The Lord's Resistance Army and Joseph Kony

[Shell B]

I think the more immediate needs for Africa would be food, clean water, medicine, and doctors.

Yeah, try getting food, clean water, medicine and doctors into Sudan. It's not going to happen. If the people were educated, they could handle that without outside help.

Another problem for Africans, and many other third world countries as well, are their very own greedy, corrupt, oppressive governments.

Which is precisely why it is nearly impossible to help them. Their governments stop us from helping them, as if anybody's really helping them.

Disease, war, famine, and political corruption are the things that have to be dealt with first in Africa.

You don't think those things could be dealt with through proper education? It may not happen tomorrow, but it would happen in the next generation, which is better than the outlook now. How else can we deal with it? Oh, we could go in and wage war on their corrupt governments. I think I prefer education.

Famine is very often a direct result of war. It's rather difficult to produce food in a war-torn country.

[Minimalist]

Agreed. Absolutely.

Good grief. A Pentecostal Christian agrees with me.

This can be such a strange board, sometimes.

Which is precisely why it is nearly impossible to help them. Their governments stop us from helping them, as if anybody's really helping them.

Not to belabor the point, dear, but it is their GOVERNMENT which is orchestrating the slaughter in Darfur.

[A Theist]

Yeah, try getting food, clean water, medicine and doctors into Sudan. It's not going to happen. If the people were educated, they could handle that without outside help.

...and how do you plan to get schools and teachers into the Sudan?

Which is precisely why it is nearly impossible to help them. Their governments stop us from helping them, as if anybody's really helping them.

If you can't get food, clean water, medicine and doctors past their governments, you're not going to get schools and teachers past them either.

You don't think those things could be dealt with through proper education? It may not happen tomorrow, but it would happen in the next generation, which is better than the outlook now... I think I prefer education.

...before or after they starve to death, or die from disease? I don't think that they can wait until tommorrow or beyond.

Famine is very often a direct result of war. It's rather difficult to produce food in a war-torn country.

I don't believe you're going to have much luck getting schools built in a war torn country either.

---

Good grief. A Pentecostal Christian agrees with me.

This can be such a strange board, sometimes.

There goes the neighborhood.

[Shell B]

...and how do you plan to get schools and teachers into the Sudan?

I don't. I hope that the education being delivered already will grow into something sustainable. The people in refugee camps quite often make it their first order of business to start a school. They provide their own teachers. It seems I'm not the only person who thinks that education is important in a war torn country.

If you can't get food, clean water, medicine and doctors past their governments, you're not going to get schools and teachers past them either.

See above.

You don't think those things could be dealt with through proper education? It may not happen tomorrow, but it would happen in the next generation, which is better than the outlook now... I think I prefer education.

...before or after they starve to death, or die from disease? I don't think that they can wait until tommorrow or beyond.

It's rather evident that we can't stop them from dying. Our efforts only make a small difference as it is. However, many cultures have survived disease and famine and become successful members of the global community. It is possible for this to happen in Africa. The first step is for people in Africa to realize this is possible. Then they will have a real reason to make a change.

I don't believe you're going to have much luck getting schools built in a war torn country either.

Schools don't need to be built. They need to be organized, which can be done from within.

Listen, I'm not saying let's bust into Africa and start forcing people to build schools. What I am saying is that once the quality of education improves, you will see an increased quality of life. Huge changes will happen. Rice and band-aids don't do that. We should still send aid when and where we can, but you would be remiss in thinking it is making any difference for the future, imo.

[Minimalist]

Listen, I'm not saying let's bust into Africa and start forcing people to build schools.

Fuck. If we did that ( a/k/a the Bush-Cheney method ) they end up building madrassas. We have little skill in this. We have trouble building schools in Detroit.

[Shell B]

Fuck. If we did that ( a/k/a the Bush-Cheney method ) they end up building madrassas. We have little skill in this. We have trouble building schools in Detroit.

I won't argue with you there. Besides, our cultures are so different that an American school would do very little for them.

Education isn't all about schools, either. Exposure to other cultures would do wonders for these people. They need to start from the bottom. Learn the ropes then build an infrastructure that would allow for communication with other countries and access to educational programming.

North Africans in general have no idea about the world around them. The internet? What the fuck is the internet? Let's put it this way, my blog has had a couple thousand visitors. They come from South America, Australia, Russia, Japan, North America,South Africa, etc. There has not been one single visitor from North Africa. I have not come across one single person from North Africa on the internet. I'm sure they're there, but it's obvious there are few.

[Minimalist]

There has not been one single visitor from North Africa.

Do you have a pork sponsor?




That could explain it.