The Anti-Poverty Porn

Yes, yes, I do seem to be obsessed with poverty porn......and conflict porn......and ______ porn.
But this was simply too good not to share.



"Meet Alex. He is a happy, healthy, 9 year-old boy at St. Timothy’s School in Moshi, Tanzania. In Alex, we see intelligence, a great memory and sparkling personality. He doesn't want your hand-me-down t-shirts but if you will listen he will tell you he wants to become president of Tanzania... and, of course, how much he loves action movies!"

"We've had enough of the tragic impressions of Africans that flood the media and nonprofit campaigns. We aim to break these stereotypes by releasing a series of captivating videos that show the light of the people we serve in Africa. We aspire to introduce our communities to you with the integrity and brilliance that we witness everyday.

In the first video of our series meet Alex! He is a happy, healthy, 9 year old boy from Tanzania. He is intensely enthusiastic, has a wild imagination and loves action movies. Does this sound like any 9 year old boys you know?"
More at Mama Hope

Now I can't really comment on the performance of the organisation itself - they seem to be pretty small in scale with a strong emphasis on the grassroots - but the fact that they have launched this campaign is well and truly brilliant. It is a campaign dedicated to campaign-blocking the campaigns of all those pimp organisations that put poverty on the the street corners (where poster adverts always go of course). It is the "To Catch A Predator" of poverty porn......
Ok, I might be stretching this metaphor out a little.

Anyway, this video really reminds me of the countless nights I've spent sat in my friend's garden, here in Juba, watching all the 70's/80's/90's action films with his countless children. Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Norris, Stallone, Seagal...... hell, Il even throw in Lundgren...... these are the true US Ambassadors in Africa (and most of them are immigrants, brilliant).
$15,000 to bring an end to poverty porn?.......definitely worth it.

h/t: Silvester Behun