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Author Topic: Seventeen million people are starving in the Horn of Africa
Joldo
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Conflict situations, drought, and rising food prices have combined to create a record famine in the Horn of Africa, most terribly in Ethiopia. The UN and the WFP have requested $460 million to feed starving people for the next six months.

Transport of food is difficult. Ships bringing food to the coast are harried by pirates, and consume most of the costs. A Canadian naval ship was providing escort for relief boats, but will leave on the 27th, at which point there will be no escort--and possibly for a lot of the Horn, no food.

In the Somali region, there has been no rain for three years. About half the cattle herds have died. Significant, because cattle are everything: they provide food, fuel for fire, milk, labor, and any number of social and cultural functions. The death of cattle means a humanitarian crisis that will last for years, if not decades.

Please write to your congressman. Request that we give money. Request that we grant ships bringing food to the Horn a U.S. military escort.

Seventeen million people. Men, women, children. Mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. These are families, and whole societies and villages and cultures. And many--most--of them will die.

What are we going to do about it?

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MightyCow
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When I hear about things like this, it makes me wonder how many starving people we have in America.

Not that Americans are inherently more worthy of help than people in other places, but I don't think they're less worthy, and it's certainly more possible to take care of hunger and poverty close at hand than it is half way across the world.

I wonder what it is about human nature that makes us want to help faceless victims of tragic circumstances across the world, while quietly ignoring the same problems at home.

This isn't a criticism, I'm guilt of this myself. I just wonder why it seems more important when it's away from home.

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Vadon
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quote:
Originally posted by Joldo:
What are we going to do about it?

We as the US? The world? Hatrack?

I would venture to say that the US will do just enough to say they did something. Though little enough that it may as well be nothing. But that's because I'm a pessimist at times, especially in my expectations of what will be done for the unfortunate of the world. Afterall, they don't vote vote for our officials in government, and wouldn't we much rather spend the money here on us instead?

Don't get me wrong, I want us to do something. I want us to go in with ships filled with food, supplies, and volunteers to dispense the goods with military protection. But... I don't think we'll do much of anything. [Frown]

Edit: I guess I should mention this considering what MightyCow posted one minute before me. I think we should be working more to help the hungry here as well. I'm not saying that your question of the hungry in the US is a bad or selfish one. I'm just saying that I don't give much credit to the government on foreign aide for things like this, and sometimes I find their excuses to be shallow and pathetic. (Especially because of the issues we have here that aren't being taken care of.)

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Kwea
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I feel sorry for them, but at this point I think we spend enough on other countries while ignoring our own problems.


I wonder how much aid we can send them when we are not in good shape ourselves. We may not be starving yet, but most American families were only 3 weeks out from broke BEFORE our financial systems went haywire.


Our roads are shot, our bridges falling apart, and I just was offered a health plan that is worse than no insurance at all. Unless I get cancer tomorrow, or end up in a coma, all expenses are mine.


I hope we can help, but I wonder what the cost will be, and who will bear it this time around.

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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by MightyCow:


I wonder what it is about human nature that makes us want to help faceless victims of tragic circumstances across the world, while quietly ignoring the same problems at home.

It's just easier. I don't think there's anything sinister about it, but when you ask people to address difficult and inherently complex problems that effect their daily lives, they will respond in unpredictable and problematic ways. When you ask people to react to remote and therefore seemingly simple problems far away, they will have an easier time dealing with them, intellectually.

Just my opinion, but this is why I find most real humanists to be very smart and challenging people, and extremist religious types to be facile and shallow. On the other hand, extremists of the environmental variety are just about the same. Everything is easy if you aren't thinking too hard about it.

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Orincoro
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quote:
Originally posted by Kwea:
I feel sorry for them, but at this point I think we spend enough on other countries while ignoring our own problems.

I wonder how much aid we can send them when we are not in good shape ourselves. We may not be starving yet, but most American families were only 3 weeks out from broke BEFORE our financial systems went haywire.

But of course, the two problems are connected. The attitude we take towards helping others is never going to be that far off from the attitude we take toward helping ourselves. Now, if we just don't have the resources to help, that's one thing. But the U.S. government has been dragging its feet on EVERYTHING for years. I want to know why that is. I want to know why we look at growing problems, and then devise "solutions" that allow us to ignore the basis of those problems for a few more years, at best. We're experiencing this perfect storm, of all the bad parts of the free market, all the negative effects of socialist economic policies, and now we're living in the worst of all worlds, in which nothing gets done because we're making sure no-one has a free hand to even start to fix things.

That was a rant. I apologize. The answer is not necessarily in half-measures, but in strong action, carefully considered. Key: carefully considered.

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Lyrhawn
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Frankly, considering the wealth and abundance of food in America, we could really not do a whole lot at all by our standards and still do wonders for them. Saying that America doesn't do enough or much now is really a untruth. In fact America is the single greatest force in Africa in terms of food aid, medical aid, military aid, and pretty much every other form of aid you can think of. The fact that we don't do more with respect to our relative wealth compared to other nations is where we most often earn ridicule from others.

I didn't realize drought in Ethiopia was so bad. For a nation that has something like two thirds of their exports coming from agricultural products, this must be devastating. But really, helping them shouldn't be that hard. Are there starving people in America? Yes, but comparatively not that many, and there are dozens of charitable organizations that commit to food drives and the specifics of how to get that food to the people who need it. Living in poverty in America and living in poverty in Ethiopia aren't even close to being the same thing.

When it comes down to it though, America has no excuse not to help starving Africans, for a lot of reasons. We spend billions of dollars every year so people WON'T grow food on some plots of land because they want to keep the price of food high (considering the cost, I'd say mission more than accomplished!). If we're going to pay them, we might as well have them grow the food, then the government can collect it, since they literally bought it, and then send it to Africa where it's most needed. At least that way we get SOME value for our mispent Agrogiant giveaways. And we, and a couple other NATO ships, already have naval forces in and around Somalia specifically tasked for anti-pirate activities. I don't see why they couldn't be retasked to escort food ships in during their most vulnerable times. To be blunt, I'd rather they do that then chase down hijacked French pleasure yachts. No offense to the rich people in the yachts, but seriously, you KNOW there are pirates there, do your yachting in the Med like everyone else.

But even without a major policy change there is more than enough excess food in this country, even with the junk going on because of misused farmland for biofuels, to spare a few shipfulls to send to Africa without even batting an eyelash at what it would cost us, and it would have an incredible effect on a region desparately in need.

99% of the time I'd agree with what Kwea said. It IS time that we finally looked after our own. But I think we can look after our own by totally revamping the way we do business here at home and cutting billions in wasteful spending, but we can still find a few million here and there to make small changes with big benefits to people literally on the verge of death in a land far away. It'll pay moral and physical dividends in the long run, trust me. Africa is maybe the last place in the world where a little American goodwill is actually noticed, remembered and rewarded still in the world.

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Mucus
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Huh. I didn't know that we (Canada) were doing that kind of escort mission. Thats kinda cool.
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Joldo
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quote:
Originally posted by MightyCow:
When I hear about things like this, it makes me wonder how many starving people we have in America.

How many people in America are starving to death . . . ?
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Synesthesia
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I don't see why we can't do both.
I want to do more, but I can't until I get a job and try not to get evicted.

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Jhai
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If you're a starving (edit: mentally-competent) adult in the United States, it's because you want to be a starving adult.
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Kwea
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I am not saying we shouldn't help, but I don't think we should have sole responsibility for it, nor whould what help we send be open to critisim.


We do a lot more for other countries than we get credit for, and that needs to stop.

If need be, take away the aid we give for a year and see how they do without it......how would Russia have done without out wheat for decades at a time?


Hopefully we can find an international solution, so we don't end up footing the bill yet again.

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scholarette
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I think that part of the problem comes when it isn't just a matter of giving someone food. Even in Africa, the situation is more complicated then just giving food- if we wanted a more permenant solution. In the US the people who aren't able to get food are going to be those who are outside the system.
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King of Men
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This actually seems to be a case where the judicious application of force could do a lot of good. Remove the pirates and both aid and trade can get through, right? Aid for the immediate starvation, trade for long-term development. And here's this huge Navy sitting about not (to my knowledge) doing very much in the current wars. And anti-piracy patrol is an ancient and honourable task for all navies. A carrier task group is perhaps a little like using a hammer on mosquitoes, but how about some frigates and some Marines for landing parties?
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advice for robots
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Then the rest of the world could scream at America once more for putting its military might where it is not wanted. And America could pay its way into another quagmire.
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Joldo
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The UN has recently withdrawn forces from Eritrea and Ethiopia. They're having trouble putting forces back in. In Ogaden, relief goods are not reaching those who need them because the Ethiopian army is taking the goods for themselves. The Ogaden National Liberation Front has asked for a defended aid corridor, but it seems unlikely.

As to the pirates: all they need, for now, is one armed naval escort. Military force is well and good, but defense against pirates is notoriously difficult. Right now they're getting by on that single Canadian ship, but they've only got two days left to make runs defended.

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King of Men
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One ship may be all the aid convoys need; but for trade, you need to be able to run a tramp freighter through the area at any time with reasonable confidence. That means regular navy units in the area on a semi-permanent basis.

I cannot fathom who would object to the US navy protecting the freedom of the seas. Just who, apart from conservative strawmen, is going to speak up in defense of pirates?

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Joldo
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I do wish this weren't such a serious thing, so I could make a Johnny Depp joke . . .
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BannaOj
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Johnny Depp isn't exactly law abiding when it comes to driving his own boat. [Smile] I know that the L.A. county lifeguards (one of them being my brother) had to tell him to get his boat out of a designated swimming area, because swimmers and surfers were in danger.
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ketchupqueen
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quote:
Originally posted by Mucus:
Huh. I didn't know that we (Canada) were doing that kind of escort mission. Thats kinda cool.

I didn't know Canada had a navy. [Wink]

Seriously, this is a great thing to do. I don't see why we (America) can't task a ship to do this (well, maybe several ships, in rotations.)

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Lyrhawn
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Canada is currently trying to build a larger navy in fact. By modern first world standards, it's a pretty scant mix of frigates and destroyers, with a healthy number of ice cutters and patrol boats. I think as the northwest passage opens up, and as arctic resources open up for exploration, they are realizing that their ability to enforce their claim over those resources is dependent on having a navy strong enough to make their claims stick, especially when it looks like the nations they'll be tangling with are primarily the United States and Russia, one of which is the unquestionable world naval powerhouse, and the other who, while not the power they were under the USSR, could still pound Canada into the ground.

As far as the US goes, like I said, we have ships in the area that are being tasked with anti-pirate operations off the coast of Somalia. And for the matter, the US Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain, which isn't that far away. Sending ships to help wouldn't be that big a deal, or for that matter, in combination with either AU naval forces (which exist, even if they aren't top notch) or NATO naval forces.

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Mucus
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Dastardly United States, hoarding your ships in preparation for a sneak attack while we send half of our navy to Africa on a humanitarian mission!

A pox on your too numerous houses!

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Tatiana
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I want to take this opportunity to invite all jatraqueros to participate in kiva friends, a forum where people actually DO stuff to help. It's awesome! Would that we could do even more. We could if you would come help too. [Smile]
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luthe
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So is there every any good news out of Africa? Or is everyone on that continent either starving, dieing from aids, having their penises stolen, or committing genocide?
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ricree101
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quote:
Originally posted by Joldo:
Conflict situations, drought, and rising food prices have combined to create a record famine in the Horn of Africa, most terribly in Ethiopia. The UN and the WFP have requested $460 million to feed starving people for the next six months.

Transport of food is difficult. Ships bringing food to the coast are harried by pirates, and consume most of the costs. A Canadian naval ship was providing escort for relief boats, but will leave on the 27th, at which point there will be no escort--and possibly for a lot of the Horn, no food.

Given that we're talking about hundreds of millions spent on aid, how much of that would it take to arm the freighters going through the region enough to deter pirates? My understanding was that pirates were mostly using relatively light weaponry, and that the biggest problem with them came from their speed, the difficulty in detecting and tracking them down, and the number in the area.

Is there something I'm missing here that would make it unfeasible to repel pirates without the help of a full blown navy warship?

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ketchupqueen
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I was thinking it was the fact that the pirates are able to sneak up and overwhelm the boats. Untrained sailors on cargo ships with weapons, even really big good weapons, are not going to be able to fight off pirates five to one.

That's the thing about a warship, even a small-ish one, it can overwhelm the pirates with sheer numbers and size.

I also just think there's something cool about a navy fighting pirates. [Wink]

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Lyrhawn
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quote:
Originally posted by luthe:
So is there every any good news out of Africa? Or is everyone on that continent either starving, dieing from aids, having their penises stolen, or committing genocide?

There's probably more good than bad actually, depending on how you measure good versus bad news, but the good news never makes it on to the news unless it's dramatic or interesting like that big diamond find in Lesotho.

Several countries in Africa are experiencing double digit GDP growth and have been doing so far years. Angola, a country most known in Western circles as the sight of mass murder and civil war is currently one of Africa's best performing economies. Part of Africa's PR problem is that everyone views Africa through a single lens, and it's not really fair. No one would look at the economy or political situation in Ukraine and say "wow they've got some serious problems there in Europe." Same thing with say Cambodia or North Korea with regards to Asia, or even southeast Asia. So when a dozen countries are doing great, compared to their low points of the last couple decades, and a few countries are doing so mind numbingly, stomach achingly wretched, the entire continent is painted as spiraling down a black hole.

It's not fair because several countries are making stellar, life altering progress towards modernization, and yes there are some countries that continue to struggle, but when they all ask for help, they all get treated exactly the same. If we were being fair to them, we'd give them the same treatment that every other nation in every non-African nation gets and treat them individually based on their individual performance and history rather than pretending that Africa is two countries; Egypt and the rest of it, and that they just have a ton of regions within that big country.

Ethiopia, since it's been specifically mentioned, has a rich history that literally goes back to the foundations of mankind. It goes back nearly 4,000 years to the Empire of Aksum, one of the few nations to fight off Egyptian invasions, and later on, was pretty much the only country attacked by the Mamluks and other Islamic invaders who managed to fend off their attacks, and in an unprecedented move the Muslims actually signed a peace deal with Aksum that lasted hundreds of years. Eventually they collapsed from the inside, but when Africa was being carved up by colonial powers in the 19th century, Ethiopia fended off Italian invasions for decades before falling to them during the height of their power. They went through a turbulent 20th century, that went from throwing off Italian rule in the 40's with the help of the British, to falling under the sway of Communism, to trying to work there way into the 21st century as an African power and democracy. They've experienced major GDP growth in the last few years despite the long lasting draught they've had to deal with. And that's just one of dozens of individual stories and individual problems that exist on the African continent.

They aren't all the same, and painting them that way does them a serious disservice, and for that matter, until they start getting individual treatment, that's just one more major roadblock in the way of serious help flowing from the West to Africa.

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Tatiana
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If you saw all the thriving small businesses in Africa run by people determined to better themselves and build for their families' future, you'd see Africa in a more positive light.

GHAPE in Cameroon, for example, which stands for Grounded and Holistic Approach for People's Empowerment, is a microfinance organization that is sponsoring hundreds of small businesses throughout the region, and helping them thrive. It's filled with hardworking, kind, and generous people. See here for a sample blogged by a kiva fellow visiting the GHAPE office in Cameroon.

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Selran
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quote:
Originally posted by Mucus:
Huh. I didn't know that we (Canada) were doing that kind of escort mission. Thats kinda cool.

When I was in the Air Force I went to a school with some guys from the Canadian AF. They talked about how your nations military does a lot of this sort of thing. Most of goes unnoticed or unreported.
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Mucus
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Probably true, Afghanistan tends to dominate the reports these days, both from the media and the government.
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Joldo
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The microloan stuff is really cool, and seems to be having huge effects just since it started.
Awesome video from CARE.

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Tatiana
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Joldo, that video made me cry. I don't know why. Maybe because it's really that easy.
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