On Jun 17, 10:09*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:55:20 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:
On Jun 17, 1:14*am, wrote:
On Sun, 16 Jun 2013 00:13:55 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:
On Jun 15, 8:18*pm, Metspitzer wrote:
I have seen lots of pictures of Africa. *It shows entire towns
carrying water on their heads. *The thing that makes me suspicious
about these pictures is that all of the water containers are plastic,
modern plastic. *These have obviously been supplied by some type aid.
Why not send some PVC and a pump?
So what are you "suspicious" about?
Have you never been to a third world country?
The containers are scavenged and second hand. The sort of stuff you
throw away every day. Old oil and fertilizer containers etc.
The problem in these countries is ignorance, corruption, political
unrest and violence. They have no proper governance or economies.
And they are intentionally disrupted by the likes of the USA.
There is no solution apart from occupying and running them.
* Sounds like a British Colonialist.
Ever lived and worked in Africa, Harry??? Didn't think so. And if you
did you had your head so far up your backside you didn't see anything
going on around you.
Yes, corruption is a large problem Political unrest sprouts from that
- and with it, violence.
Poverty is a bigger problem - some caused by corruption - but much by
circumstances - unreliable rains, famine, etc.
Ignorance can be cured. It's called education. Education can help
alleviate poverty - and also cut down on corruption and unrest.
Occupying and running them has not worked.
Educating them is definitely helping.
I've worked in 2 african countries - my daughter has been actively
working in 3, and is leaving on Wednesday to check on projects in 2
more, where the agency she is working with is actively involved. She
will be in Mali and Mauritania for the next month.
I have travelled extensively in Africa and other third world
countries.
Africa is a **** hole and getting worse, I have watched it deteriorate
over the years.
As someone else mentioned,the continent is overpopulated.
And your daughter is wasting her time.
The "work" of these do-gooders is entirely counter productive and
destructive to the local economy of these places.
I'll agree that much of what has passed for "aid" and "development"
has been counterproductive.Most of the problems in rural places are actually caused by these
foreign (often religious) nuts.
The aid organisations exist primarily to support themselves, many make
a good living out of money donated by well meaning idiots. *Most of
the money is spent on administration, posh hotels for administrators
and bribes. *Much is syphoned away through corruption.
So next time you are asked for money for one of these organisations,
DON'T give.
A well known example here.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...an-Band-Aid-mo...
* Just be sure that where you put your money is an effective place to
put it. *Agencies like Mennonite Central Committee run on a shoestring
- and no money or aid goes anywhere unless they have "boots on the
ground" to monitor what goes where and to be sure it is not
misappropriated.
World vision does a good job too - albeit with higher overhead, since
much is done by "employees" rather than "volunteers". The aim is to
have locals doing the work on the ground in the countries involved.
Teach them to be able to do what needs to be done, and to do it
effectively (proper use of funds, effective use of resources, ethical
dealings, etc)
My daughter will never get rich - if she's lucky she will make a
reasonable income - and yes, many times she wonders if she IS wasting
her time.
I had the same missgivings when I was in Africa (Zambia) 40 years ago.
Was it effective for me to be there teaching when they had their own
people who were capable of teaching - but could make more money
working in private business because I was willing to be there
basically teaching for nothing??? *Might it not have been better to
work towards getting their own people involved rather than having Cuso
volunteers do the job? *The CIDA funded directors of the program had a
pretty nice gig going that they were not too interested in working
their way out of. *Can't complain about sun 9 months of the year,
cheap beer, and a relatively easy expatriate lifestyle, along with a
good salary and "hardship bonus".
For my part, I tried to instill in my students a sense of
responsibility, and a sense of PRIDE - so that they might consider
teaching others - passing on the knowlege they were SO FORTUNATE to
have the opportunity to have provided for them. *I have to believe
that at least a few of my 35 students went on to be a positive
influence in their world. After 2 years I came home with empty
pockets, but a lifetime of experiences to look back on.
My later time in Burkina Faso I sometimes also had to wonder if there
was any point to being there. The people group I was involved in had
real trust issues - they didn't trust each other farther than they
could throw each other - and with good reason - as honesty was not a
commodity in great supply. My friends had, by that time, been working
with this group for about 17 years, and had been really questioning if
anything was getting through. While I was there they found out about
some serious duplicity and deciet that was causing serious problems in
the community. They had to leave the community a year or so later, if
for no other reason than to preserve their sanity - although health
was the more significant force. *They still had contact and were still
working with the community, although not living in the community.
Going back 10 or more years later, the whole fabric of the village has
changed - they are more trusting and trustworthy - and along with that
they are becoming more self sufficient and prosperous, and more
healthy. They had an influence - and they had to *step back and let it
perculate for a while.
Interesting monologue.
There are huge tracts of ex-farmland in Africa uncultivated because
the farmers can't sell anything they grow due to food aid. So they
give up and go and join the queue for the free hand-outs.
And there is ignorance and incompetence, they are unable to run any
business effectively.
A lot of land has intermitant droughts. The same places cannot support
the population in drought though it can in good rains. So,
overpopulated due to high birth AND survival rates.
There is no point in supporting this ever increasing population, we
are headed for mega-disaster.
The streets in the UK are filled with "Chuggers" (Charity muggers).
They are paid to try to get you to sign up to regular payments for one
charity or another.
At one time we had volunteers on the streets rattling tins for
donations.
Charity is big business over here.