People buy a product if it fulfills their needs, there is no need for advertisement. To what extent do you agree or disagree with it?

“Happiness Is Found Helping

Others

”- all of us have heard

this

phrase at least once in our lives. Scientific research provides compelling data to support it. Effectively, giving is a powerful pathway to personal growth and lasting happiness.

Also

regarding volunteerism, there is “a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who

volunteer

have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not

volunteer

” (Grimm et al. p.3). Regardless, in order to be happy,

people

need to see the effects their comportments have on

others

. The reason is that many aspects regarding

charity

and volunteerism are not taken into consideration

such

as “

Poverty

porn” and “White

Saviour

Complex”.

Moreover

, certain behaviours could cause damage, increasing racial discrimination. "Giving" may not help the other person, but only help the donor to have a clear conscience.

Although

, in today's society, it is looked upon as favorable to donate our

time

and our

money

to help

others

in need, being mindful of the consequences of each action should be just as important, even when

actions

are guided by the best of

intentions

. The

first

aspect to consider is

charity

. "More than three in ten adults around the world donated

money

to

charity

in 2020" according to the World Giving Index report.

This

is an indicator calculated every year by the Charities

Aid

Foundation, an English charitable organization that has been active for 45 years (CAF). Other research on

charity

have been conducted, and it appears that giving makes

people

happy.

For example

, a study conducted by Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and colleagues in 2008 suggests that donating

money

to someone else makes you happier than spending it on yourself (Gilbert).

Lastly

, in a 2006 review, Jorge Moll and colleagues at the National Institutes of Health noticed that “when

people

give to charities, it activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection, and trust, creating a “warm glow” effect” (Moll et al.).

As a result

of the studies above mentioned, it can be inferred that donation makes individuals happy from a biological point of view as well.

However

, as

this

investigation by Lara Aknin et al. demonstrates,

people

need to see the results of their

donations

in order to be truly satisfied. Participants in

this

survey were asked to donate

money

to

UNICEF

or Spread the Net (these two associations were chosen because they were partners and had the same goals). In the case of

UNICEF

, which is a huge organization, it is difficult to see how a tiny donation could make a

difference

.

Instead

, Spread the Net makes a clear pledge to donors: for every $10 donated, a mosquito net will be given to protect children from malaria.

This

study revealed that the more

people

donated to Spread the Net, the happier they felt.

In contrast

, gratitude was completely cancelled when

people

donated to

UNICEF

(Aknin et al.).

People

probably need to imagine how each dollar donated will make a

difference

and see the results of their

actions

because they could think that “most of the

charity

organizations

are fake and they don’t spend the donation amount in the right way” (Khadim).

Therefore

, helping everyone in becoming more aware of their

actions

may

also

aid

organizations

in increasing

donations

and making

people

happy. After all, the most significant factor of raising awareness is avoiding the misconceptions that some charitable

organizations

promote.

That is

, the idea that with 10 cents you can save a child's life. In

this

sense, the value of humanitarian

aid

is diminished because with 10 cents you are not offering support of a high level. With these

donations

,

people

can be persuaded that little is enough to do a lot. By doing so, the suffering and dignity of

others

are belittled.

Furthermore

, another facet of

donations

that receives less attention is

poverty

porn. The concept of

poverty

porn (

also

known as “pornography of

poverty

”) was

first

introduced in the 1980s. During

this

time

, hard-hitting images were used by

charity

companies.

For instance

, images of malnourished children with flies in their eyes. The use of these photographs immediately became fashionable, and various charities, like

UNICEF

and Oxfam, presented (and continue to represent) famine, destitution, and kids with the intent to elicit sympathy and increase funds. The usage of these images is controversial, as some believe it is synonymous with exploitation to get more

donations

, while

others

admire the way it can allow

organizations

to achieve their goals. Though it must be considered that these visuals are being shown to a large audience without any tools to understand the underlying causes of these. Effectively, these representations could distort reality by portraying a powerless civilization

that is

completely reliant on other Western societies to thrive (Wikipedia).

For example

, it was uncovered at a Catholic

charity

-affiliated school in South Dakota that letters sent for an Indian school fundraiser were signed by fictitious children. Michael Roberts, head of the

First

Nations Development Institute, which seeks to strengthen and sustain Native communities, claimed “They are raising

money

in the name of Indians, using the worst of

poverty

porn of all Indian

country

to raise

money

on all our social ills” (Griffin). What happened in South Dakota provides insight into how

organizations

often use stereotypes to advance their own goals.

Consequently

,

people

who are aware of these "harms" caused by

donations

are less likely to give

money

to them. The knowledge that certain activities contribute to racial inequality and stereotypes can,

on the other hand

, motivate individuals to donate when necessary, avoiding the political instrumentalization of

aid

. Another element linked to "giving" is White

Saviour

Syndrome

, which has a strong correlation with volunteering. The term White

Saviour

Syndrome

refers to “white

people

who consider themselves wonderful helpers to Black, Indigenous and

People

of Color (BIPOC) — but they “help” for the wrong reasons (and sometimes end up doing more to hurt than help)” (Raypole). It

also

refers to

organizations

that operate under the premise that they know what is best for developing countries. In short, white saviours consider themselves as superior, rushing to "make a

difference

" without taking into account whether or not that

difference

will have more harmful than positive consequences. Because they continue to neglect the opinions of those they claim to help, the white

saviour

tends to emphasize inequality in

this

way. From

this

perspective, Whites are portrayed as guiding figures in imperialist and colonialist ideology, in their role as educators. BIPOC, according to the white

saviour

mindset, requires leaders to lead them out of their powerlessness. As a matter of fact, white colonialists used to regard

people

of colour as "primitive" and uncultured,

therefore

the White Savior may be seen as a form of neo-imperialism (Willuweit).

This

mindset is both wrong and racist, and it stifles progress. Fortunately, new

organizations

are forming to combat

this

mentality like “Nowhitesaviors” (Advocacy). To wrap things up, there is a sentence from an attractive website that has the objective of “Reflecting on diversity, equity and inclusion” named The Black Mirror – “White saviours mean well and want to “make a

difference

,” but let us remember that those good

intentions

alone are not enough. In fact, good

intentions

in themselves can sometimes turn harmful. Always be aware of your power and privilege. And, do the best you can to make the world a better place for all” (Dwyer). As mentioned before, volunteering is another context where White

Saviour

Syndrome

can be found. There is essentially little consideration of the negative consequences of volunteering, as is the case with

charity

. From Cambridge Dictionary, “(a

volunteer

is) a person who does something, especially helping other

people

, willingly and without being forced or paid to do it”.

Thus

, it is understood that a

volunteer

is defined as someone who offers to help and do something. What kind of thing? Is

this

service always requested? Those who decide to undertake a

volunteer

experience,

for example

abroad, have mostly good

intentions

.

Nevertheless

, the issue stems from the mindset with which activities are carried out. Both White Savior Complex and "assumed racial superiority" may impact

this

attitude. In fact, when some volunteers are sent to a particular

country

, mostly without any knowledge, they feel like heroes. They believe that their help is always needed; at the same

time

,

this

is not the case, because helping entails responding to a specific request. Admittedly, the relationship between rescuer and beneficiary is quite complicated,

hence

one must examine the effects that particular attitudes might have on the communities they intend to help. The damage to the community occurs when

people

volunteer

without being able to grasp its complexity and diversity. It is not always necessary for a

country

to be modernized or Americanized.

In addition

, many volunteers have little expertise or abilities, which is a terrible reality of how some of these

organizations

operate. In

this

way, they deny locals the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and move the

country

further

and

further

away from achieving self-sufficiency (TEDxLAHS). “Fortunately, the negative impacts associated with

volunteer

tourism are not necessarily inevitable, and can likely be mitigated when projects are properly planned and managed” (Guttentag).

Therefore

, so as to prevent harm from being done to the community, it is necessary to be aware of your attitudes and what you are doing. It can be understood that assisting

others

is not always the greatest option. In reality, when deciding to

volunteer

it is necessary,

first

and foremost, to consider the credibility of an organization. Know how the

money

or

time

will be used, and acknowledge that White

Saviour

Syndrome

exists in order to strive to change it. The

second

crucial step is to create a list of your skills; you must be honest and figure out whether you possess the skills required by the organizer. It is

also

important to keep in mind the real reason you want to undertake the

volunteer

experience.

Finally

, once you begin the experience you will need to establish a relationship with the community, get to know it, and enjoy its cultural diversity.

Finally

, the purpose of

this

discussion is not to dissuade

people

from volunteering or donating. In truth, it is a method of encouraging everybody to reflect critically on their

actions

. Being well-informed and educated allows one to approach the perspectives of

others

. Understanding is about giving humble, helpful help and preventing it from becoming a display of power. Unnecessary assistance does not

aid

development; rather, it contributes to perpetuating inequality and the cycle of

poverty

. Echoing a phrase from earlier: “Always be aware of your power and privilege”. Only through awareness, help could truly be synonymous with happiness, both for the giver and the receiver.