African Problems

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Interesting sort of a compendium of stories about the problems facing Africa:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/921175/posts

Another Perspective:

http://www.theothersideofkim.com/index.php/essays/36/

and I'll say straight up that I am not in favor of "letting Africa sink", but the guy does give you an idea of the magnitude of the problems. What he is saying is that the main problem in Africa is that there are simply so many ways to die young that nobody ever lives long enough to get wise and that race doesn't even matter and the same thing would be true if no negros had ever lived in Africa.

What I get from these stories is that solutions to such problems have to be robust, powerful, and inexpensive and that all nonsense has to be tossed aside in dealing with them. DDT would be one such piece of the puzzle.

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gunga, I'm not sure anybody can even come up with solutions for all the multitude of problems that is Africa. Life expectancy is one of the lowest on this planet.

What we can do, and some of have done, is to help what little we can in the individual villages. We've helped with school supplies and some monetary donations to the schools, but that's only a drop in the bucket. Even Oprah's special school had problems, and she's sponsoring hundreds of children at a school she built. Most live a very hard life.

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Africa is a continent that historically was always shown to be smaller on globes than it actually is. How does one "fix" a huge continent? Country by country I would think? Can each western country "adopt" an ailing African country?

And, once a country bettered its health, education, etc., would the people want to come to Europe, the U.S., anyway? Perhaps, the reality is humans are still migrating "out of Africa," as they did 60,000 years or so ago?

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I have had the opportunity to visit Africa on two safaris; the first was to Tanzania and Kenya, and the second to Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa. All the driver-guides we had on these safaris were first rate; they knew all the scientific and common names for all the fauna and flora. Most were born and educated in their respective countries, and they "looked" healthy - in contrast to the statistics of their country of average lifespans.

Schools, I believe, is a key for them to work themselves out of their misery; not all, but many. In this regard, it's still a long road ahead for most of their children; they can't afford the tuition or are located too far from the schools.

When we visited the school in Karatu, Tanzania, all 500 children came out and sang to us. There was not a dry eye in our group.

It is said that "it takes a village," but many in Africa needs outside help and assistance. It's their only hope.

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cicerone imposter wrote:

It is said that "it takes a village," but many in Africa needs outside help and assistance. It's their only hope.

Considering that Europe is really its closest neighbor, I would think Europe would be the correct continent to assist Africa. We are already helping every country in the world, just by having such a heterogeneous society.

As the saying goes, "charity begins at home."

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Foofie, I personally believe it's a matter of balance rather than shifting problems into one region or another.

I give to my two favorite charities every year; Second Harvest Food Bank and Habitat for Humanities. My other contributions are mostly one-time giving, and sometimes two. I have given school supplies and money to schools in Africa and Fiji, and to the Chinese recently for the floods that devastated many lives. Even donated to my brother's campaign, because he's running for state office in a couple of years.

Once in a great while, I'll take a beggar to a fast food restaurant and treat them to a meal, but "rarely" give money to them.

I think that's my "balance."

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cicerone imposter wrote:

Foofie, I personally believe it's a matter of balance rather than shifting problems into one region or another.

I give to my two favorite charities every year; Second Harvest Food Bank and Habitat for Humanities. My other contributions are mostly one-time giving, and sometimes two. I have given school supplies and money to schools in Africa and Fiji, and to the Chinese recently for the floods that devastated many lives. Even donated to my brother's campaign, because he's running for state office in a couple of years.

Once in a great while, I'll take a beggar to a fast food restaurant and treat them to a meal, but "rarely" give money to them.

I think that's my "balance."

What balance? We saved Europe two times in the 20th century. That was not cheap; war bonds were a big thing then.

We also saved China in WWII.

Perhaps, I should add China to the thought of Europe aiding Africa.

Please do not tell me your Good Works; it might just spoil the positive benefits in some esoteric way.

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Foofie, It doesn't matter who it upsets or "spoil the positive effects." I do it because I'm able; I just feel it the "right thing to do" under the circumstances.

What happened during WWII is history; I was too young to be "involved" in the military or to help others in need.

What others do in regards to helping other humans is none of my concern; I can only do what I think is proper for me. I'm not here to judge anyone's ability or inability to help others.

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cicerone imposter wrote:

Foofie, It doesn't matter who it upsets or "spoil the positive effects." I do it because I'm able; I just feel it the "right thing to do" under the circumstances.

What happened during WWII is history; I was too young to be "involved" in the military or to help others in need.

What others do in regards to helping other humans is none of my concern; I can only do what I think is proper for me. I'm not here to judge anyone's ability or inability to help others.

You have made your point. I have read your point.

Have you ever played Mah Jong? My mother played Mah Jong when I was a child. I still remember the women saying, "one bam, two crack..."

And getting the year's new Mah Jong card was something that elicited excitement. Why? I have no idea.

But is this not a more pleasant topic than charity?

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According to the title of this thread, it can include "charity."

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cicerone imposter wrote:

According to the title of this thread, it can include "charity."

I thought charity should be private? If I could afford to give charity, I would not give to any organization, since I am concerned about how much of any one dollar goes to help the respective cause, and how much of each respective dollar pays the salary of the charity's employees?

But again, it is uncomfortable for me to hear anyone giving an accounting of what he or she gives to charity. For some people, I believe, talking about money is a social taboo.

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FYI, I've been around the block a few times, and most subjects under the sun is open for discussion - including contributions.

Also, if you are so concerned about how much of the money you donate actually goes to the cause, you can always request a financial report from any charitable organization; that's the law.

Not only do I donate to charities, but I have worked at charitable organizations for almost 20-years of of working career.

I have also donated my time to charitable organizations as a board member.

If this information is a social taboo in your neck of the woods, you need to get out more.

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cicerone imposter wrote:

Also, if you are so concerned about how much of the money you donate actually goes to the cause, you can always request a financial report from any charitable organization; that's the law.

Not only do I donate to charities, but I have worked at charitable organizations for almost 20-years of of working career.

I have also donated my time to charitable organizations as a board member.

If this information is a social taboo in your neck of the woods, you need to get out more.

I do not donate to charity, because I cannot afford to.

In some circles I believe talking about what one spends on this or that is a social taboo. If it is not a taboo for you, no problem. I do not proselytize the social mores I have learned. Please do not tell me I "need to get out more." I can only assume that within that thought there is the innuendo that my social mores are not correct, in some objective way. There is no reason for you not to allow me to live in my, perhaps, smaller world. It is not all about being correct in one's altruistic endeavors.

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You're the one who brought up the subject of a) talking about money is a social taboo, and b) you don't like to give to charities because...

I don't need to know a) or b), because it brings nothing to the discussion - especially concerning "Africa."

Charitable organizations, out of necessity, talk about money. They need donations to survive. Why anyone gives or not is a personal choice; it's not a mandatory issue. If, in some social circles, that's taboo, they're living in a world I don't recognize.

Your explanation that you don't give to charities because you don't know how much the workers get paid vs the money going for the cause is moot, since you don't give.

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cicerone imposter wrote:

You're the one who brought up the subject of a) talking about money is a social taboo, and b) you don't like to give to charities because...

I don't need to know a) or b), because it brings nothing to the discussion - especially concerning "Africa."

Charitable organizations, out of necessity, talk about money. They need donations to survive. Why anyone gives or not is a personal choice; it's not a mandatory issue. If, in some social circles, that's taboo, they're living in a world I don't recognize.

Your explanation that you don't give to charities because you don't know how much the workers get paid vs the money going for the cause is moot, since you don't give.

This thread was about Africa and its problems, not about charitable giving?

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Many countries of Africa are in need of "charitable giving." That's a fact.

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cicerone imposter wrote:

Many countries of Africa are in need of "charitable giving." That's a fact.

So are the homeless veterans in the U.S. I really do not care about the problems outside of the U.S., except when it impacts on the U.S. and its citizens. There is nothing wrong about being focussed only on one's fellow countrymen (and women). I am not universal in my commiseration. Nor, need I be.

Let us end this veritable reparteee.

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Foofie wrote:

cicerone imposter wrote:
Many countries of Africa are in need of "charitable giving." That's a fact.

So are the homeless veterans in the U.S. I really do not care about the problems outside of the U.S., except when it impacts on the U.S. and its citizens. There is nothing wrong about being focussed only on one's fellow countrymen (and women). I am not universal in my commiseration. Nor, need I be.

Let us end this veritable reparteee.

Nobody is asking you to a) be universal or b) not focus your concerns for your own countryman. That's a choice we make as individuals.

Human suffering is universal. Our government spends money on the war in Iraq at the rate of 13 billion dollars every month, while our own citizens lose their jobs, homes, cars, and pay more for fuel and food - whether we like it or not. It's a bummer, but there's not much we can do about it when our president and congress continues to fund the war in Iraq and Afghanistan that seems there's no end game. McCain would stay in Iraq for 100 years. We choose our government representatives, but that doesn't help when they are hell-bent on spending money on a war that shows no progress after more than five years.

We've "created" much of the human suffering for the Iraqi people; we've killed more than 100,000 of their people, and over two million of their citizens have been displaced from their homes.

That's not progress in most people's sense of benefit.

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Africa has interesting fauna.

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And flora.

Showcasing indigenous South African plants, Cape Town's Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens are absolutely beautiful. Over 9000 plants are grown here and you can take several different walks through the 528 hectares that make up the gardens. There are some lovely picnic spots and during the summer (December - March) musical concerts are held on the lawns every Sunday at sunset (5.30pm).

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African Problems

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