Clean water in Africa

Africa is going back to what it was before white men arrived. Almost there now. In America the natives were largely exterminated but in Africa they were not.

Reply to
harry
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Britain built the city illustrated. In America the Indians were murdered, put in concentration camps and ethnically cleansed.

Reply to
harry

Since Livingstone never traveled on the Congo they wouldn't have had the chance. But then you always come up with fiction.

Stanley was an American who spent time shooting negros, in Africa sport he was no doubt accustomed to.

Reply to
harry

Is that so? Full of your usual crap

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Reply to
harry

They are best just left to get on with it.

Reply to
harry

Well, there is the "Don't feed the bears rule." I suppose it applies to people too. Look at what welfare does which is similar to what happens in national parks when folks feed the wildlife. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

in-africa...quoted text -

Sigh.... Along with the UK, Canada, France, the rest of NATO, etc. So, why is this a USA thing again? And the charge was made that we do it to take their resources, what resources exactly did we take in the case of Libya?

I mean this country has conquered more territory than any country in history. Even when countries attack us, do we enslave them, take their resources? Hell no, we rebuild them, give them aid, set up democracy and give them a decent shot at peace and prosperity.

So, only a total village idiot would look at the very limited intervention in Libya to end a civil war that was done by a coaltiion of many countries as some example of evil perpetrated by the USA on Africa.

Reply to
trader4

Well, you hear wrong.

The famine causes the war in as many cases as the war causes the famine. When you have no food because someone else has all the good land, or the water, you fight for the good land or the water.

When multinationals take over the good land and water to grow coffee or pineapples or sugar cane to make money so there is no good land and water available for the common man to raise his maize or manioc or millet to feed himself, his family, and his livestock, you have famine. Blame the world bank, not the African.. And famine causes political unrest - which turns to war - the big man is a member of tribe A - which gets all the benefit of the multinationals money being pumped into the country - so tribe B fights to get their share.

And the world bank and the multinationals currently have the biggest influence on corruption too - they feed it on a daily basis.

Reply to
clare

Another problem with food aid is when cheap or free food is brought in from outside it kills the market for locally grown food when there IS a good crop - so the small farmer gets nothing for his cash crops and cannot afford to buy anything from anyone else.

When the small farmer can't get anything for his rice because the market has been flooded with free USAID rice shipped in from where-ever, he soon cannot afford to grow rice any more, so now the food shortage is even worse.

Food aid only when necessary, and help and education to allow the locals to grow and produce their own food, or to earn the money to buy food, is MUCH more effective.

Transportation is also a problem. Both for locally produced food and for foof aid. The food grows after the rainy season - and the roads are washed out by the rains to the point you cannot get trucks through to pick up the crops to move them to market. Then the food aid comes in, and the locals are out of food - the neew crop has not grown yet - and the roads are impassible to deliver the food aid to where it is needed..

It's a WHOLE LOT more complex than most who only see it from this side of the pond (wherever that may be) can even begin to imagine. Yes, there are societal and political reasons - but it goes a lot deeper than that.

African development is a very DIFFICULT subject. Much moreso than even south American, central American, or Asian development - all of which have their own issues.

You need to see the situation from within to even BEGIN to understand it.

Reply to
clare

folks have gone along. I should know more, perhaps some day.

the text, or link.

losnyder dot blogspot dot com

Reply to
clare

I'll agree that much of what has passed for "aid" and "development" has been counterproductive.

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.

Reply to
clare

By the British - who then became Americans.

Reply to
clare

So it is the White Mans fault after all. It's a conspiracy to keep The Africans enslaved. I suppose Whitey is afraid of a strong Sub-Saharan Africa so all the charity and religious relief agencies are being used to keep The Black Man down. They're not there to help even though they truly believe they're doing God's work. They're a tool of the evil multinational corporations which wish to steal Sub-Saharan Africa from the people who own it. Darn, we must let all the church groups know the truth so they can stop what they're doing. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

I salute you and your family for trying to help those poor folks in such a bad situation. The people who really help are few and far between and that's a real shame. If I ever start to feel sorry for myself, all I have to do is remember the folks around the world who's lives are so much harder than my own. I know that if I resided in one of those Third World countries, I would have been dead long ago. The nurse called today with news of a new pain medication they want me to try. I wouldn't have access to such medical care in a third world country and I would suffer a lot worse fate. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

That is NOT what I said - and you know it.

Reply to
clare

Even something as common ad diabetes is pretty much a death sentance for most. It's not a good situation even for "whitey" with diabetes.

Chronic malaria, Bilharzia, and malnutrition means many have 3 strikes against them before they reach age 5 (if they do). And that's not including what is in the drinking water.

Sanitation is another serious issue - building proper privies AND wells in Wast Africa would make a huge difference in human health. In East Africa and Central Africa the general higene seamed a lot better.

On my trip last spring to the Mediteranean, North Africa, and the Canary Islands I think the worst conditions I ran across were in Marseille France - worse than Cassablanca - and some parts of Cassablanca were pretty rough. We saw the "underbelly" of Cassablanca from a mini-taxi we hired to take us around the city most tourists don't get to see - parts of the "old city" where even a minibus would not get through. Very Arab - yet also very African

Reply to
clare

Sorry, I was being ironic, no insult meant but I am disgusted with the rampant stupidity of those thinking they are really helping. There are some wonderful caring folks who do their best to save people in a bad situation but often cause trouble out of ignorance of the way things work and the way people think. In some areas of the world, a person's prized possession and something they may risk their life to protect is something as insignificant as a blanket. Insignificant to people in the wealthy developed countries but a priceless object to our Third World friend. o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

I believe the thing that would save a lot of children is clean potable water. I remember seeing a video of relief agencies setting up medical clinics for children in order to give them a mega dose of vitamins to keep the infants from going blind. I can't physically do anything like travel to those areas of the world to help those folks and I have a little bit of money coming in but am suspicious of what agency actually uses donations for something other than TV advertizing to get more donations. With your experience, who do you consider a charitable organization that efficiently uses donations to help people? o_O

TDD

Reply to
The Daring Dufas

n-in-africa...text -

Iraq-oil Afghanistan-lithium Nicoragua-bananas,pineapples etc Cuba-sugar Mexico-land grab, Iran-Israel Canada-land grab Hawaii-land grab Philipines-naval base

Already forgotten you bombed Libya in 1986?

l
Reply to
harry

By that measure there are no Americans except the indians. The ones left that is after the various massacres.

Reply to
harry

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