Focus CSR: Are we doing it right?

About a year ago, we were treated to a unique incident which involved a number of companies and a poor lucky man in one of the polling station in Kenya. As pundits put it, the poor man was somehow at the right place at the right time since his image was taken and used to depict the life and struggles of an ordinary Kenyan voter.

Soon afterward, many companies rushed to his aid and completely took advantage of the publicity created by the local media around the nicknamed 'Githeri Man, all in the name of giving back to the community. On the positive side, the Githeri man's life changed for the better after the incident. On the negative side, however, the action by the giant companies clearly brought out an image of a nation that lacks a detailed understanding of what CSR is all about.