How education startups, NGOs can solve poverty

We often hear the saying that education is life, that it is a lifelong process. We learn something new every day and the learning never stops. Unfortunately, millions of children around the world do not have or are denied access to quality education. Obtaining a quality education has always been a problem, particularly in poorer countries or war-torn countries.

For these countries, poverty is also a problem. Most governments try to solve this never-ending problem by focusing on overpopulation and corruption. Though it is not wrong to focus on these issues as they are one of the reasons why there is poverty, solving the problem in education has often been overlooked.

One of the countries that have problems with their education is Costa Rica. According to reports, 41 percent of children up to 6 years old live in households with parents that only reached six years of education while only 15 percent of children live with parents with a higher level of education.

Lifting Hands, a nongovernment organization based in Bajo de los Anonos, Costa Rica, is trying to solve this particular problem in partnership with Exponential, Inc. or XPO2, a cause-related tech marketing firm that has developed an NGO crowdfunding platform. Lifting Hands provides children an opportunity to tap their potentials and achieve their educational goals. Aside from helping children to be educated, Lifting Hands also focuses on classes and training for adults to help them obtain better opportunities.

The organization, founded by Diana Madrigal, also provides spiritual mentoring aside from academic and technical subjects. They also provide recreational trips for students after a certain period. Though the focus of their organization is education, keeping the students more hopeful would literally boost their drive to be successful in life. Uplifting their spirits is necessary because at the end of the day, after all the help from volunteers, it is them who can always make things possible for them — and by contributing, you can help them achieve success. And by helping them achieve success through education, you also help them rise from poverty.

Education kind of solves overpopulation

Overpopulation is usually linked to poverty, but it is also linked to a lack of education. It has been observed that education leads to lower birth rates, which slow growth in population. Educated women also prefer to be working women instead of being stay-at-home moms. It does not happen magically. With education, people, especially women, are taught family planning. This is not just about contraception. It is also about being practical and how in this economic climate can they plan on starting a family that they can actually support.

Education equals opportunity

Most of us have always had the idea that our education is the key to the careers we want. It is true and we are privileged to have access to quality education. Some often think that poor people do not have jobs because they don’t want any. But the sad reality is that because they don’t have access to proper education, their opportunity to get a decent job is unlikely. Education would open opportunities for them.

Education equals opportunity is same as education equals economic growth

Having the opportunity to have decent careers is not the only great thing that comes out of education. It also allows people to contribute to the society as a whole, especially to the economy. With lower unemployment rates, governments are able to increase their annual GDP and decrease government debt. With reduced government borrowing, they will be able to allocate funds to more projects that would benefit not just the poor but the entire population as well.

How can you help?

Charitable organizations can now be accessed through NGO crowdfunding platforms such as XPO2. There are different organizations with different causes, and if you are passionate about helping to solve poverty through education, organizations like Lifting Hands could assist you with your cause.

XPO2 helps NGOs by providing a free fundraising platform where people can directly contribute to these groups. The company provides free marketing and PR services to deserving small and medium-sized NGOs it personally vetted. It has also developed a cashless contribution module where a regular consumer can contribute through XPO2’s participating merchants. You just have to install the web browser extension and proceed to shop from your favorite brands, and a percentage of your purchase goes to a campaign of your choice.

With XPO2, contributors are assured that their money goes directly to the NGOs like Lifting Hands, making the maximum net social impact possible. Aside from contributing directly to Lifting Hands and other NGOs, XPO2 has also launched its own rewards-based crowdfunding campaign, which will enable it to help tens of thousands of NGOs raise vital funding for their projects.

With proper education, many people will get out of poverty. But this will only be possible with your help that organizations like Lifting Hands and XPO2 need.

This story is published in The Startup, Medium’s largest entrepreneurship publication followed by +364,117 people.

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