Leave your home to bring them home April 18, 2007

Quite an idea, huh? Displace Me is happening April 28 in Kansas City for all of you who call the “mid-America” home (or temporary home because “the” J-school is in Missouri and you have to bear with it).

If you need a ride from Columbia, e-mail John Grotts at jrggx6@mizzou.edu. AIESEC is putting together a list of people needing rides and will organize car pools, maybe even get a bus.

When: 3 p.m. Saturday, April 28 to 9 a.m. Sunday, April 29
Where: Kaw Point Riverfront Park, 1 River City Dr., Kansas City. Directly across from the Downtown Airport on the Kansas side of the border, where the Kansas and Missouri Rivers meet.
Free parking available at the Kansas City Public Levee, 1401 Fairfax Trafficway #200 E, Kansas City.

Get info and sign up at invisiblechildren.com/displaceme
You cool kids can also join the Facebook group.

U.S. food aid is “inherently inefficient” April 16, 2007

Debate is still raging on American food aid practices. It seems more voices are being raised against the sale of American-grown food in poor countries. The Government Accountability Office just came out with a report that calls it “inherently inefficient.” The issue is complicated but check out this article in the New York Times and my post from April 8.
Depending on the time you have to devote to the topic, you can read the report’s highlights or the full report.

This graph pulled from the report shows the issue pretty clearly. The funding for U.S. food aid has decreased slightly, but the tonnage has gone down 40 percent. And no one will convince me that there are 40 percent less hungry people in the world now than in 2002. If only.

Invisible Children comes to Columbia April 16, 2007

Invisible Children, the story of the children of Uganda who commute every night to safer zones so they are not abducted and forced to combat as child soldiers, is coming to the MU campus. Three representatives of this official tour will be present to answer questions and spark you to action. I haven’t seen it yet and can’t wait.
Check it out Monday at 7 p.m. in Waters Auditorium (Waters Hall on University Ave. across from University Ave. garage and University Place apartments) and Tuesday 7 p.m. in Bush Auditorium in the business school (Cornell hall, on the south quad by the Tiger Plaza and the alumni center).
Also, keep your eyes and ears open for the Displace Me event going on April 28th. I’ll find out what’s going on in CoMo and discuss it here soon.

Today in Africa April 8, 2007

NEWS

Eritrea has banned female genital mutilation. Let’s now see how much of an effort the government puts in enforcing the ban.

A unity government is being formed in the Ivory Coast, which is supposed to bring the country to free and fair elections. New Prime Minister Guillaume Soro has announced his cabinet.

France charges 42 in connection with arm trade in Angola. The son of former French president Mitterand has been charged with bribe-taking.

The coalition led by Benin president Thomas Bani Yayi has won control of the country’s parliament. Despite some irregularities, the constitutional court says the results are credible.

ANALYSIS

The U.S. assented to a secret arms deal between North Korea and Ethiopia. “The arms deal is an example of the compromises that result from the clash of two foreign policy absolutes: the Bush administration’s commitment to fighting Islamic radicalism and its effort to starve the North Korean government of money it could use to build up its nuclear weapons program,” says The New York Times.

Crisis in Darfur Expands April 8, 2007

Check out a very well-done multimedia presentation by The Washington Post’s Travis Fox on the conflict in Darfur spilling into Chad. This is a lesson in video journalism (Fox is no amateur) and yet another cry for help in Darfur. This is a month old, but unfortunately, it is still news.

The politics of hunger April 8, 2007

Once again a fascinating article by the New York Times, this time looking at how food aid is given to Zambia. The U.S. gives linked aid, which means the food given to countries in need is produced in the U.S. and transported by ships under the U.S. flag before getting to the people in need. Advantages: it supports U.S. farmers while still providing help to the hungry, the food is considered higher quality, and -most importantly- it maintains the support of agribusiness and other lobbying groups for the food aid program. Downside: it is slow and does nothing for the local economy in Zambia.
The Bush administration wants to “de-link” that aid and buy food from local Zambian producers instead. The idea sounds good, but there are plenty of difficult implications. I still don’t know what to think of it. Problem is, in a perfect world, aid would be provided condition-free, but maybe it is more efficient to work with human nature than to try and go against it. Read up and share your thoughts.

The Devil Came on Horseback March 28, 2007

Talk about a movie that sticks with you. I saw “The Devil Came on Horseback” at the True/False film festival in Columbia, Mo. a few weeks ago and can’t stop thinking about it. Director Annie Sundberg got a well-deserved standing ovation. The film premiered at Sundance and has been to a handful of festivals. If it comes near you, make sure to catch it. Better yet, try and make it come to your town.
If you can’t see the film, this second video should give you an idea of what it’s about. Brian Steidle is one of the few – if not only – American witnesses to the genocide in Darfur and has brought back precious information on and evidence of the violence there.

For more information on the film and ways to take action, go to www.thedevilcameonhorseback.com

Diemond March 26, 2007

Hollywood has been very interested in Africa lately. One movie that really stands out in my opinion is Blood Diamond. It doesn’t hurt either that the film has brought tons of attention to the issue of conflict diamonds.
The story takes place during the civil war in the mid 90s in Sierra Leone. The war has ended, but the problems of diamond miners haven’t. Lydia Polgreen shows us today in the New York Times that it’s not only war that makes diamonds dirty. Striking quote from a Sierra Leonean diamond dealer:

“If you are working for an exporter, he will dictate the price,” he said. “To me that is indirect slavery.”

But he has no qualms about demanding precisely that arrangement from those below him on the diamond food chain. The mine owners and workers he bankrolls must sell only to him.

“For the miners, it is different,” he argued. A digger, “he depends on you. He doesn’t know the value so you as the dealer have to tell him.”

See the whole story here.