Alms for Africa!

You may be right there, there are more deserving countries than Africa but they try to help themselves. If Africa can't help themselves let them
go and stop begging because we hate beggars. Whenever beggars come to my
door we kick them out give them nothing. Most of them are Muslims that go
collecting money for the rabbles, give them money and it is taken to the
nearest mosque and given to the Imam. He then sends it to the rabbles to
buy guns and they go out and kill you, so what good is it? 11/6/2009.

Wow. This is a very strong opinion coming from someone who lives on the continent. I agree with you when you say leaders always ask for money and it is bad, but that is a really harsh outlook on a complex situation. It will get better soon.

Having first lived in Zimbabwe until 1972 and since in South Africa I can only state that I have seen both countries going down the drain rather quickly. Zimbabwe used to be called the bread basket of Africa as it produced the most magnificent crops of edible produce year after year. It also was a huge beef producing country as well as tobacco. Zimbabwe was a very rich and prosperous on the way to being a first world country. Now under Mugabe's rule it is turning into a desert, the farms are in the main deserted and the people are growing produce only for the selves. I must say that somehow the education system has managed to keep at quite a high level.
South Africa is also a rich country, but when one compares it to fifteen years ago one can only say that is is on the down hill trend. Education here is horrific, who wants their children to be taught that a circle is 180 degrees and when my grandson queried it and said no Miss it is 360 degrees he was told that 360 degrees is a very big circle indeed! The poverty and sickness here is horrific and the state of the hospitals fearful. I live in a tiny village outside Pretoria and when I drive to the city I pass a squatter camp where there are thousands upon thousands of make shift homes that have to water or electricity. The children often will stand at the road side begging, passers-by can only throw things out of car windows as slowing down or stopping would probably mean being hi-jacked or murdered.
I myself have survived one hand grenade attack - in Zimbabwe. In South Africa a break 1n and shooting of my then 11 year old son, my husband and myself - luckily they missed hitting my daughter - my daughter being very close to a bomb attack, having stones thrown at out cars several times, being hit by passers by when walking down the street. We are just like any other South African family who have gone through it all.
I suppose that is why I feel as I do about the situation and only by speaking out can the rest of the world know what it is like to live anywhere in Africa. African people have to learn that they cannot just kill, steal or beg to get what they want.

Brigid, I really admire how you have stood up to the occasion. But your solution towards the problem is not very optimal. Rulers shape their nations. If African leaders are out begging for money then the same spirit will get manifested by Africans. Now, though Africans have been given large amounts of loans in the past but you can't blame it on the poor Africans for squandering off the money. If they had been given the money then they would have been far better now. The main dilema of Africa like many other 3 world nations in the world is that the aid never reaches the grass root level - all the money ; loan or aid, gets deposited into bank accounts of the leaders.If you are demanding that Africa shouldn't be given money then you are wrong. Your claim should be that the there should be more transparency in the way that aid/loan money is spent. Leaders should be made accountable for their actions and that's the only way about it!

I feel that the only way the problem can be solved is by education on all levels. Regarding the money/aid/loans if the poor are not benefiting now why should the leaders continue to be getting wealthier. Leaders in Africa are seldom held accountable for their actions.

A powerful and passionate opinion! Don't let Bob Geldof or Bono get
hold of this..there will be a hue & cry! :-) On the serious side you
do raise some good issues. It is time for the people of Africa to
shine a light on their own political Hearts of Darkness! I believe it
will begin when expoitation of Africa's resources by Multinational
Corporations to feed Western appitite ceases and the peoples and
Governments of Africa take responsibility in providing for and
aiding their own citizens rather than enriching the few.

That sums it up pretty well.

Unfortunately when the various countries do gen money, goods, etc. almost every bit of it goes into the leader's back pocket and the people get nothing but more of the same of what they already have NOTHING!

"Africa" is a group of nations, and a continent. Each deserves it's own assessment and subsequent response. Lumping them all together is like making statements about all Europeans, or all Asians.

Some of the countries, like Somalia, have no governments, and are ruled by war lords. Others, like South Africa, seem to be doing relatively well for themselves. Some of them who are lucky enough to have governments, are controlled by despots, who starve their people while becoming rich themselves. In still others, years of famine have reduced the people to walking skeletons, and the infant mortality rate is staggering.

Who do you really think needs help more than this?

Having travelled quite a bit in Africa I must say that there is not much difference as one crosses borders. Yes some countries are better off than others but I cannot say that South Africa is doing pretty well and here the rich are getting richer by the exploitation of the poor. The government only respects those with money. We have many problems in Africa and one only has to watch the African news casts to realise that most if not all countries are in similar positions, hence me generalizing.

Hey Brigid! Geldof & Bono are speaking out already!
(from a CBC news story today)

An aid group backed by Bono and Bob Geldof singled out Italy, and to a lesser degree France, Thursday as G8 countries that have failed to meet their commitments to reduce poverty in Africa.

Italy faces being embarrassed at the Group of Eight summit it will host July 8-10 — where Africa tops the agenda — because it has cut development assistance to the region and is planning more cuts this year, according to a report by the anti-poverty group ONE, founded by singer and activist Bono.

The 2009 DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) report reviewed progress against the promises made to Africa four years after the 2005 Gleneagles Summit.

Geldof, the poverty campaigner behind the Live Aid and Live 8 events, told reporters in London that the Italians' paltry contribution made it unworthy of hosting the gathering. "What is the legitimacy of this crowd?" he said. "How dare they?"

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi bristled at the criticism and rejected the idea that aid should simply continue to pour in. He said leaders in certain African countries had funnelled aid into their own Swiss bank accounts rather than use it to help their people.

Donors had to ensure African governments used the aid for schools, hospitals, roads and railroads, and not to enrich political elites, he added.

Here is the full story from CBC

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2009/06/11/italy-africa-aid011.html

Several years ago I read a story about AIDS in relation to some of the nations of Africa that stated 20% of the population in one country (forget the name, near a lake south of the equater, I think) were the educated bankers, goverment, etc. and 80% of the AIDS related deaths. Deaths from AIDS is bad enough but only 20% of the country had an education is a travesty. It's like the adage that if you keep them dumb, they don't know the difference. Granted Africa is a continent - a very large continent - with a great many countries, but we hear little about those countries like South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and to some extent Egypt; only those countries like Somalia, Ethiopia, Rwanda, etc.

The past 2 years American Idol had an Idol Give Back campaingn where some of the shows people and former Idols went to Africa and money was raised to help the people. these Idols went and distributed themselves things like mosquito netting to help cut down on the malaria epidemic. Idol fans contributed over $40 million to the efforts. Some of the funds also went to the poorest areas of the US to help the children.

I think you are talking about Malawi, another once beautiful and rich country, used to holiday there as a child. A lot of the African tribes believe that AIDS is a white man related curse upon the black nations and hence do not or cannot relate to what it really is. Here in South Africa there is a quite common belief that if they rape a white woman they will be cured, others believe that the raping of a baby of any colour will cure. They often refuse to use condoms as they think it is the white peoples way of reducing the escalating black population.

A great contribution and input Sherrill! Thanks. The "dark" continent
needs help..of that ther is little doubt. But for too long corrupt
leaders and "proxy" wars by foreign powers have disrupted development
from Biafra to the Belgian Congo and from Ida Amin to the present
fiascos in Zimbabawe & Somalia & Al Bashir et al. Education &
empowerment of the peoples is the most important step that continent
can take on its Road to self-sufficiency!

Africa's conditions are severe, and it's not entirely their fault. Geographic locations and climate both play MAJOR ROLES in economic prosperity. It is mainly because of the characteristics of the region that the country suffers with so much poverty, disease, hunger, etc. For example, since the climate is incredibly hot, mosquitoes are able to thrive and spread malaria. There aren't many natural resources or oceanic locations either. Without these, the country struggles financially. Since it struggles financially, it is unable to invest in improvement such as health care, education, etc. Also, don't forget about the corrupt politics and governments. This isn't all either. There's so much more. Where is the humanity?

Yes it can be quite hot in Africa but here on what we call the highveld the weather is very pleasant as it is in many areas in Africa. Mosquitoes and malaria are not everywhere and we have many resources throughout the continent a lot of them having fallen by the wayside due to civil wars and such. Africa is rich in minerals and has huge areas of lush vegetation if we only tried we could be very self sufficient.
There is a lot of money in Africa it just is not getting into the right pockets due to mismanagement of funds and corrupt governments.

These are just some of the problems. It doesn't matter whether it's hot or pleasant. My point was that the climate in Africa allows Malaria to reach its maximum capacity. Also, Africa may be "rich in minerals", and it may have "huge areas of lush vegetation", but resources relative to other regions are not as promising. And again, financial and political stability is needed to take advantage of such resources. The point is that much (not all) of Africa's instability has to do with it's location and climate. It's something to keep in mind.

Forty fifty years ago Africa had malaria pretty much under control as it did cholera and other diseases. The resources were also there but with independence being given to the different nations things started to crumble and when one has a good look there are very few countries in Africa that are doing well. Botswana is one that although it is in quite an arid region it has managed with good governing practices to hold things together and show that with effort Africans can win.
It's such a round about problem one can only hope that by talking about it and not pushing it under the carpet that in the end things will come right!

Everywhere it's the same thing. People are being led down the garden path by their leaders who steal all the money, indulge themselves in all kinds of ridiculous and expensive behaviour and let the country rot. Brigid, the whole third world suffers because of this. In pakistan we've stopped trying for accountability, we just hope that they actually manage to spend some on us too. They usually waste it on some grandiose project or the other. The only thing to do is stay calm and get them out via the ballot box. If that doesn't work, then it's time for a revolution.

brigidprimrose wrote:
"Having travelled quite a bit in Africa I must say that there is not much difference as one crosses borders. Yes some countries are better off than others but I cannot say that South Africa is doing pretty well and here the rich are getting richer by the exploitation of the poor. The government only respects those with money. We have many problems in Africa and one only has to watch the African news casts to realise that most if not all countries are in similar positions, hence me generalizing."

I think I misunderstood your original post. I believe what you are saying is that if you give a man a fish he eats for a day; if you teach him to fish, he eats for a lifetime. If that's so, I'd heartily agree... except that I think there needs to be some assistance to serve as a stopgap between where they are, and where they need to go...