Seven-month-old Mihag Gedi Farah at an aid camp in KenyaThe wretched plight of those in far off lands and our helplessness in ameliorating their sufferings is not something we care to dwell upon for too long.
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God
Have mercy upon the suffering of East Africa
Have mercy upon the suffering of East Africa
Update: I have changed the first sentence in this post to, hopefully, remove any ambiguity in my intent when first I wrote it. The examples in it mean nothing, they just reflect things I had read while grieving this human tragedy and how hard it is to contemplate.
The billions in aid poured into Africa will never fix the problem. I've seen politicans and bureaucrats living in luxury while their own people starve.
ReplyDeleteOnly political reform and the acknowledgement of property rights will go some way towards a solution.
I really wish you hadn't used that image and the plight of those in the Horn of Africa to take a political shot in that first sentence.
ReplyDeleteReally poor form.
The prayer on the other hand - simple and brilliant. I would encourage anyone reading this to give to any aid and development agency you are connected to that is raising money to help in this situation. The need is desperate and if we wish to avert an uncontrollable catastrophe well beyond the current devastation our response needs to be huge. Discussions and arguments about the politics in that part of the world can be had another day - right now we need to save lives.
Frank Ritchie
KG,
ReplyDeleteI think that much more likely to be the case when governments give aid, however, there are some chartiable agencies who work directly with the people who are worth supporting.
I apologize Frank that you see that first statement as a "political shot".
ReplyDeleteIt's not you know - well I don't think it is.
Really it reflects my inner turmoil in realizing that a lot of that which concerns us on a daily basis is a big nothing especially in comparison with the enormity of the real problems facing much of humanity.
Good comment, Lucia.
ReplyDeleteGovernment to government aid is wrought with problems. Agency aid also has issues depending on the model used but has much more success in directly impacting the people it is meant for - especially in a situation like this.
Frank
Cheers, Andrei. Thanks for clarifying the intent behind it. Apologies for reading it any other way - I guess I'm used to reading things as political argument when I come here. Sorry for reading it in that light.
ReplyDeleteIntent noted and appreciated :)
Frank
Any aid to Africa is useless, however it's delivered.
ReplyDeleteAgency aid has been riven with corruption in the past and in any case, food aid from the West has been diverted, sold on the black market and used as a weapon by gangsters. For all the billions poured into Africa, the problems are still there, still as severe. When something has been demonstrated not to work for over fifty years, continuing down the same path is either insanity or wishful feelgood thinking.
Zimbabwe is a case in point. It once fed a large part of Africa--now it's a basket case which can't even feed its own people.The difference is political and until that's fixed, well-meaning aid agencies and individuals are wasting their time.
ReplyDeleteI think that claiming it's just political is too simplistic KG. It's cultural, economical, societal, political, environmental, etc, etc.
ReplyDeleteWell, yes, Damian. But those things all flow from the political environment to a large extent.
ReplyDelete