Re: something else you should read

In article
<04dff37c-cbd6-46cf-9984-bb9125d0869c@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Larisa <purple_bovine@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Dec 10, 3:56 pm, Pogonip <nobo...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Lynn Allen wrote:
On 2007-12-10 11:12:01 -0800, Larisa <purple_bov...@xxxxxxxxx> said:

But really, this is why I think that Western cultures should not send
any kind of charity to Africa at all.... there are homeless people
living on the streets right here

On the other hand, we (Americans) have plenty of surplus. And many DO
donate to domestic helping organizations, or indigent cats and dogs, or
saving the endangered fruit fly.

People have different interests, different empathies and different ways
of contributing. It doesn't hurt to TRY EVERYTHING, since its never
certain what will help. Just because someone contributes to overseas
charities doesn't mean there are fewer contributors to local ones. And
throwing money at a problem isn't always the solution, but sometimes it
is.

There is a benefit of charity to the giver as well as the recipient.
Gratitude is not required to derive that benefit...in fact, it may be
counterproductive to expect or require gratitude. As to criticism from
third parties, screw em. Those same third parties will be lined up for
aid in the case of natural or unnatural disaster. And they'll be
ungrateful too. So what?

The biggest problem with donating to Africa is that rarely does the
donation actually go to the intended receiver(s). There are corrupt
governments and warlords that seize anything and turn it to their own
use or to profit. I don't know what the solution is - one way is to
have your people on the ground there, but who wants to gamble with their
health and safety there? Peace Corps, missionaries, Doctors Without
Borders... but it's a huge continent and there is so much need.
--
Joanne
stitches @
singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.comhttp://members.tripod.com/~bernards
chopen/

The other problem with donating to Africa is whether donating is the
right thing to do at all. The best form of charity is to enable the
recipient to get back on their feet and to earn their own living.
I'm not so sure that the donations actually do any good - either
because they don't end up with their intended recipient (as you
mentioned), or because they reinforce dependence in the people who
receive them (assuming that they actually do receive them).

LM

What, though, is the meaning of "reenforce dependence" in a
situation where there are, for the near term anyway, literally no
other resources (the local soldiery/bandits having taken everything),
no other sources of support, and no prospects of work of any kind?
This isn't about handouts to keep a roof over somebody's head for a
few nights while they work something out. These regions have been
devastated by continual warfare, refugees are not allowed to travel
freely (and so compete with locals for whatever jobs might be found),
and refugees up and go back to the farmlands they were forced to
flee from as soon as they can because that's what they know how to
do -- farm. They already *have* "jobs* -- farming -- which they
are anxious to return to, even if real security is still very
problematic.

As to the case of settled populations in great poverty, I wouldn't
know -- most of what we see is about refugees from one insane
band of armed men or another, and the refugee camps seem to be
the worst of the problem these days (well, apart from AIDS orphans,
but that's a whole other story, as far as I can make out).

You're not going to live to be independent (or dependent, for that
matter) tomorrow if you're dying of slow starvation today, and
nothing happens to interrupt that process, is what I'm saying. And,
speaking for myself, I feel a little funny talking about the possible
dependence of people living on and with nothing in Africa, from my
(relative) riches and comfort here in the US. I'm not sufficiently in
their loop, here, no matter how vivid my imagination, to make such
a judgment, IMHO.

Suzy
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: something else you should read
    ... The biggest problem with donating to Africa is that rarely does the ... The other problem with donating to Africa is whether donating is the ... The best form of charity is to enable the ... recipient to get back on their feet and to earn their own living. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: something else you should read
    ... The biggest problem with donating to Africa is that rarely does the ... The other problem with donating to Africa is whether donating is the ... The best form of charity is to enable the ... recipient to get back on their feet and to earn their own living. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: something else you should read
    ... There is a benefit of charity to the giver as well as the recipient. ... Those same third parties will be lined up for aid in the case of natural or unnatural disaster. ... The biggest problem with donating to Africa is that rarely does the donation actually go to the intended receiver. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: I must have missed this class...
    ... National Geographic stills and "Feed the Children" infomercials featuring starving Afrikan babies. ... Charity begins at home. ... Do you actually know anything at all about Africa? ... Take note that the most successful African nations today are those which inherited their government and infrastructure from the former British Empire. ...
    (alt.smokers.pipes)
  • Re: Stephen J. Gould and anthropological fraud
    ... Tribes even living ... People living like that do not HAVE to ... more food. ... If all things were equal you'd expect Africa to be the most ...
    (sci.anthropology)
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