Sustainable Good

The Dictionary is Wrong

Looking over the headlines from today, one major thought kept coming into my mind: When did governments quit serving their people and start controlling them?

The Iranian government is still holding protesters arrested after the election dispute. Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president accused of atrocious war crimes denied everything at the International Criminal Court. I talked to a South Carolinian today who said their governor missed some very important meetings recently because he is taking time to reconcile with his wife for his unfaithfulness (while unemployment is soaring in SC). Coal companies benefit more from the climate bill that the House passed than the environment does.

So my question is again when did governments stop serving people? Even better, how did we let this happen?

After thinking about this, I realized maybe I was wrong. Maybe I misunderstood what government means. So I looked up the definition. And it focuses mostly on control, not service: "the political direction and control exercised over the actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of communities, societies, and states". I disagree.

Government is about service. It is about taking care of the people one is elected to represent. It is about representing them fairly.

Maybe I am too idealistic, maybe I am just a dreamer, but as John Lennon says: "I'm not the only one." Join us. Let's create a better world.

-Stephen Donahoe

Obama's Going to Africa, Tell Him We Need Change!

Obama is planning a trip to Ghana for July 10-11. This trip shows how high a priority Africa is for the Obama administration because no other president has made a trip to Africa so early in his term. This is a  big step forward in realizing how important relations between the US and the nations of Africa really are. It also demonstrates a real desire to make real change in the region.

Join Obama in recognizing that US policy in Africa needs to change. Exploitation, militarization and ineffective aid have been the paradigm for too long.

Add your name to this petition, organized by a coalition of African advocacy groups. The letter suggests four policy changes that could make a world of difference for the millions living in African nations:

What Do Vultures Have To Do with International Development?

Many scholars have claimed that the lifestyles we have gotten used to in the United States perpetuate the ongoing poverty in other countries.  Some say that the U.S. (5% of the world's population) takes up 25% of world's resources, which forces poorer countries to make do with less.  Others disagree -- claiming that the world has limitless resources due to technology and ingenuity.   Economists go back and forth on this debate, each side citing different numbers and various graphs to prove their points. 

An extreme example of exploitation, however is when companies buy international debt, for pennies on the dollar.  If the U.S. cancels the debt, these companies sue the developing countries for the whole debt plus interest.  These funds are called "vulture funds", and rightly so.  They allow companies to sit and wait for the perfect time to attack, when countries are at their most vulnerable state.

Many countries whose debt is just canceled are now made to pay these companies the money that could have gone to help reduce the AIDS epidemic, build new schools, or anything else that would promote well-being and economic recovery.

This is so awful, that Representative Maxine Waters recently introduced a bill to outlaw such funds.

"The act would protect impoverished countries from the predatory practices of vulture funds and allow these countries to use their limited resources to meet the needs of their people," said Waters. "I am proud of my work in Congress to cancel poor countries' debts. We cannot allow vulture funds to erode the progress that has enabled many of the world's most impoverished nations to reduce poverty."

Toward Conflict-Free Electronics

Campaigns highlighting the links between diamonds and conflict, knitwear and sweatshops and coffee and exploitative working conditions have done much to raise consumers' awareness of the hidden human cost to seemingly ordinary products.

But did you know that your cellphone, your laptop or digital camera could be fueling the world's most deadly contemporary war, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)? For instance, a recent report found that the batteries from Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and possibly Sony Ericsson mobile phones contain cobalt mined in the DRC.

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.

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.

Zambia Floods Affect 700,000

Zambia is having the worst flooding it has experienced in 40 years, following an unusually heavy rainy season. Government estimates suggest some 600,000 to 700,000 people "have been either displaced or severely crippled" by the flooding. Click here to learn more.

Outreach International has worked in Zambia for many years, helping develop sustainable community organizations, improving agriculture and increasing access to clean water and sanitation. Click here to learn more about Outreach International's programs in Zambia.  Click here to read a story about Outreach International's impact on one particular Zambian community.

-Matthew Bolton

We are Learning!

It is easy to be discouraged by foreign aid efforts. Too often it seems that there is not enough money, the projects aren't sustainable enough, local people aren't involved enough...the list of "not enoughs" could go on for a long time.

When I find myself feeling cynical about the woes of international development, I normally think about some of the amazing projects I have experienced with Outreach International. Today I found another great source of hope that we are actually learning something...that there are other people and groups that are creating sustainable good as well. On Aid Watch, William Easterly (author of White Man's Burden) writes about a micro-finance project in Ghana that exemplified the main principle that we advocate for on this blog, the participation of local people in their own development.

I'm no economist but...

 

I think everyone can agree that business investment is helpful to local economies of the poorest billion people.

I came across a great blog today -- Bottom Billion Blog.  In it, Jean-Louis Warnholz wrote an interesting article called, "A Secret Unveiled: Africa is Open for Business."  Economists and others more economically savvy than me say now is the time for investment.  Warnholz points out that investing in a business in Africa is actully one of the ten ideas changing the world right now.

There is a debate going on these days on whether international aid is helpful to developing nations or downright destructive --in the end creating more problems than solutions. 

One way or the other, trade and business development (rather than aid) is the best way to invest in local economies -- but many corporations are still timid about the risks involved with such a venture.  Apparently, those perceptions are a bit old fashioned.  Time writes, "Democracy is up. Inflation and interest rates are in single digits. Terms of trade have improved. Crucially, said Nellor, 'growth is taking off.' The IMF puts Africa's average annual growth for 2004 to '08 at more than 6% — better than any developed economy — and predicts the continent will buck the global recessionary trend to grow nearly 3.3% this year."

China is leading the trend in investing in Africa -- and maybe it's time for other businesses to do the same.

What do you think?

-Karyn Wingard-Manuel

Khakis, Pockets and Adventurous Hats: Tourism and the Colonial Imagination

I needed an adventurous hat – khaki-colored with a broad brim, evocative of Indiana Jones. Such were my thoughts as I prepared for a visit to Kenya during a summer break from college nine years ago. The hat made me look incredibly silly and eventually I came to my senses, giving it away. But for a few weeks it made me feel like a bona fide swashbuckler.

A couple years later, as I shopped for clothes before going on an aid work assignment in Zambia, I went for the whole look – buying khaki trousers and shirts with hundreds of pockets. I looked like a bad caricature of the European explorer in Africa (see the photo of me by the taxi) but I felt dashing and exciting nonetheless.

As I have spent more time on the African continent I have begun to reflect on the absurdity of this behavior which is so common among North Americans and Europeans that come here.

Sudanese Government Goes on Offensive against NGOs

In retaliation for the International Criminal Court's indictment of the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur, the Sudanese government has revoked the registration of over a dozen humanitarian agencies operating in the country.  Some of the groups affected include Oxfam GB, CARE, Save the Children UK, the Norwegian Refugee Council, MSF-Netherlands, the International Rescue Committee, Action Against Hunger, CHF International, Mercy Corps and Solidarites.

Millions of Sudanese, especially in the Darfur region, rely on humanitarian assistance, such as food and medical care, from such groups.  Many have been displaced by the fighting in Darfur which the US government has called a genocide.  The decision will also affect over 6000 humanitarian workers.

For reactions from aid workers in Sudan, read this excellent article from AlertNet.

It is still unclear what consequences the indictment will have on the people of Sudan. The International Crisis Group called it a "a welcome and crucial step towards challenging the impunity that has worsened conflict in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan."  However, they also acknowledge that the Sudanese government could use this as an opportunity to "direct, or encourage, violence against the millions of displaced Darfuris living in camps in the war-torn region."

For background on the history of the conflicts in Sudan, see the AlertNet briefing or read the in-depth reports from International Crisis Group. To read an interesting blog about the current crisis, click here.

-Matthew Bolton

Darfur: It's Not Over; We Can't Forget

I realized something tragic the other day. I am a typical American in a lot of ways. What made me realize that was that I had totally forgotten about Darfur. Because I hadn't heard about the war there for a while, I just figured everything was better. Then I saw the headline "Refugees Flood Into Darfur Camp After Fighting" and I was appalled to learn that the war that has displaced 2.7 million people and killed over 300,000 is still going on. Actually recent news is that 26,000 people were displaced in the last few weeks, one of the largest flights of people in the last year.

Slumdog Millionaire and social justice?

Tonight I finally went to see the Academy Award all-star Slumdog Millionaire. I wanted to love it, and did. I also wanted to believe that it would inspire many more people around the world to care about the poorest of the poor in India, like Jamal in the movie; but I am not convinced of that. It was mostly a love story, not a call for economic justice.

One part that I thought was especially powerful and insightful was when Jamal was leading two Americans down toward a river to see where women washed their clothes. While they were gone, other children stripped their car of everything. When Jamal brought the couple back, the driver blamed Jamal for the theft and started beating him up. Jamal exclaimed that he "just wanted to give them a taste of the real India." The couple stopped the driver and the woman said, "and here's a taste of the real America" and gave him $100. At first it was sad for me to think that to her America was money, then I looked at it at a deeper level.

Reflections on Water

I am visiting my brother and sister-in-law (Matthew Bolton and Emily Welty) in Kampala, Uganda. Although I have traveled to several countries before, this is my first visit to a developing nation. My visit is full of new experiences even for things as simple and essential as water.

Every morning I make a short trip from the basement apartment to the filtered water supply in the main house above. It requires a little practice and training to transfer the water from the supply bottle which can weigh up to 55 pounds to our five liter bottle (1.3 US gallons) without spilling.  Moreover, though we have running water for washing, our building has poor plumbing and electrical work. Pipes leak and visits to the sink or shower are frequently accompanied with a buzzing sensation or electrical shock.

Hope Based On Openness

“Why are you here?” voiced a 12 year old boy living in a refugee camp on the border of Darfur, Sudan.  When Canadian Senator Mobina Jaffer, who at the time in 2005 was Canada’s Special Envoy to Sudan, started to reply, the boy interrupted – “No, I mean why are you wasting your time here? – it’s too late for us!  You should be in Iraq helping people before they end up like us in refugee camps!” 

Upon returning to Canada, when Senator Jaffer told a group of us this story, I asked her what might have been the hidden agenda of the boy -- maybe family trying to make him look special and gain favour, or someone using him to make a political statement?  In this particular case, she couldn’t see one – it simply seemed to be a spontaneous, honest reaction. 

 

 

Poverty and the Impact of the Economic Crisis

Spending Christmastime with my in-laws in Michigan really opened my eyes to the depth of the economic crisis. I heard many people talking about their fear of slowdown and layoffs in the auto industry and the surprising number of small businesses that have gone under.  I spoke with the owner of a small independent bookshop that has struggled to make ends meet as people have cut back on spending.

Keep Children Off the Battlefield

This video, which in the satirical tradition of Swift's 'A Modest Proposal', calls on people to help child soldiers fight, is rather shocking.  But rather than seeing it as bad taste, it forced me to think about how my complacency actually allows the phenomenon of child soldiers to continue unchallenged -- almost as if I was sending them weapons myself.

‘Great Change’ in Malawi: The Story of Lewis Mhango, Human Development Facilitator

Lewis Mhango is a human development specialist with Outreach International in northern Malawi.  Soft-spoken and thoughtful, he works at the grassroots in impoverished rural communities, organizing and facilitating sustainable change.

Corruption, Poverty, Disease: It's all connected

  News keeps coming in of the hundreds of people (and counting) dying in Zimbabwe due to the cholera outbreak.  There is no real way to know the total of deaths because record keeping is difficult or non-existant.  Raw sewage leaks throughout the streets and runs into the river, infecting it with cholera.  Close by, vendors are selling vegetables and fruits because there is no other option.  Thousands of people are becoming sick but many of the hospitals are closing because there is no funding, leaving extremely ill people with nowhere to go.  There are no medicines to give them anyway, nor anyone to hand them out.  Nurses and doctors are on strike because they are not getting paid.  The deaths due to cholera are expected to rise due to the expected rainy season in Feburary.

Building Peace at the Local Level in Uganda

Negotiators for the Ugandan government waited in vain last week for the illusive rebel leader, Joseph Kony to emerge and sign a peace agreement to end the twenty year civil war in Northern Uganda. Once again, Kony failed to appear, demanding further concessions. However, while Kony continues to stall peace efforts, the people of Uganda have continued to pursue peace amongst themselves.

This week, we travelled to Soroti, in eastern Uganda to meet with an inspiring local organization which is taking peace into its own hands. The Teso Dioceses Development Office (TEDDO) has a peace project  headed by Pastor Sam Eibu which specializes in community-based mediation. Under Eibu’s initiative, a group of one hundred “peace promoters” have been trained to carry out localized conflict resolution and conciliation initiatives in the villages surrounding Soroti.

World AIDS Day...today!

Today, December 1st, marks the 20th anniversary World AIDS Day. People all over the world have been coming together on Dec. 1st to commit to end the AIDS epidemic. Check out some of the ways that governments around the world marked the day this year. Also be sure and go to the World AIDS Campaign website where you can pledge to increase your committment to ending AIDS. I recommend figuring out what you would feel comfortable doing and then going the next step further. We all have to work harder in order to end this disease.

Some of the countries where Outreach International works are facing terrible AIDS crises. One of those is Zambia, where almost one out of six people is HIV positive! Read how one community is working together to overcome the struggles of AIDS.

-Stephen Donahoe

‘Working for Outreach International Not Only Changes the Poor, It Changes You'

McAdamson Nkhoma has an infectious laugh. With twinkling eyes and a big smile, you can count on him to inject a healthy dose of humor into a dull meeting.  But McAdamson is also a deeply serious man who brings wisdom and experience to his job as Outreach International’s country program coordinator in Malawi.

A Christian Response to Poverty

During my recent visit to Outreach International’s programs in Malawi I heard an interesting sermon by Malawian Community of Christ minister Patrick Gausi on Christian responses to social problems. He reflected in particular on Outreach International’s approach to ending poverty, which maintains people’s dignity and seeks sustainable, rather than stop-gap, solutions.

I think his sermon would make a good resource for church groups studying or reflecting on Outreach International’s work, so I have posted a transcription of it below.

-Matthew Bolton

To Feed the Child, Nourish the Village

Almost half of Malawi's children under five are orphaned, largely due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic which has impacted the country severely. Traditionally, orphans have been incorporated into the families of relatives.  However, the current crisis is straining this support system. As a result, rural communities are struggling to feed, clothe and educate the orphans in their midst.

New WorldService Corps Website

The WorldService Corps, a volunteer agency affiliated with the Community of Christ, launched a new website this week (http://www.worldservicecorps.org), providing information to young adults who are searching for service opportunities.

I must admit that I found the old website rather dull, which stood in direct contrast with how exciting, challenging and engaging my time as volunteer was.  Thankfully, the new website is very cool – well designed with lots of multimedia resources telling the stories of past volunteers.

It was my experience as a summer WorldService Corps volunteer in Kenya that first got me really excited about Outreach International. I had never been in the developing world as an adult and the immersion into extremely poor communities in the midst of a fraught political environment grabbed me like no other previous job or assignment.  I found going back to college after the summer very hard – nothing in class seemed to match the level of education I had gotten out in the field.

Uganda Rising

This week I have been attending a film festival in Kampala, Uganda, run by Makerere University Law School and the Refugee Law Project, aimed at spurring discussion on ways forward in the country’s peace process.

While things are more peaceful these days, Uganda has suffered from a devastating conflict in its northern region for some 20 years. Over 1 million people were forcibly displaced into camps by government troops, 25,000 children were abducted by brutal rebel forces that believe they are divinely inspired.  The country now faces the challenges of reintegrating former rebels, mostly abducted children.  It struggles with hope best to seek justice and accountability while also recognizing the need for reconciliation.

Last night I saw a particularly impressive documentary called Uganda Rising (available from www.ugandarising.com) that delves into the roots of this conflict, tells the story of survivors and provides sophisticated analysis from academics and policymakers.

The Gift of Goats: Sustainable Good in Zimwanda, Malawi

A small goat project in rural Malawi might seem insignificant in light of the many problems faced by  one of Africa's poorest countries.  However, in this short web video, you can see clips of my conversation with a family -- Teresa, Fabian and their seven kids -- whose lives have changed for the better thanks to a goat project organized by their community with the help of Outreach International.

Ceremony Highlights Plight of Children in War

Today my wife and I attended a very moving ceremony at St. Mary's school in Aboke, northern Uganda, commemorating the twelfth anniversary of the abduction of 139 girls by rebel troops, many of them younger than their victims.

In an act of incredible bravery, two teachers, John Bosco and Sister Rachelle Fassera, had pursued and tracked down the rebel unit and negotiated the release of 109 girls. However, most of the remaining 30 were forced to become 'wives' for top commanders of the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).  The parents of the abductees formed a local pressure group, the Concerned Parents Association, to push for the children's release and advocate for peace.

The 'Aboke Girls' are among the over 30,000 children who have been abducted by the LRA since 1986. Since the LRA has had little support among the civilian population, they turned to forced recruitment of children to fill their ranks. According to some estimates, over 80 percent of the LRA's ranks are abductees.

Malawi Site Visit Video

Seeking to see the impact of sustainable change in rural communities, ten American supporters of Outreach International visited Malawi last week.  They visited Outreach International's program areas, met people in their homes, viewed development projects and engaged in cross-cultural dialogue.

Click on the video above to see a short film about the Site Visit.  Click here to read an article from The Examiner (Independence, MO) about Outreach International's work in Malawi.

Hope for Malawi

Malawi is one of the poorest countries of the world.  It's GNI per capita (average annual income per person) is $230 -- that's just 63 cents a day.  It also has an HIV prevalance rate of over 13%. 

And yet, along with eight other people from around the US, I was able to see the glimmerings of hope for Malawi as I visited Outreach International's program areas.  I saw people taking charge of their lives, organizing in their communities to create long-lasting solutions to the myriad problems they face.

Help influence our media

May I summarize the last posts by Jeff, Stephen and Matt?

I remember reading quite awhile ago (hence no source, sorry) about media attitudes toward people in different parts of the world and it went something like this: If one American is killed, it's newsworthy.  After that the journalistic worth of other people around the world looks much like this math equation: 1 American = 10 Europeans = 100 Asians =1,000 Central/South Americans = 10,000 Africans.  This is now the unspoken rule when it comes to those "Breaking News" headlines.  Africans just don't qualify as important unless tens of thousands are massacred or killed -- and even then, the story has a quick shelf life. 

Africa is Not a Country

Perhaps it shouldn't get to me so much, but it does.  Why is it that so many people from the US and Europe, when talking about Africa, speak of it as if it were single country?

"So... What's it like living in Africa?" people ask me.  I want to respond with "What's it like living in the Americas?" or "What is life like upon the Eurasian Continent?"  But I recognize that would be a bit cruel. People are often genuinely interested, starved for information about an enormous continent (over twice the size of the USA and Western Europe put together) that is scarcely mentioned in the daily news. For instance, in 2007 the New York Times published 144 articles about Uganda, a country of 26 million people, where I now live. They published 185 articles about Britney Spears and 204 about Paris Hilton.