Thanks—encouraging, and GOARN sound great—will try and get their perspective :)
Tom Stocker
Thanks Namana—agree—and linking up with local community leaders with years of experience, sussing them out, and moving from there is so valuable in navigating local partnership opportunities.
Post script: Personal reflection, and biases-from-experience
I’ve tried to be effective and altruistic for nearly 20 years. I’m no star performer by any stretch of the imagination—but there are probably only a couple of things I’ve done that beat my GWWC pledge’s estimated impact. Both were in a more permissive, emergency context.
The first was supporting with a mere £~1k and 2 weeks during a surge of cholera in south west Bangladesh following a cyclone in 2009. With that money and having a few wits about me, it was possible to pump and clean Shyamnugar’s contaminated water supply (mini reservoir) right in the middle of the outbreak that was cholera contaminated, and add ~20% to emergency clean water provision by providing transport to move existing clean water supply to families waiting for water-aid by the roadside.
This was possible for a non-expert 21 year old, working creatively with local government, and allowing quick partnership and leadership from a local NGO, and Oxfam’s willingness to share their water. Being in the right place at the right time with the right values & resources is something I encourage readers not to under-estimate—but I might be over-egging in my thinking.
I find it more motivating and easier to connect inputs to outcomes in situations like this, than AI or theoretical hazards with very small p values. p=1 for this being a problem, and even if it doesn’t scale to the whole world itself, I can’t think of a better way outside the world of life science R&D to address disease risks as a class than build general capability in responding to them. I am also very sceptical of our ability as humans to anticipate large-scale tail risks effectively AND to address them before they happen—I worry about accidentally making things worse in those situations. In an actual outbreak, I believe there is better and more feedback to work with.
Finally, I joined GWWC in 2013 because I was motivated to make the most difference possible to human flourishing/suffering & my focus is still there.
Hi Jmd—I will ask—no idea!