Miriam Rodero: On charity that starts at home

Last Thursday, two friends and I stood outside the library in the bitter cold for two hours to let people slap us in the face with a piece of fish. No, honestly, I’m not kidding. “Why the hell would you ever do that?”, I hear you exclaim. The short answer is: for charity. It was one of the means by which we were attempting to fundraise for Race 2 Madrid – an event which will see 200 St Andrews students hitch-hike to Madrid for Families First, Macmillan, and Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Did it smell bad? Yes. Did people laugh at us? Yes. Did I get little bits of crusty fish stuck in my hair? A wee bit. However, surprisingly, I didn’t feel quite as humiliated as I thought I would have. Maybe just because I knew it was all for charity.

But what do those two little words, “for charity”, really mean? We see and hear them everywhere. From ice-bucket challenges and no-make up selfies posted all over Facebook, to running marathons and growing (usually rather questionable and creepy) facial hair for a month. It seems that in our modern-day society, “for charity” has come to translate as “for me”. Yes, the end result – the money – goes to charity. But is putting ourselves through public humiliation, strenuous physically demanding activities, and generally odd challenges really all that selfless?

Because, let’s face it, doing something as ridiculous as being slapped in the face with a fish makes us, in some bizarre and abstract way, look good; it tells people we are going to absurd lengths to raise money for a good cause. All these instances involve some form of personal gain, whether it be a bit of an ego-boost at being perceived as a charitable individual, a sense of personal achievement, or simply a good old fun time attempting to hitch-hike for 1,500 miles with two of your best friends.

It seems the sphere of charity fundraising has become obligatorily public; the rest of the world needs to know we are doing something for charity. Why just donate £3 when you can film yourself pouring a bucket of ice-cold water over your head and post it on Facebook so that every person on your friends list can see you are donating £3? And as for Movember: what better proof that you are a charitable person than wearing the hairy evidence on your face for a whole month?

Of course, publicising such campaigns is central to raising awareness and encouraging participation in such events. However, often we lose sight of the real purpose of these campaigns and turn them into a form of public narcissism. While it is estimated that around 2.4 million videos of the ice bucket challenge circulated Facebook, many of those participants failed in naming the cause it aimed to actually raise awareness for (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, if you’re wondering), with numerous donations being made to other organisations. The real objective of the challenge seemed to become irrelevant; what really mattered was how funny, outrageous or memorable you could make your video.

Nevertheless, at the end of the day, the ends justify the means: we are raising money and awareness for charity, regardless of how self-interested our motives may be. So if letting people slap you in the face with a limp piece of slimy salmon gives you a little ego-boost then by all means go for it, as long as it’s for a good cause.