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And he takes me to meet a man he knew in New Delhi. This guy is in his thirties, partially paralyzed from T.B., he just doesn’t have the money for the medicine. He’s got a family of three, and he’s going to die, because he doesn’t have 60 bucks....

This blind girl lives in the village of Shara, in Ladakh, India very close to the Tibetan border. 100 Friends donated warm Kashmiri blankets and some money to help these villagers who live on less than $50 per year. She was very grateful and said she wanted to sing a song to express her gratitude. She sang a lovely Ladakhi folk song, a cappella. She then insisted that I sing a song for her. I am not really a singer but I did manage to sing my own off-key but heartfelt rendition of, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." They laughed and clapped and cheered! (July, 1998)

INSPIRATION: Marc Gold & 100 Friends

(continued from page 3)

FOR $50 HE'S IN BUSINESS FOR LIFE...

LIZ: Is there anything else that you’d like to add?

MG: You know the best illustration I can do is, let me just tell you about few more quick examples…

I go to Delhi, and I have a dear friend there, named Dr. Shankar Chowdhury—wonderful man. He’s Bengali—I love Bengalis, they’re like the Italians of India. They’re really funny, they’re argumentative, they’re political, they’re a lot of good musicians, artists, and filmmakers...

I met him at an AIDS conference, and we’ve become very good friends over the years, Again, here’s a great contact: now he works for the U.N., but he used to work at the medical center, he knows all the social workers, he’s a medical anthropologist, he teaches the doctors how to do counseling...

So, I went to him and I said, "Shankar, I've got some money, have you got any good leads?”

And he said, “Oh, I know this guy, he’s a social worker. He goes into the slums and he knows all kinds of people. He could find you the neediest cases... He’ll get you two or three families, or four or five, whatever you want to do. And I said, “Oh, great!”

And the social worker and I hit it off, he speaks very good English. We hopped on his motor scooter, and he said, “We’re going to this site, it’s a construction site, where the slum has built up around it, because that’s where the workers are, and I’ve got some families in mind.”

And he takes me to meet a man he knew in New Delhi. This guy is in his thirties, partially paralyzed from T.B., he just doesn’t have the money for the medicine. He’s got a family of three, and he’s going to die, because he doesn’t have 60 bucks.

I talk to the social worker some more, and I said, “So what’s the best thing to do here?”

He says, “Look, it’s $50 for the medicine, and he has to take it for nine months. He’ll feel better after four months, but you have to take it for the whole nine months or you make it worse. At the end of that time there’s a $10 “bonus” for sticking through the nine months. And he’ll be cured.”

Step number two, is we can put him in business for the rest of his life for $50 more—1500 rupees.”

“How can you do that?” This is about ten years ago, when I didn’t know the system.

He says, “Follow me.” We get on the scooter, we go to this building, it’s like a warehouse. All of these supplies: pens and pencils and beads and chocolates and notebooks—everything. And we go through it, and we buy $50 worth of stuff, which is a huge amount of stuff.

We go to his corrugated shack in the slum, and he’s got a table in front of it and he starts putting things out, and people from the ’hood start coming by. And he’s in business!

I meet the guy two years later, he’s completely healthy, and he’s got two little shops now. The kids are in school, ’cause you need money for school, for the school uniforms, and everything is like, great. And it cost 110 bucks.

Another story--I go into a hospital in Lucknow, India, and meet a little girl who’s got meningitis, an infection of the brain. And she’s in great pain. And the doctor is doing the rounds, he goes from bed to bed with me, he tells me the diagnosis, the treatment, and the prognosis. And tells me this little girl is right on the edge between life and death.

And I'd brought a bunch of toys with me, so I pull out a little magic wand—it’s a plastic thing with little sprinkles in it? And I hand it to her, and she goes from gasping for breath to a big smile.

We sit there, we talk to the mother through the translator. Two days later the doctor knocks on my door, and he says to come to the hospital. And there’s the little girl, sitting upright, smiling, no fever.

And the doctor says to me, “I don’t know if your little magic wand had anything to do with it or not, but she made a miraculous recovery from that point on.” So something like that really brightens up your day, to say the least.

IIMPRISONED FOR WRITING A SONG...

Last story, I’m in Tibet, and you have to very careful, it’s a police state, you know, and it’s not so easy to give as it is in other places. And I’m not announcing what I’m doing to the Chinese government, because they’re going to want a piece of the action, the local officials.

I’m walking down the street with my friends, and we get something to eat, and I wanted a cold drink.

So I went to get a drink, and there’s this foreigner getting something to eat, and I started talking to her. Turns out she's American. I ask her how she’s enjoying Tibet…after about 30 seconds, her eyes narrow and she looks at me.

She says, “Marc?”

And I look at her, “Nancy?” This is a doctor that I met only once in Berkeley 10 years ago. At that time, she was about to start a project in Tibet, and I hadn’t seen her since. Anyway, she’s been there for 10 years, she knows millions of people, and I tell her about my project.

She says, “Good thing you talked to me, I’m going to put you in touch with the right people.”

Kids from the Ladkhi Children's Fund

Long story short, she sends me to this woman who works for Doctors Without Borders. I meet this Belgian woman, and she takes me to see a Tibetan monk. He’s 80 years old, been in a prison for 22 years, tortured for much of that time. His crimes are writing a song for independence, putting up a poster, stuff like that.

He broke his hip, he makes a living by begging. And so she says, “If you want to help somebody, here’s an example.”

“What can we do for him?”

She said, “If you can give me $10 a month for as long as you’re willing to do it, he won’t have to beg anymore, his lifestyle will vastly improve, and we’ll visit him every month and bring him pain medication.”

So we gave her 240 bucks for two years. I said, “If he’s still around at that time, send me an email. I promise to support him as long as he lives.”

I had this incredible visit with him, and he wept, and he went under this pile of rags and he showed us a picture of the Dalai Lama—I mean, it was so moving, I can’t even tell you. I have this man's photo, but I can’t put it in my newsletter, because if anyone official ever saw it, he’d be in big trouble.

That’s just to give you some idea, you know?

THOSE PEOPLE ARE GETTING THEIR LIVES SAVED...

LIZ: I especially love the quote on your web site, “You don’t have to be rich to do a world of good. You only need a few good friends to accomplish miracles.”

MG: I thought, to be a philanthropist, you have to be a big shot. Nope, you need to be a bigmouth like me, you know? [laughs]

My friend’s father says to me, “Why dontcha help the people here?!”

I say, “Hey, listen, great idea. Start a project, call it 100 Friends San Leandro.”

You know, I help people here, I have no problem with that. Or take a map of the world, cut out the ocean, throw a dart!

LIZ: It’s “Start wherever you’re called.”

MG: Really, wherever you’re called. I’m called to this area of the world, you know?

LIZ: But there’s nothing stopping anyone else from helping wherever they see a need…

MG: One of my students, at Los Positas College out in Livermore, she got inspired: organized her church, they’re Pentecostals, and they went to Mexico and built a couple houses, you know like Jimmy Carter does.

I have a relative, actually, who accused me... “Oh you’re just doing this so you feel better about yourself, it’s just ego.”

I said, “Even if it is, those people are getting their lives saved, they’re getting an education for their kids, they could give a
sh*t why I’m doing this!”

Four orphaned Tibetan refugee children at the SOS Tibetan Refugee Center in Leh, Ladakh, India.

LIZ: It still helps, regardless.

MG: Yeah. So that’s my deal.

LIZ: Wow. Well you’re certainly a huge inspiration to me.

MG: Well, go do it, Kid!

* * *

Marc's got a nice website where he posts updates of his charitible adventures periodically. If you'd like to become one of Marc's 100 Friends, you can make a donation of any amount using PayPal at his web site, or send a check (made out to Marc Gold) to:

Marc Gold
409 Washington Avenue
Richmond, CA 94801
USA

"A dollar goes a long way in Third World countries! "

For more information, visit Marc's web site: www.100friends.com

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