African Insights - by Jon Blanc
African Insights - "Our Children"
December 2004
Aids-Africa-Dignity and Hope . . .
www.kabiza.com
Last year, around this same time, I wrote about
a woman I met in a slum in Kampala where she lived with her two
little children. She was dying of AIDS; you could still see the
former beauty that faded rapidly as the disease ravaged her body.
Her husband had already died some months earlier. She came from
the countryside and there were no relatives in the city and those
who had been there, the scourge of AIDS had also cut them down.
At this stage of her life, when she knew that death was knocking
on her door, her worry was for the wellbeing of the children she
would leave behind.
I had briefly spoken to her near a school where I used to visit.
That day she looked at me and after greeting me said as she held
her two little children, “No one cares. My children will
have no mother, no father. No one cares. The church cannot help,
the government does not help, my neighbors cannot help, and it
seems that no one cares.” Her words have haunted me and
periodically those words come back to me ever so clearly. She
is long gone, her children are a bit older now, and yet, I still
hear her words today “No one cares.”
Just the other day I came across a link that had been sent to
me that led me to a site at
www.twanatwitu.com
where I discovered a group of Kenyans (mostly Kenyans living abroad)
that had decided to make a difference in the lives of children
who were dying of AIDS or whose parents had died of the disease.
The founder had been touched by the need at hand as she visited
her home country of Kenya and saw people dying, children ill and
hungry, the hot winds of AIDS destroying life, leaving death and
destruction in its path. She was moved with compassion and showed
her care by forming an organization that is at work in lives of
Kenya’s AIDS orphans. Moving in the spirit Harambee (pulling
together), a group of caring people formed an organization that
makes love more than a word but an action that alleviates suffering,
brings hope and some self-enabling opportunities to bring dignity
to children that otherwise would have wound up on the garbage
heap of this life. I even like the name which is refreshingly
different, “Twana Twitu” meaning “Our Children”
in Kikamba. In other words these children are not throw-a-ways,
but “our children” which says it all.
Last Sunday I had company from Africa and my son came with his
wife and of course my new grandson was there. It was nice to have
lunch with David and Robinah and their son Clovis. It was nice
to spend an afternoon with a woman who understands the concept
of “Our Children” very well. I sat there with Robinah
and her husband David talking about Africa, their work with children,
the struggle to meet the needs of those hundreds of children,
to give them a future and a hope, to prepare them to live a life
where they can replicate what they have been given, making a difference
in their country. As I listened to her I understood once again
why hundreds of children have called her Mummy for the last 30
years.
During the1980’s, when Uganda was visited by the winds
of war, revolution and just plain instability, when thousands
of children were orphaned overnight, Robinah stepped in and with
others formed a Ugandan charity, Ambassadors of Hope that with
help from the West has seen hundreds of children become doctors,
lawyers, engineers, nurses, teachers, radio personalities, carpenters,
farmers, just plain people who are changing their country from
within for the better. All because a group of Ugandans took the
throw-a-ways of Uganda and saw them as “Our Children.”
Today there are countless orphans from AIDS, even though Uganda
is the only country in Africa to reduce the new infection rate,
all needing that same covering of loving care, more to call Robinah
Mummy for years to come. If you like to help Robinah, contact
me and I will put you in touch with her.
Trevor Stevenson came to Uganda back in the mid 90’s to
buy land in order to begin a farm that would help orphanages and
schools. Trevor looked beyond the rich soil of Uganda to the people
of Uganda and along with his wife Ruth they developed a love for
the children and people of Uganda. Trevor and Ruth were not African,
but hailed from Ireland where they were instrumental in the founding
of a group that he still heads called “Fields of Life.”
The last time I spent time with Trevor and Ruth was in 1997 and
they had just built the first school in a village outside of Uganda.
Now a mere 7 years later there are 36 of them, besides the other
projects such as clinics, farms and more. He and his wife Ruth,
the organization called Fields of Life, see Uganda’s children
as theirs. They take responsibility, even though there are thousands
of miles between them, they simply feel a responsibility for them
as “Our Children.” (www.fieldsoflife.com)
Scott Baxter is a young man on the threshold of getting married,
and I remember talking with him about Africa some years ago. He
too developed a love for the children of Africa, seeing them in
the same way as the others, “Our Children.” Except
it is in Lugandan and therefore entitled “Abaana”
(www.abaana.org).
Scott has used the Internet and many people have sponsored children
via his site. He recently sent me a factoid that startled me:
19000 children die per day in Africa. What makes Abaana different
from other organizations working with children in Africa is that
Scott uses young people and cultivates a big brother and sister
mentality into their lives so that they can mentor the younger
and once again see them as “Our Children.”
Lastly there is the unique “Orphans in Africa Project”
found at www.orphansinafrica.org. This is an orphanage of 30 some
children in an Africa. They have faced some trying times in a
part of Africa that has not been supportive to their cause. Yet,
they are still helping children and making a difference. These
are people from all around the world seeing Africa’s Children
as “Our Children.”
I love the African Prayer on their site. “Let
us take care of the children, for they have a long way to go.
Let us take care of the elders, for they have come a long way.
Let us take care of those in between, for they are doing the work.
One of the reasons for my Website and the Ezines on Africa is
to acquaint people outside of Africa with Africa. Throughout my
life I have had this drive to be a voice for the voiceless and
that certainly would be the children of Africa. Though we are
miles from them, they are our children…and if we could tell
that woman back in Uganda who told me years ago that no one cares…I
wish I could have shown her the many people I have met in person,
over the phone, or via email who do care and want to make a difference,
want to sponsor a child in Africa and make a difference, one child
at a time…
People do want to help, but do not know how. In this ezine newsletter
I have given you some guidance to some organizations that I find
worthy of help and who would handle your donation in the appropriate
fashion and pass it on to the child that is in need. The passing
on of monetary support can be a real problem. Here are some things
to look for and on the other hand to look out for. There are lots
of child sponsorship organizations found on the Internet and not
all of them are legitimate. I have dealt with orphanages that
actually made a game out of how many sponsors they could get for
the same child and they would have various organizations sponsor
the same child. I have also met people who would enrich themselves
and not pass on to the children, or they would establish paper
organizations, take pictures of any child, make up stories, but
all of that does not take away the fact that there are countless
legitimate sponsorship organization.
Things to look for before sponsoring a child:
What does your 25 to 30 dollars a month do for a child? How much
of the money is used for administration? Over 25% is excessive.
Some of the groups above have no administration cost, it being
covered by other donations. I have seen organizations take 75%
and pass on only 25% but juggle the wording.
Does the money go to the one child? In many cases it may go to
a project that would benefit the child but may not go directly
to the child.
Look out for language “such as medical care, food, education.”
Ask specifically, does it cover food? How many meals? School-fees?
Medical Care? Does any money help family? Ask anything else.
Does organization double sponsor a child or even have three or
four sponsors per child?
Will I be able to write the child I sponsor? You should get 3
to four letters per year from child. In some cases you will get
a progress report on child.
Will I be able to visit the child I sponsor? This is one of the
best things for all concerned since you will visit Africa and
find your heart enlarged. I met a man from Texas in Nairobi who
had sponsored a child and had come all the way from the USA, not
to find the child in the orphanage or school. The child existed
on paper only.
Hopefully you found this month’s Ezine helpful. It has
been a joy to put together. Thank you for enlarging your heart
and making Africa’s children your children…jon
African Insights - February 2003 Aids-Africa-Dignity
and Hope… www.kabiza.com
As you read this, 30 million Africans are living
without a future and a hope. Their life in its present form is
a mere existence and only death seems to hold any relief from
the present pain and suffering pf HIV-AIDS. There is no medicine,
if there was, the cost would be beyond most Africans and since
most AIDS victims can no longer work, they simply await death
and in many cases, they die alone.
President Bush in his State of the Union speech
(January 2003) addressed the problem of AIDS in Africa, spoke
of the 30 million afflicted with the deadly disease, spoke of
3 million orphans, (Uganda has well over 1.5 million alone) and
surprisingly spoke of a total of 15 billion dollars going to 14
nations to combat AIDS if congress authorizes it. 30 million AIDS
sufferers, 3 million orphans, and 15 billion dollars. To most
of us they are simply numbers, statistics, and figures. What is
more important is the fact that there are real people behind those
numbers. Living people, fathers, mothers, children, brothers,
sisters, uncles and aunts, families, clans, tribes, regions, nations.
There are lives represented, lives that without help will soon
wilt in the barrenness of suffering and dry up and die. I have
met some of those statistics first hand, from young to old, most
of them are dead by now, but the impact of their lives is still
with me as fresh as the day when I met them.
Since President's Bush address in which he spoke
of making a major impact in Africa with regards to AIDS and some
of the other diseases that rob Africans of future dreams, the
talk shows on Radio have been buzzing with wasting money in distant
Africa and why not spend such money in the USA on Americans who
certainly need help first instead of squandering it in Africa
where it will not reach the ones who really need help and if it
does reach them, it will only be a license for more promiscuity
and a further spread of AIDS once they receive medication and
help. As I listened to these callers and talk show hosts' feelings
of anger, sadness, pity swept over me and with it the realization
that many Americans have a very limited worldview.
For years we have lived protected by two oceans
from the reality of the rest of the world. Our local newspapers
and media keep dropping more and more International news in favor
of relevant local reporting such as latest restaurant opening
while our window of the world keeps shrinking away, becoming smaller
and smaller and our world view more and more limited by the lack
of information which we get from the nightly news and local newspapers
and "We are the world - we are the children" is merely a nice
song to listen to, but not do anything about. Should the USA help
Africa with 15 Billion dollars? The answer is an emphatic yes.
For years, going back to the discovery of Africa by the Western
World, Africa has been used as a supplier of raw materials for
the Western World. Much of the United States, South America, the
Caribbean, was built on the backs of African Slave Labor.
Even when one ventures into the Eastern world
one would find the traces of African slaves going all the way
into China, with India, Islands in the Indian Ocean, Iran and
Iraq all benefiting from the men, women and children stripped
from Mother Africa. Many parts of Africa became uninhabited wastelands
because whole tribes were shipped to places as varied as Brazil
and Zanzibar. When slavery was eliminated, Colonialism with its
various hues kept the spirit of extraction of things from Africa
alive. Slavery was now in-house and European countries used forced
labor to harvest rubber, coffee, cotton, tea, spices, gold, diamonds,
copper and countless of other things from Africa while the African
lived on less and less, without freedom, liberty, land and the
pursuit of a peaceable life. I am very glad that President Bush
has taken this position of helping Africa in its present crisis
and it is my hope that other nations, who have benefited and prospered
from Africa will follow this lead and example and make a contribution
to the welfare and future of Africans.
Africans like the assistant Minister of Health
who I met in Rwanda who had only a few months of life ahead of
him and was concerned about the well being of his nieces and nephews
and their schooling. Like the little boy I met in Kisumu, Kenya
who was born with AIDS and even as he was born into this world
he was already dying. Africans like the waitress in Kampala, the
guard at the grocery store, all suffering from AIDS. I pray to
see the day when the business of the casket makers on Entebbe
road diminishes and African highways are no longer referred to
as AIDS highways and AIDS has been reduced and eliminated. Uganda,
with virtually no major help has decreased the new infections
of AIDS and all the government agencies, mosques and churches
have joined in the battle against this deadly disease. The stigma
of AIDS has been virtually wiped out and people, including leaders
have freely acknowledged that they too have AIDS and pleaded with
others to take steps to eliminate the dreaded spread of the AIDS
virus…and yes, it is working. Now with the help from the United
States and other countries, with the Drug companies making medicines
available at reduced cost, the battle can be slowly won and Africa
can live again and then we can truly sing, " We are the world…"
A few years back I met a woman with two small
children in a slum near Makerere University. She was dying of
AIDS, and she had not family to take care of her children. She
had gone everywhere to gain help for her children since soon she
would be gone and all she found was closed doors. She looked at
me with tears in her eyes "No one cares, no one cares for me or
my children." My thoughts go back to that day…and I hope we can
tell her children…that someone cares…. someone does want to make
a difference in Africa…and hopefully we can look beyond money
needed to the benefits it will bring to living people who otherwise
would die…jon
Visit my website "Out of Africa - Too - One Man's
Journey" at http://kabiza.com
April 2003 Ezine.
Pity versus Compassionate Action in Africa.
The images of pain and of suffering move across
our TV screen. They come from Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Palestine
and Africa. We see death and suffering up close and yet are comfortably
enough removed from it. We see them as news, as images fed to
us via cameras, satellite, video phones, still images. Each year
we see thousands of them, they come from around the globe. Most
of the time we see them as mere images and not as the people and
lives, the families, the communities they represent. This is the
9th anniversary of one of the worst atrocities in Human History,
the Rwandan Genocide of 1994. 100 days of pure hell, where hatred,
murder and rage had its reign and forces of evil unleashed a force
against anyone who was born a Tutsi, or sympathetic to them. The
world stood by doing nothing. The US Government would not call
it a Genocide and by treaty be obligated to be get involved, the
French were more worried about losing a country to the Anglophone
rebels of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (they did get involved and
actually sheltered those committing the genocide) and Kofi Annan
refused for the UN to get involved in a manner that would have
stopped the genocide. The world looked on in pity as up to 1 million
people were slaughtered in a country of 8 million while at the
end of the 100 days 2 million of those who caused the carnage
fled into neighboring countries receiving aid from the Red Cross,
the UN and various Western countries…we saw the images, we had
pity, but did nothing.
We still see images from Africa, children starving,
boy soldiers running amok in Liberia, Northern Uganda and Southern
Sudan where thousands upon thousands have died. Now with Iraq
needing to be rebuilt there will continue to be feelings of pity
for Africa, but at the same time a continuation of the hands off
neglect that has been the modus operendi for years.
For years I raised money for African Projects
and found this attitude of pity, this attitude of feeling sorry
Africa but not putting it into action the prevalent mood of the
day. I would tell the story of Africa, its possibilities, its
riches, its resources, the story of a people hungering for freedom,
for the basics of life and I would get "that is nice, I pity them,
but why don't they fewer children and their problems be solved
- or - Why do we need to help - if all they are going to do is
kill each other - I feel sorry for them, but Africa is far away
and we have needs here in America, but I do pity them." Pity regards
its object not only as suffering, but weak, and hence as inferior,
and I am sorry to say that such an attitude still exists in the
year 2003.
Africa does not need our pity, our feeling sorry
for them, but it needs our compassion. Pity leads to inaction,
we view the pictures of children with distended bellies, we see
emaciated women, bloodied men and we feel sad, but do nothing
about it. Pity leads to feelings of inaction, becoming anesthetized
from the suffering, pain, injustice that is before our eyes on
the TV screen or in print. Compassion on the other hand leads
to action that is not based on pity for someone lesser than, but
reaches out to a fellow human being. Pity might give a handout,
whereas compassion not only tends to the immediate needs at hand,
but also empowers the person in need to be all that they are meant
to be. Africa needs more than handouts that will still the present
hunger. It needs the empowerment of its children to become the
leaders of tomorrow through education. Not just giving them a
fish, but teaching them how to fish. Its farmers need a decent
return on their labors and produce so that they can move from
subsistence farming where the raw products are gobbled up by Western
Companies to be processed in the West with the African only getting
50 cents a pound such as in the case of coffee.
The next time you buy a coffee at Starbucks or
someone Mocha dispensing Palace ask how much the farmer in Uganda,
Kenya, Ethiopia is getting out of your $2.50 latte. If we all
drank only Fair Trade Coffee we would send a lot of children in
Africa and other places to school, we would clothe them, we would
feed families and so on but then the latte might go up another
23 cents. We could apply the above to most every raw product,
every mineral that comes from Africa. You will not find many Processing
Factories there; only warehouses that ship the raw goods to the
West. Docks piled high with the produce of Africa but Africa continues
to starve and ache. That is where compassionate action comes in.
Education, Technical Schools, Universities, not just aid for the
temporary relief of the pain of the moment, but a long-range plan
that will benefit Africa. I have a friend who has a dream of bringing
Cashew Nuts in a processed state from Africa to be sold in Western
Stores from Guinea-Bissau. He knows that this would benefit the
African Farmer in that country. He has tirelessly given himself
to the raising of the funds needed not from governments but from
private individuals who share his vision of empowerment of the
African subsistence farmer.
A Ugandan woman asked me to help her to set her
up with a cooker as she called a stove and a fryer. It would only
be 50 dollars but it would give her the means to live in dignity
by having her own business and an open-air eating-place. I did
and the result was that for years I would pass by her place and
see her cooking up her things for those passing by. I gave that
small investment not out of pity, but out of compassion knowing
that 50 dollars might just make the difference in her life both
now and in the future.
A Sudanese Man in Nairobi showed me his self-help
center. A place where South Sudanese women were doing tie and
dye products and other crafts that they then would sell door to
door and to tourists. Someone in UK had seen it wise to invest
a thousand pounds into the lives of some Sudanese women who now
could make some money for food and school fees. All the Aid that
Africa receives is for naught, unless it goes to the person who
is at the bottom of society struggling to survive. Aid most often
lines the pocket of the rich and corrupt - the Wabenzis (Africans
who have it all) who do not need more, but Africa needs empowerment
investments that touch every part of society beginning with education,
small business loans, fair prices on raw products and the establishment
of factories and processing plants that provide meaningful work
for Africa. Pity is a fleeting sorrow, but compassion says, "
I believe in you."
On this 9th anniversary of the Genocide in Rwanda
when the world stood by idly, had pity but did nothing, may we
in the West, move into action that reaches out in compassion and
gives the gift of empowerment to provide a future and a hope to
Africa…jon
Site News: The site Out of Africa - Too is getting
a lot of traffic.
Last month more than 23,000 pages were viewed
on the site and my ranking in the search engines continues to
climb. If you now type in Google search "Out of Africa" the site
is number one, Africa's women the same, East Africa Pictures and
Africa Web Directory all one.
------> www.kabiza.com/
