Introduction
People become heroes by giving their time and money to the community in a selfless manner. Heroes give beyond people’s expectation, as they aim at enhancing the lives of the surrounding community (Byrne et al. 82). I find Bill Gates to be one of the heroes who have lived a life of true fulfilment by giving. Gates is a caring tycoon, who has given a great percentage of his wealth to charitable organisations for the sake of the unfortunate human beings. Although he has enough money to tour the world and enjoy the rest of his life, Bill Gates spends his time and money caring for other people. Surely, Gates is such a prominent social justice individual, who has inspired me throughout my lifetime. Using Bill Gates philanthropic personality, this paper will convey the message that generosity does not make one poor; it replenishes one’s sources of income.
Bill Gates’ history
Bill Gates is a philanthropist American, who was born in 1955. Computer programming was a job that Bill Gates loved, and fortunately, his dream became true after occupying himself with computer programming at a tender age. He played a key role in founding the commonest software company, Microsoft, and for several years, he was the chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of the company (Lenkowsky 16). In 1990, Microsoft released the first version of windows operating systems, and within no time, the operating system became the best seller in the market.
Bill Gates’ wealth is valued at about 56 billion dollars, and although he is among the richest people in the world, he has a unique trait of generosity. The humble man denies himself a luxurious lifestyle; instead of driving big cars and going for vacations to enjoy his hard-earned money, he goes to work daily. Bill Gates mainly focuses on issues that other people in the society disregard, and he identified a gap in the educational sector in the United States, which people thought was up to standard. Bill Gates and his wife established the Gates and Melinda Foundation to fill the various educational gaps and address other societal needs across the globe.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (Gates Foundation)
Bill Gates and his wife established the famous Gates Foundation in 2000, which aims at enhancing healthcare and reducing poverty in the global environment (Gates 6). Average Americans are able to become beneficiaries of the educational and technologically oriented program whenever they are interested. Unlike other private organisations that may have irresponsible executives, the Gates Foundation has its operations administered in the most transparent manner.
Educational improvements in the United States
My personal education philosophy is that education is a unique experience for every student since the grasping capacity differs from one student to another. Latinos and African Americans are examples of disadvantaged people, who have a lower ability to grasp things as compared to pure Americans. In my opinion, the inappropriate learning environments contribute to the students’ inability to obtain maximum benefits from their teachers. Fortunately, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) is doing some excellent job in addressing the problem. The foundation supports the opening of small schools, which reduces the student-to-teacher ratio significantly towards the benefit of the students. I strongly believe that students benefit through the increased attention from teachers (Hill 46). The program also facilitates the division of overtly populated schools, and the education sector is experiencing positive results from the program.
In the contemporary world, computing and information science is the core item that drives education. I cannot do without Microsoft, and learners, business people, companies, and all computer users across the globe are finding Microsoft software to be indispensable. Every computer user has to install an operating system, where, without the operating system, a computer becomes useless. Other than the production of software, I discovered that Bill Gates has employed major efforts to ensure that students are able to access computer education with ease. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation constantly funds higher learning education institutions to construct information science buildings.
Cornell University was lucky enough to be one of the beneficiaries of the Gates Foundation. The university received about $60 million to construct an information science building, and it named the building after the funders. I realized that Carnegie Mellon University also received $20 million to construct the Gates Centre for Computer sciences. Moreover, the Gates Tower in Massachusetts Institute of Technology is yet another information technology centre that the Gates Foundation funded. I believe that these are just but a few of the eloquent information centres that Bill Gates has facilitated to demonstrate his noble trait. The huge amounts of grants that the Gates offer to learning institutions are inspirations that those who give shall receive a double portion. I feel challenged that in spite of the huge donations, Bill Gates still ranks high in the list of the world’s richest people.
Another personal educational philosophy is that students who encounter various challenges and frustrations have difficulties in achieving their dreams. Poverty is one of the greatest challenges that students from unprivileged families encounter, where, the poor students are obligated to take care of various life responsibilities, and concentrate in their education at the same time. Honestly, if I were to be responsible for my upkeep, and have to concentrate in class at the same time, I would become frustrated. Bill Gates has identified the poverty problem, and he has various ways of addressing the needs of the poor through the D.C. Achievers Scholarships. In 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation spent $122 million to sponsor poor Columbian students to go to college. Through the Gates Cambridge Scholarships, Gates is able to support brilliant students to pursue the courses of their choice in Cambridge University. Bill Gates does not forget the minority students, as the Gates Millennium Scholars comprises of high achieving minority students. I can indicate that Gates scholarship programs are infinite; therefore, poor and brilliant students can always win scholarships in one of the programs.
Bill Gates’ donations to Africa
Bill Gates and his wife treasure a hand that gives back to the community, and I really feel challenged about Bill Gates’ interest in people who were not lucky to be born in a wealthy nation like him. He took his time to discover that poor health, hunger, and poor technological infrastructure were the core problems that Africans encountered. Therefore, he resolved to work towards improving the health, agriculture, and innovation infrastructure in Africa through the Gates Foundation. He ascertained that the most challenging thing about helping Africans is finding reliable partners on the ground. I can declare that Bill and Melinda’s decision to become strict with the projects that they fund in Africa is very wise.
They fund innovative ideas that can improve farming and technology. Bill Gates donated $25.5 million to Heifer International, a project that aims at linking farmers, processors, distributors, and consumers. The project works towards protecting the farmers from molestation and improving food security in East Africa. Currently, Gates Foundation’s efforts in supporting agriculture have proved to offer the greatest opportunity in Africa. New farming technologies are on the rise in Africa, and in the near future, I can foresee millions of farmers in Africa earning a better living through agriculture.
Sanitation might appear to be an unnecessary concern, but it has a direct relationship with health matters. I can attest that poor sanitation in overtly populated slums increases the possibility of spreading diseases, and due to lack of simple medical procedures, countless African children die frequently. Gates realized that Africans were at a high risk of contracting malaria, tuberculosis, AIDS, polio and small pox. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $957 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) group that works towards increasing access to immunization in poor countries. Luckily, their donations were not in vain, as the prevalence of diseases as polio and measles reduced significantly in Africa. The World Child Health Care program also gives tributes to Bill Gates for his continued support for the program that vaccinates children against poverty related illnesses.
In their tour to Africa in 1993, Bill and Melinda discovered that Africa lagged behind in terms of technology. The life saving and life-enhancing technologies were absent in Africa, thus, millions of people would die because of preventable illnesses. Bill Gates resolved to find ways to enhance science and technology in African to address some of the challenges. I can attest that Bill Gates’ efforts bore fruits as the well-trained health workers are handling their role professionally, and at least 85% of infants in Africa are out of the threats of unnecessary deaths. Currently, health care professionals have almost eradicated polio while cases associated with malaria have dropped by 50%. Bill Gates’ donations to international AIDS Vaccine Initiative play a great role in ensuring that there are efficient HIV vaccines globally. Although there are about 33 million people living with the HIV, more than 5 million people have access to antiretroviral drugs, and I feel that this is a great accomplishment.
The Gates Foundation also plays a critical role in funding ideas that would help students and teachers to improve their learning activities. Bill Gates donated $1.7 million to the UN Population Fund for developing states to facilitate their programs in poor nations. The program promotes computer technology, and the beneficiaries of the program are infinite. I have witnessed millions of people transiting from poverty into enhanced lifestyles due to improved education and enhanced technology. Some beneficiaries secure lucrative jobs, while others are able to use the knowledge to run profitable businesses.
It is noteworthy that corruption and repressive forces are the main challenges that Bill and Melinda encounter in their effort to help African countries. I feel depressed to discover that African elites are on the forefront to misuse funds granted for humanitarian programs, whereas, the feeble citizens suffer helplessly. However, I will always honour Bill Gates for supporting global humanitarian organisations across the world. The Gates Foundation goes beyond giving grants to addressing global concerns that various African governments have ignored. In fact, governments depend on donors like Bill Gates to manage simple vaccinations in their countries. Gates’ accredited generosity is beyond imagination, as he has given more than $28 billion to charity. I cannot imagine that Bill Gates and his wife intend to give 95% of their wealth to charity. Surely, the Gates have changed the lives of many, and indeed, they have lived a quality life of identifying and sealing loopholes in the United States, Africa, and the rest of the world (Stevenson 241).
Conclusion
Bill Gates is an exceptional person, who plays a great role in motivating and inspiring my academic learning. The noble trait that triggers him to care for other people and make the world a better place is a great lesson to many people across the world. I can attest that Bill Gates’ grants to charity organisations do not make him poor; instead, they replenish his sources of income. Bill Gates inspires me greatly because he is a successful entrepreneur. He is my role model, and I am hoping to be like him in future. His saying that people die poor because of their own mistake inspires me to work hard, learn from my mistakes, and have great determination. Since the Gates cannot solve the world problems alone, willing and able people from all over the world should come up to help the poor, and make the world a better place than they found it. Bill Gates’ story should be a challenge to every billionaire who lives luxuriously while the unfortunate people die of sickness, hunger, and poverty. Indeed, everyone should aspire to emulate the practices of Bill Gates.
Works Cited
Byrne, John, Julia Cosgrove, Brian Hindo and Adam Dayan. “The New Face of Philanthropy.” Business Week 38.9 (2002): 82. Print.
Gates, Bill. “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: 2012.” African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition & Development 11.7 (2011): 1-25. Print.
Hill, Paul. “Bill and Melinda Gates Shift from Computers in Libraries to Reform in High Schools.” Education Next 6.1 (2006): 44-51. Print.
Lenkowsky, Leslie. “Will Bill Gates Become One Of History’s Great Philanthropists?” Chronicle of Philanthropy 18.1 (2006): 16-19. Print.
Stevenson, Siobhan. “The Political Economy of Andrew Carnegie’s Library Philanthropy, With a Reflection on Its Relevance to the Philanthropic Work of Bill Gates.” Library & Information History 26.4 (2010): 237-257. Print.