree with an axe as if it was a piñata, only people are not blindfolded. Finally, the couple that cuts the tree will be in charge of the organization of the cortamonte celebration next year, the couple will be known as the godparents. Once the tree falls down, everyone, especially the children, runs to grab the gifts. The gifts consist of toys similar to the ones contained in a piñata, as well as money, food products such as fruits and bread, clothes, even bottled-beverages, etc. The gifts vary per region and may depend on the godparents.
In summary, the philanthropic activities embraced by Peruvians demonstrate that philanthropy is not expressed at its maximum when it involves giving money but on the contrary when a community works or rejoices together.
Works Cited
1. Ponz Muzzo, G., Compendio de Historia del Peru. 1978, Lima: Editorial Universo S.A. 224.
2. Kamioka, N. Women's Voluntary Groups in Lima, Peru: Comedores Populares. 2001 [cited 2010 October 1]; Available from: http://lasa.international.pitt.edu/Lasa2001/KamiokaNaoko.pdf
3. Tomoeda, H.Folklore Andino y Mitologia Amazonica: Las Plantas Cultivadas y la Muerte en el Pensamiento Andino. 1982 [cited 2010 October 1]; Available from: http://ir.minpaku.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/10502/377/1/SES10_012.pdf
The Inca Empire: Religion, Culture and Philanthropy
by Priscilla M. Madrigal Saballos
The Incas are the Indian people of Peru, who in the two centuries before the Spanish discovery of America, conquered an area stretching from the Southern border of present day Colombia to central Chile centering on the city of Cuzco in the Peruvian Andes. The Incas made their appearance in South America in the XI century (Loprete, 2001). They began by enlarging their territory beyond the immediate valley of Cuzco. By 1492, the Inca Empire is established and ruling over approximately 10 million people and the population is composed primarily of soldiers and farmers (National Geographic Television, 2002). In brief, the paper will be focusing on the philanthropic practices of the Incas within the history of their society.
The tribe demonstrates the act of giving through uniting other Indians and together living a better life where all the basic necessities are guaranteed. The Incas were very advanced in their way of thinking, such as creating irrigation methods to cultivate and preserve food, quality textiles and a system of roads and communication that extended throughout the entire empire. “At the base of the social pyramid was the allyu, a clan of families living together in a restricted area and sharing land, animals and crops that was owned by the state” (Halsey & Friedman, 1980 pp. 575). Everyone that was able to work would work and some women were considered “chosen” and given the opportunity to climb up the latter of success, where they were taken to Cusco to be taught weaving, cooking and the rituals of the sun (Loprete, 2001).
Furthermore, everyone who is able to work pays tax to the state, except for state and religious officials. Another way to pay tax is through working on various projects, such as road and bridge building, mining and creating temples. The Incas wanted to make sure the empire would continue to grow and if a man was not married by twenty, they would select an eligible candidate for them (National Geographic Television, 2002). Based on what the Incas provided for the people, it appears to be that they kept them physical active, safe and sick free so they could be productive. Thus, they are able to provide a social safety net for their empire through these acts of giving and the people immediately adopt the Incas cultural values and beliefs in return.
The expression of philanthropy is founded by the Inca concept: religion and the state are one. “Viracocha is the creator god, the one source of power; he is aided in his divine administration by servant gods, the most important of which was the sun god, Inti” (Halsey & Friedman, 1980, pp.576). The sun god became the symbol for the Incas; his name was always invoked and his image was the motif of the official religion farmers (National Geographic Television, 2002). In addition, there were also gods for all natural phenomena. They believed religion is practical and life is religion. For this reason, the ability for crop production is considered a holy action and anything connected to it, also became scared.
In contrast to the North American culture, the sense of community and working collectively is dominant for the Incas. They did not have a voluntary network like the western tradition has formed.
According to the Incas beliefs, it is not an option to give, but an obligation to convert people to their religion in obedience to the sun God. Unlike in the western civilization, the act of philanthropy is considered a noble act, yet for the Incas it is a more selfish of act due to the absolute control over their people.
Comparatively, the Incas and the Western culture believed in taxation whether it is provided through money or work. They are both founded on religion to give to others in return to comply with the gods or secure a spot in heaven. The Incas and the western culture believe that a philanthropic exchange with power is necessary. Lastly, in both civilizations the feeling of self-satisfaction or happiness is the driving force in giving to others.
In summary, the Incas are very giving to those who pertain to their empire. However, there are ethical issues associated with their type of giving. The Incas took people in as slaves by manipulation or force, which is now considered an illegal act. Consequently, this form of philanthropy is successful in the times of the Incas, yet in today’s world it would certainly be unacceptable. Therefore, the term philanthropy has evolved and progressed to be what is today and is still under modifications to make sure that is a more controlled process where those involved benefit and treated respectfully.
Works Cited
Halsey, W., & Friedman, E. (Ed.). (1980). Collier’s encyclopedia (Vol. 12). New York: Macmillan Educational Corporation.
Loprete, Carlos. (2001). Iberoamérica: Historia de su civilización y cultura [Latin America: History of its civilization and cultura]. Las principales culturas (pp. 31-36). Quito, Ecuador: Prentice Hall.
National Geographic Television (Producer). (2002). Inca mummies: secrets of a lost world [Motion picture]. Washington: Warner Home Video.