Sustainable Good

Summer's Here: Don't Spend it at a Resort

It is June, which to me means summer is here! It is getting hotter, kids are finishing their last days of school, and parents are planning vacations (maybe less this year because of the recession). I thought this would be the perfect time to talk about one of the most frustrating things I have ever experienced--the resort vacationer.

International travel can be one of the most amazing experiences imaginable. It can open your eyes to new cultures, new foods, new ways of life. It can also break your heart and change your life. It can help you to see how little material things some people have. It can inspire you to ACT. On the other hand, it can also just be a luxuriant week of excesses that does little besides reinforce the inequality in the world.

Development in Fiction

I have often found works of fiction explore the complexities of poverty and development in much richer detail than technocratic and sterile policy reports put out by thinktanks, the World Bank and UN. Books like the Poisonwood Bible, Acts of Faith, The Song of Lawino, The Quiet American and Cause Celeb seem to capture the moral dilemmas, politics, psychology and cultural clashes that infuse change in the developing world. No Human Development Report could ever match the descriptive power of Graham Greene or Barbara Kingsolver.

It turns out that I am not alone in preferring a good novel to the latest Famine Early Warning System report. A group of scholars associated with the Institute for Development Policy and Management at Manchester University have come up with a list of works of fiction they believe provide a rich and sophisticated portrait of poverty and development.

Green Schools and Fuel Efficiency...The Earth Wins

In the last few weeks, climate change, energy and the environment have been front-and-center in the news. While the climate change bill that is moving through the House is not as good as it should be, there has been progress on a couple other key related issues.

A couple weeks ago, on May 14th, the House passed a "Green Schools" bill to provide $6.4 billion annually for the next five years to fund green school building and renovation projects. The bill passed 275-155; now it is up the Senate to pass a similar bill. To make this even better, the House bill has provisions to make sure that the money is focused especially on schools with low-income students.

Diarrhoea: An Unpopular but Important Cause

Diarrhoea kills some 1.7 million children every year -- that over three times the population of Kansas City wiped out annually by a preventable disease.  And yet, given the 'gross-out factor' it is highly unlikely that this disease will ever get the kind of celebrity endorsements that have helped raise awareness of breast cancer and AIDS.  Likewise, few development professionals want to become known as a 'diarrhoea expert.'  There is no glamor, it seems, in excrement.

Economic development requires basic human rights first!

I just got back from a Senate briefing on a Supreme Court decision that changed the definition of "Indian" so that far fewer tribes would get the rights that they were promised hundreds of years ago.  I was embarrassed for our country because once again, Native Americans had to explain to Congress that their land was stolen, they were forced to move to "unwanted" parts of the country, and they continue to be treated as a colonized people.  (my words not theirs.) 

The lawsuit began because a tribe in Rhode Island wanted to buy back 31 acres of land (land that was theirs in the first place) in order to build housing for low-income folks.   But multiple states and local goverments that might  lose control of land (and taxes) are putting up a fight.

No wonder that 8 out of the 10 poorest counties in the United States are located on reservations.   In Indian Country, there is little economic development and in some cases a lack of basic utilities such as heat and running water.  There is no reason for this.

I sometimes think it's important to remind ourselves that poverty exists here in the United States -- simply because of the color of one's skin.  This is especially true for the Native Americans.

Basic human rights and dignity still lack even in our land.  Outreach International knows all too well that without these things, raising a community out of poverty is almost impossible.

-Karyn Wingard-Manuel

Amnesty International Calls for Action on Sri Lanka

The human rights group Amnesty International warned yesterday that "An all-out massacre is about to take place in Sri Lanka any day now" if the international community did not intervene rapidly to save civilians in the war zone.

The Value of Community

I recently came across the latest stories "from the field" on the Outreach International website and got hooked.  It felt so good to hear about the many successes around the globe because of the work OI is doing.   I couldn't help but smile when reading about Fulgence and Marcel working together to build a well in their community; I silently celebrated when I read about Flank (from Zambia) and Ana (from the Phillipines) who worked with Outreach International and raised their voices to their government leaders in order to receive their fair due -- parcels of land where they now make their living; I read with relief about Vilma's work to start up a local pharmacy; and I smiled as I imagined the life of Chiwa, a 7 year old girl who used to spend her days walking to gather water for the family and now spends her days going to school.  Ahhh... it's nice to sense some hope in the lives of real people.

I noticed that all of these stories emphasized one thing -- one integral factor that brought them their success -- community.  They all worked to gather the support of the community before they did anything else.  They knew that without the strength of a multitude of voices -- their power, their momentum for change -- would be too weak to make a difference.  They depended on community, they worked together, and the result?  They made changes to their community and their lives.

Obama's Budget: How is it for the poor?

For those of us who don't follow politics every day (I was one of those people for a long time), it may seem from the headlines that Obama's budget has passed and that we are done worrying about the budget this year. Unfortunately, we are far from that point. 

What passed in early April, was the top line numbers for the budget, the upper limits for accounts that include a wide range of programs. On this blog we were concerned mostly about the International Affairs Budget, which includes funding for a lot of development programs. We were successful in lobbying for an increase of the International Affairs Budget--It was increased by over $4 Billion!

Now Obama has submitted his specific requests for each program and it is time to lobby again. As you can see from the chart above, there are some very important programs that are underfunded in this budget.

Five Works of African Literature You Should Read

1. "Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe. This profound reflection on rural life in Nigeria and the impact of colonialism was the first novel written by an African to be widely read outside the continent. If you read no other African literature, you should at least read this book.

2. "The Song of Lawino," by Okot P'Bitek. This epic poem is a relatively quick read (I got through it in an afternoon) but is a rich, funny and insightful look at the tension between tradition and modernity in rural northern Uganda. The lamenting and biting song of the protagonist, Lawino, skewers her well-educated husband's decision to leave her for a "modern women."

Five Good Non-Fiction Books on Africa

1. “Africa: A Biography of the Continent,” by John Reader. A wide-reaching and sweeping look at trends and broader explanations for the way things are, covering history, geography, anthropology, biology and politics. While it is a thick tome (some 700 pages) it manages to be engaging, interesting and easy to read. This would be a good place to start for the interested newcomer to African issues.

2. “Africa Works: Disorder as a Political Instrument,” by Patrick Chabal and Jean-Pascal Daloz. A lucid and theoretically-rich exposition of African politics. Describing how systems of patronage operate within the context of modern states, Chabal and Daloz provide powerful explanations for conflict, corruption and poor economic development. It also introduces English-speakers to the rich seam of francophone research and literature about Africa.

Call to Action: War-torn families escape and ask for help

The civil war in Sri Lanka is coming to a climax, trapping as many as 100,000 people in the cross-fire. You’ve probably seen it in the media.

Only half have escaped so far, and according to the United Nations, many more remain trapped, looking to escape. With newly escaped groups likely to reach safe districts in as soon as 48 hours (according to UN reports), your support is needed most urgently!

Outreach International benefits over 150,000 people in communities in Sri Lanka. We are already on the ground and ready to help the displaced victims forced to flee south from livelihoods, homes and families as the conflict intensifies.

Outreach International needs your support to help the refugees that will soon arrive in our communities, desperately hoping for assistance. 

They need help and they need it right away.

Harishke Samaranayake, a member of our Sri Lankan team commented, “Water and sanitation is one of the biggest issues here.” An International Red Cross spokeswoman also said recently, “The humanitarian conditions in the conflict area are very grim.” The next 48 hours are critical to meet the needs of displaced families.

Please help the displaced families seeking refuge, safety and security by sending your donation today.

Our Sri Lankan team has already started collecting dry food and health care items, ensuring that food supplies, clean water and sanitation are supplied for the refugees. Sadly, the needs of women and children are especially great.

Please donate. A gift of $25 or more will help victims not only today in our relief effort, but also in the long term commitment of Sustainable Good around the world.

Thank you for sending immediate assistance to the families in Sri Lanka.


Sincerely,
Matthew C. Naylor, President
Outreach International

Sometimes I feel too powerless to make a difference.

I remember sitting in the library a couple years ago and finding out that a friend of mine from Malawi had passed away from a bad case of malaria.   I could do nothing but weep for Kathy and her family and think about how unfair the world is -- where people die of preventable disease for no good reason at all.  I also remember the time when my husband was working in a Malawian hospital and saw a woman undergo an emergency c-section.  There was no clean gauze available so the people attending to her were left no choice but to use guaze that had been collecting dust on a shelf.  The woman later died a painful death due to the infection in her wound.  It was another senseless death.   I remember feeling overwhelmed by grief and hopelessness.  The solutions seem so simple.  Yet, I knew of nothing I could do to make a real impact for the hundreds of thousands of people dying every day.  I wasn't a politician or a millionare -- and I didn't know anyone who had influence.  At the same time, as a white, middle class, American I knew that I inherently carried much more power than many of the friends I made in southeastern Africa. But that power only felt superficial to me.