When Caroline Bittok first took up a teaching job in Dandora, she had no idea that the experience would expose her to a reality she had not interacted with before. It was during this teaching stint that Caroline came into contact with the challenges facing children in the slum areas. Most children were forced to miss classes and ultimately stay away from school not because they were disinterested in schooling but because they could not afford items such as stationery which they were required to have. Through active involvement in the children’s lives, she came to learn of the great talents that most of them possessed, however there were no effective programs or opportunities for them to explore their potential.
Having served in various non-profits, Caroline had learnt that most of the problems affecting our communities, were caused by scarcity of appropriate information. For instance, a child would be constantly admitted in hospital because of malnutrition, while their parents own land that they could use to grow nutritious foods; school children would spend hours going to fetch water, yet technology could be used to bring water in school; or a minor would be molested and would not know what to do about it. To tackle this, Caroline since then decided to dedicate her time and resources to find ways to communicate sustainable change. This led to the birth of Living for Others.
Caroline, believes if change has to happen, involvement cannot be partial and discriminatory. Charity must go beyond hand-outs and programs must be designed by and for the intended audience. This is the way to achieve sustainability. All said, she believes we can revolutionize charity if all our acts are done through love, compassion and true service to our communities.
