Federal tsunami aid hits $425-million ... as cash woes hurt African AIDS fight
Every morning, I get an e-mail from the Globe and Mail with the stories of the day and this one really caught my attention: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20050111.TSAFRICA11/TPStory
Suffering is nothing new in the world. Every other day there is a story about some natural disaster destroying someone or an illness wiping out thousands. Unfortunately, when it happens in Africa we either turn a blind eye or expect others to do something about it.
People are going above and beyond the call to help our brothers and sisters in Southeast Asia as they try to rebuild after the tsunami, but there are also other places in the world that need help -- places especially hard hit by HIV/AIDS.
I read the article from the Globe and Mail and this paragraph caught my attention: "Mr. Lewis expressed frustration at the issue of debt relief. The Paris Club of donors met and decided only days after the tsunamis to freeze all debt repayments from the affected countries (many of them prosperous middle-income countries such as Indonesia), and is considering cancelling many debts outright. Yet there has been no large-scale debt cancellation for countries such as Zambia, where more than a quarter of the population has HIV-AIDS and life expectancy has dropped to 33 years of age."
Thirty-three years of age.
I'd have three and a half more years to go. My sister wouldn't be here. Neither would a lot of my friends. That is the prime of your life and if Zambians are dying at 33, who is working in this economy to pay these world debts?
The children? The majority of them have lost their parents and are just struggling to get by. So, they definitely aren't paying off the debts. And who's taking trips to Zambia? I haven't seen it in any of my travel brochures. It's not like they have a tourism industry to look to. What about all of the Zambians in North America? Well, it's probably easier to stay in Zambia than it is to get refugee claimant status in Canada. In my travels, I've met two -- only two -- Zambians. So, it's not like there are thousands of Zambians to pull some cash together here and send it back home.
Folks, this is a hot mess.
The suffering in Africa is just as great -- maybe moreso, because HIV/AIDS is one slow way to die. Your life is sucked out of you minute by minute. A natural disaster wipes you out and then goes away, leaving survivors to clean up, but it's not drawn out. But we see the suffering in Indonesia and Sri Lanka every night on TV. Those of you who have travelled to Southeast Asia want to help and rightfully so. We all banded together to help -- but help is needed just as desperately elsewhere and CityTV isn't sending Gord Martineau to the Sudan to report on the warfare. Heck, we've barely heard about the 200 dead in Somalia because of the tsunami.
"The outpouring of tsunami funds has Canadian aid agencies astonished. After an intensive fundraising campaign in Canada last year to raise money for the crisis-torn Darfur region of Sudan, where 50,000 people have been killed and 1.5 million people have been driven from their homes, Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders) collected just $350,000 (Canadian) -- much less than expected."
I was going to donate some more money to the tsunami relief, but I changed my mind and went to Médécins Sans Frontiers to donate money to HIV/AIDS relief in Africa. The world has responded en masse to this tsunami, it's time that the same is done to help everyone suffering and dying in war-torn, AIDS affected regions in Africa.
So, as to not forget about my people in Africa, I went to www.msf.ca and tried to do my part.
posted by Urban Sista @ 10:35 AM
8 Comments:
People only remember the worldwide tragedies for a minute. Its highlighted we get all excited and give money and then we go back to our offices and sipping our latties and we forget ...until the next tragedy happens. meanwhile those who are enduring the diseases and the natural disasters dont have that luxury of escape we do but we forgot that and ultimately we forget them.
Anyone talking about the rebuilding in Caymans and Grenada after Ivan last summer. nope I thought so.
the AIDS-inAfrica thing is not a forefronter. rather, it's an issue that's been going on for more than 15 years now ... it's almost as though famine+AIDS=Africa therefore new topic. it's no longer news, it's a way of life. no one considers that it's still a tragedy. an ongoing, festering, insidious, heart-wrenching tragedy.
Jdid/Marlo Girl, it's sad but true. It's easy to remember the latest tragedy, but let something happen a couple of months in the past and people forget.
I've been hearing about famine in Africa since 1983, but that doesn't make it less relevant. Unfortunately, if the images are in your face all the time, it's easier to remember.
Its funny you guys are talking about this ongoing stuff because just the other day someone asked me whether there was still famine in ethiopia. remember how that was big news in the 80s and90s. well I really didnt have a clue but it appears that there is still famine there but as marlo said its just not an issue anymore. Its become a accepted as this is the way things are.
Thank you for raising such an important social issue. Two dynamics bring us to this point. Racism and the power of 'a story'. A huge tidal wave wiping out nations of 'simple' people is a better cover page then the slow death of a 'backward' society that should have known better. I use the quotes to highlight the racist generalizations that white media has labeled the people of South Asia and Africa. My heart goes out to the people in South Asia - recognizing other issues is not to trivialize the experience they are facing. I am actually surprised they have gotten so much exposure. The power of the media at it's best. I am happy that the hype has helped people contribute. But I think it rarely comes from the heart. I guess the world felt a social burden to make up for all the racism towards the other facet of 'brown' people. If the U.S. puts millions towards helping South Asians then I guess we can't see them has monsters for trying to spend billions on annihilating another society (I mean looking for weapons of mass destruction - what a joke - today's news is stating that the U.S. government is admitting there are no weapons of mass destruction the weapons that are a threat now are the homemade items for warfare. Another oxymoron - of course the people made weapons you killed their family members. OK I need to grow write a blog on that two). My point is the media gets their story the white people feel better for 'doing something' for the inferior nations and Africa continues to live in the devastation that was put upon them. I have never seen a bigger tragedy that what has been done to that continent. If you don't know you better get a book. Thanks Urban Sista for sparking about one hundred blog topics for me. As long as some people keep asking the important questions maybe someday we will find the answers. I will now go visit www.msf.ca and follow your lead.
^Gwan girl!
Heartfelt empathy or a selfish 'let-me-pat-myself-on-the-back-for-helping-the-less-fortunate', who knows what's in people's hearts when they write a cheque to help the 'brown' or 'black' people on this planet.
It's sad that we hear about starvation, warfare, death, AIDS in Africa it's just another story. People jump on bandwagons -- Hurricane Ivan, the tsunami, but the African bandwagon has long since come and gone with 'Feed the World' back in 1983.
It's all about starting the discussion -- whether it's the Toronto Star or my little humble blog. Start writing -- I can't wait to read what you have to say ;)
BBE:
I have to say I felt the same way about the tsunami when it hit. I knew CNN would cover the story like a fat kid on a smartie. On it and never let go! But as you said, what about Africa?
Africa is the story people tell to guilt the world every once and awhile to do something, but no one ever truly follows through.
It's interesting because before the tsunami hit, Brad Pitt and Alicia Keys were making news for travelling to Africa as part of the ONE campaign and gave money, their time and celebrity to the cause. This was also part of Oprah's Angel Network. Sadly on both ends, the spotlight on Africa quickly dimmed -- again.
The piece Oprah really moved me. It moved me so much that I decided then and there to write a cheque and send it to the Angel Network for the children in Africa. Perhaps not the likely thing to do when everyone else is donating for the tsunami. In my heart, I feel it's the right thing to do. Africa needs help and if we feel this way, we can do it a bit a time.
Here's the site if you want more information on the ONE campaign http://www.theonecampaign.org/about.html
Jellibeenz
^Thanks for the info.
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