On My Soap Box

***Continuation of last posting: Maddening Malady - see below***

If you know me, you know I love NPR. One of my favorite radio shows is Intelligence squared, which is an oxford style debate series that chooses a topic and has scholars and experts professionally debate (as compared to the unprofessional shows, such as Bill O'Reily or Rush Limbaugh, that mainly feature yelling and name calling). One debate I hadn't listened to yet was titled "Is aid to Africa doing more harm then good?" This seemed extremely applicable so I started to listen. Before I listened to the debate I thought the answer was obvious- NO, of course not, aid to Africa is a very good thing, we need to do all we can to help impoverished people, right? But I soon changed my mind.

The main debater who thought that aid to Africa was doing more harm then good was George Ayittey. George Ayittey is a native African, President of the Free Africa foundation, and one of the greatest African scholars on earth. I think he was recently voted among the top ten intellectuals of 2008 by TIME magazine. This took me by surprise- why was one of the biggest advocates for social justice saying that the aid to Africa is doing more harm then good? I soon found out.

Here are some facts that I either knew ahead of time, learned from the debate, or found out (and verified) after brief research:

Africa receives about $25 billion/year in aid from all sources combined.

Even though that seems like a large number, the estimated cost for money lost in Africa due to corruption, theft, destruction, war, etc. is $148 billion!

80% of American aid to Africa is spent IN AMERICA. 90% of Chinese aid to Africa is spent in China and only Chinese resources and workers are used.

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So often we believe that the money we donate from abroad goes to the people who need it. I'm as guilty as the next guy, I was living in the fantasy that my money automatically helps lift people out of poverty. But it doesn't. And some organizations don't actually fix the real problem. For example...One activity Wartburg is doing again this year is Feed My Starving Children. This organization brings in massive amounts of rice, vegetables, vitamin powder, etc. and volunteers raise money for the ingredients and come in shifts to package individual meals. Last year we had thousands of volunteers and packages something like 100,000 meals. While this is a great program and is desperately needed for some parts of Africa, it is essentially (in my opinion) just putting a band aid on the problem. It is a temporary fix that only gets the starving people from one pre-packaged meal to the next.

Only 16 of the 54 African countries are democratic. So if you donate through an African government program, or a charity that gives the money to a government program, there is no promise that the dictator or aristocracy won't absorb the money and use it to fuel violence or their own sinful greed. Also, many American charities only donate about 50% of the funds they receive. The rest goes toward 'administrative' and 'managerial' fees. Does that make you as sick as it makes me?!

Overall our aid to Africa system is a bust and needs to be revised. It feels good to just throw money in the offering plate and continue one with our lives. But make sure you know where your money is going. The three most important areas to donate to are, in the professional's opinions, - health, education, and infrastructure.

Health - this is more then mosquito nets and condoms. With 1 in 5 African's infected AIDS/HIV the need for anti-retrovirals is overwhelming. This also includes things like modern machines and technology for doctors to use.

Education- People can't help themselves if they don't have an education. As a Lutheran, my religion has a strong heritage of promoting education. Martin Luther believed that everyone should be able to read and write, so at the very least they could study the Bible. Every major study done by reputable organizations shows that when literacy rates go up, every other positive aspect of life improves with it.

Infrastructure- As mentioned early, only 16 of 54 African countries are democratic. Every civics class teaches us that our most important right as American citizens is our right to choose our leaders in a democratic fashion. If people can't vote, they can't do much else. We need to seek out peaceful diplomatic solutions to establish democracy.

Overall, this is a lot of big talk on my part. But I just became so enraged when I realized how far down in the crapper our charitable organizations are. Just one more thought:

I believe the number one killer in the world is not famine, hunger, aids, heart disease, or cancer. I think it is ignorance. We abuse our bodies, our souls, each other, and the earth when we disregard the truth and choose to sit in ignorance inside Plato's cave. People who were born white and in America often choose ignorance daily by believing everyone is given the same opportunities as them. Some even act under this false belief by not helping those in need while defending their greed by explaining that hardworking people can pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. Christians- Jesus calls us to be servants to our neighbor. Give thanks for what you have by giving to those who have not.

Okay... I'm getting off my soap box... wow, I've been up here a while...

On a personal note -
Low: Even though my stomach is settled, I'm still physically weak from not eating and I am pretty tired.

High: Had another Swahili test today, did pretty well.

Have a great day! The first step toward change is knowledge and advocacy. Take this information with you and pass it on to friends, family, that strange guy in the coffee shoppe that smells like fish... whoever, just do it.