October 11, 2022

Social and sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Saul Horta Jara

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October 11, 2022

1. Do you think NGOs / Non-Profits are important for Sustainability in our countries even
though it is the duty of the government to improve the quality of life of its citizens?

Of course, although it is the government's duty to improve people's quality of life and
advance toward a more sustainable society, there is a wide gap between duty and
performance. To exemplify this, we can put ourselves in 3 cases.
First, let us imagine that the government is determined to advance in a more sustainable
society and improve the quality of life of the people, there are many governments of this
type, but unfortunately, it is very difficult for them to cover the entire society under their
mandate, that is why it is equally important that NGOs exist since they will always be
looking for these people who do not have enough help from the government and need an
extra hand.
As a second case, it may be that the government does not have much interest in these
aspects and has a more related interest in economic growth, for these cases in the same
way the NGOs are important since they supply the aid that the government does not
provide and it also serves to pressure the government.
Finally, if the government does not have the resources to be able to help people in the
best way, such as in third-world countries, NGOs serve as humanitarian aid to support in
terms of manpower and resources.

2. What is the name of the NGO or Non-Profit (please include the URL) you adhered to and
why did you choose it?

I joined “Techo para Chile”. When I was in school I went to a couple of volunteers who
built little houses for people who lived in camps in bad conditions. This happens
frequently in Chile and this association in recent years has been of great importance in
helping many people to have a more decent home. I signed up for this association because
it connects a lot with me and my environment, on the one hand in terms of family, my
grandparents' past began with a house in very poor condition, and on the other hand,
within the last few years every time you see more and more people living in very bad
conditions and it is very easy to realize this in Chile since in the cities the types of sectors
are very marked and as you move inside or outside the city you can see these populations
with houses built with very poor materials, this in a certain way has been due to the
massive immigration to our country, mostly from countries with great socioeconomic
problems such as Venezuela and Haiti, where many of the immigrants enter through
unauthorized steps. In this way they have fewer rights to state subsidies or housing, so
they tend to occupy land and build their own houses, which in terms of quality leave much
to be desired. To get an idea you can search on google "Tomas en Chile" or one of the
biggest camps in Chile that is near my city “campamento Felipe Camiroaga.

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3. What are 3 factors (one of which must be “volunteering”) that have limited the
effectiveness of NGOs / Non-Profits (not the one you have chosen in question 2) and what
do you think can change that?

Apart from volunteering, I would say that the other two factors are the financing or the
difficulty in obtaining funds and also the ability to be heard and gain volunteers and belief
in the people. With this I´m not saying that people don’t believe in these organizations,
everybody knows that are good, in this way we can say that the NGOs have high moral
authority but is difficult to make people understand that is not only about believing and
looking from outside, but you also have to commit to the cause if you really want to help.
I think these can be changed with the help of social networks and communications,
obviously now they do appear through these means but not constantly and not with the
emphasis that should be given. In this way, when appearing on television, for example,
people instantly generate a bond of trust and also begin to absorb this information day by
day, in this way I think that people would begin to generate more awareness about the
social or environmental problems that are happening in your country and the world. On
the other hand, I believe that an alliance with the government and constant work, with
mutual agreements, would go a long way to increase the effectiveness of these
organizations.