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Won’t someone, please, think of the African children

Adam Baidawi

by Adam Baidawi

25 Aug 05:45am

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Filed under: Africa, Aid, Children, Famine, Poverty, Unicef

78 comments

Neuroscientists have found that over 80 per cent of calories that newborns ingest fuel their brains. The colossal statistic accounts for how rapidly the young brain grows and develops.

Not enough to go around. Image: AP.

It paints us a new picture of malnutrition. It tells us that babies caught up in the developing famine in East Africa will almost certainly suffer starvation-induced damage that will have long-term developmental effects on their minds.

Babies are arriving in field hospitals in Dadaab, Kenya, too weak to cry. Many weigh a third of what they should.

It’s difficult to realise that they are lucky even making it to Dadaab - the largest refugee camp in the world, holding an astonishing 400,000 people. The journey for Somalians is weeks long, with many women giving birth along the treacherous, foodless trek. The health implications for newborns born into such circumstances are disastrous.

Media coverage of poverty, civil war, and helplessness portrays only one part of modern Africa - and it betrays the very real progress and increasing stability that the region is enjoying.

Long-term growth will continue by encouraging initiative and creating wealth and profitability in Africa’s hard-working and oft-entrepreneurial citizens. Kenya, buoyed by a five per cent economic growth in the past year, recently opened its first KFC franchise.

It would be irresponsible, however, to ignore the immediacy and urgency of this crisis.

News outlets have reported that 10 per cent of Somali children under five will die by November. UNICEF - the United Nations Children’s Fund - estimates that across Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, 600,000 children are suffering acute malnutrition and are on the brink of death.

And so, that familiar cry of “Who will save Africa?” emanates again.

A star-studded Geldofian intervention certainly doesn’t seem forthcoming. (And frankly, I could do without seeing Bob Geldof squeeze into black denim to croak “I Don’t Like Mondays” for the umpteenth time.)

We can’t rely on musicians and media to craft a grand narrative for this crisis. It’s not sexy. It’s a slow burning, gradual onset disaster that has put 12 million people in very real danger.

My heart broke for the Morcombes when further details of Daniel’s disappearance emerged over the weekend. It is a horrible loss. And it’s personal stories that tell the human tragedy of East Africa’s famine.

Horrific stories are emerging of distraught mothers telling social workers of being forced to leave weaker, younger children behind or families starting their journey to Dadaab with four children and having only two by the time they reach the camp 25 days later.  There are many more, and not enough newspaper inches to print them.

Tireless advocacy and emergency workers endure thankless and demanding work during these catastrophes. UNICEF is one of only two aid agencies able to access Baidoa, an Al Shabab controlled area of Southern Somalia, which is riddled with danger and instability from hostile local militia. Aid workers are overworked and under-resourced: thousands of new refugees are entering camps each day.

UNICEF Australia has seen the generosity of Australians once again but substantial funding gaps remain. The UN recently declared a shortfall of over a billion dollars in donations.

Some reports suggest the past 90 days of famine have already killed over 29,000 Somali children. Scores more are dying each day.

The rainy season will come in October, and with it outbreaks of malaria, cholera and typhoid will surge, proving this is more than just a food crisis - it is a crisis for child survival.

There are huge strides still to be taken in preventing future catastrophes. But, for now, with 12 million lives at stake, we must agree to agree.

Donations to UNICEF’s East Africa Emergency Appeal can be made at www.unicef.org.au or by calling 1300 884 233.

Most commented

353"Gifting", "journey" and other words we hate
309Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
242They must pay for one's bitter disappointments
230Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...
229South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
224Punch on: Open thread 17/05/2012
224The most laughable, err, spoof since Einfeld

78 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Erick says:

      06:07am | 25/08/11

      I think of the African children. In order to save African children from starvation, we need to address the real roots of the problem. One of these roots is overpopulation.

      This quote illustrates the problem: “The journey for Somalians is weeks long, with many women giving birth along the treacherous, foodless trek.” Even while knowing they can’t feed themselves or their children, the Somalis keep on creating more.

      That’s why I propose the following: that Western nations send food, accompanied by sufficient military units to assure its fair distribution. This food will only be given out by Western staff. Recipients will be fingerprinted or identified by iris scan - both cheap and easy with today’s technology.

      All people who receive food will be injected with a long-lasting contraceptive: such as Depo Provera for females, or the still-experimental male contraceptives in development. Side effects be damned, it’s better than starving. Note that these contraceptives are not permanent - the effects wear off in several months.

      No-one will receive food until having been injected. Identification will ensure against overdoses. And the whole thing will be ruthlessly enforced by the military.

      Anything less just won’t work - it will only enrich the warlords and create more babies to starve in the future.

      Reply

    • Chris_D says:

      06:37am | 25/08/11

      @Erick, yes, that sounds like a pretty good plan.  It wouldn’t hurt to start population control in a quite a few other nations too, by the way.

    • LeftRightOut says:

      07:15am | 25/08/11

      Bit extreme, Erick, but I understand the point.
      Governance is what they need. This will happen when China’s growth reaches critical mass internally, when they start requiring other nations for their growth.
      Africa will be the next China/India… or at least they’ll try to be… then you watch them eat!

    • Porter says:

      08:00am | 25/08/11

      Good idea Erick, but if we stop them populating completely then there will be no one starving, at all.  Also while you’re withholding food from them until they get the injection, why not keep them in some sort of camp/prison? And you already have the identification part down.  Does this remind you of something that happened in the past?

    • Sceptic says:

      08:19am | 25/08/11

      Military units are expensive to run.
      Fingerprints and Iris scan are woefully expensive (you really have no idea).
      Injecting people against their will is illegal (UN would prevent such action).
      Military don’t have the time nor numbers for ‘ruthless enforcement’.

      What’s Plan B?

    • Leigh Petersen says:

      09:30am | 25/08/11

      Best ideas I’ve heard in a long time!  Let’s get our boys home and send them to Africa!

      But let’s make the contraception permanent!

      And let’s send back ALL the boat people who cross 3 or more borders and pay thousands of dollars to get to Australia, ALL the illegal ‘tourists’, etc., and bring in these true refugees!

    • Erick says:

      09:38am | 25/08/11

      @LeftRightOut - I think the solution lies with the Chinese. western countries no longer have the stomach for colonialist intervention, and in the medium term, won’t have the money for it either. The Chinese government has the necessary ruthlessness, the experience with population control, the resources, and the potential motivation.

      @Sceptic - You can buy thumbprint-recognition scanners for a few hundred dollars. Facial recognition software is getting very good. All you need is a PC and a few cheap accessories.

      As for the UN, nobody really pays any attention to them.

      The most valid point you make regards military expenses. The West soon won’t be able to afford such interventions. The Chinese, however, are a different story.

    • AdamC says:

      09:46am | 25/08/11

      Africa’s problem is not overpopulation, but a lack of economic development and woeful agricultural productivity. Look at Australia, our population has quintupled in the last 100 years and food security for the vast mass of the population has actually increased. I accept that, in the direct sense, places like Somalia are overpopulated in that they have too little food and too many mouthes,  but that is not the actual cause of the problem.

      And, Erick, your solution is really cloud cuckoo stuff. I am not saying that it wouldn’t work, at least theoretically, but it’s not going to happen.

    • Geoff - Brisbane says:

      09:51am | 25/08/11

      @ Sceptic

      No one suggested injecting them against their will. They are not forced to take western hand outs.  The suggestion was that if they want the food they will need to agree to the injection.

      Also finger prints and iris scans are not woefully expensive. Just duck down to your large local football club on the weekend and ask them how the staff sign in. (hint: its finger prints). Or your local Woolworths….....

    • Milly says:

      09:56am | 25/08/11

      Imagine if you knew that there was an incredibly high chance your child would die. Of course you would have more children to ensure at least one survived. We need to invest in long term development, like education.
      When a girl in the developing world receives 7 or more years of education, she marries 4 years later, and has 2.2 fewer children.

    • fml says:

      10:26am | 25/08/11

      “No-one will receive food until having been injected. Identification will ensure against overdoses. And the whole thing will be ruthlessly enforced by the military.”

      Wow Erick, If you get called any names due to this post, you fully deserve it.

    • Phoebe says:

      10:34am | 25/08/11

      Yes indeed.  Your proposition, if implemented, would be effective and while it is extreme, such measures would reduce children starving and that is the point! 

      Its twofold approach to curb population growth by means of contraception and military-assisted food distribution would work.

      How long do you think it would take to implement.  Will it happen in my lifetime I wonder?

    • Smidgeling says:

      10:34am | 25/08/11

      Yes Milly- that’s a ‘great’ idea. Your kid is starving. So you have another kid to ensure one of them survives on the food you don’t have. How about they all just have one kid and feed them what they do have. That is the logical way to help a kid survive….

    • Sceptic says:

      11:24am | 25/08/11

      @Geoff

      ‘And the whole thing will be ruthlessly enforced by the military.’

      Indicates lack of free will to the average person.

    • Bruno says:

      12:27pm | 25/08/11

      who do you people think you are. thank god you’re nobodies and your opinions mean nothing. while you’re at it lets just exterminate all people of colour. that includes white people with brown eyes and brown hair. maybe they have so many kids in the hope that one or two will survive.

    • Sceptic says:

      01:07pm | 25/08/11

      @Erick and Geoff

      Who’s going to take these fingerprints/iris scans?
      Where are they going to be stored?
      How much internet coverage is their in deep Africa?
      Who’s going to pay for the satellite?
      Where is the data going to be stored?
      How many fingerprint machines are going to be needed for millions of people?
      How many IT people will be needed to establish and run the infrastructure?
      How many people will be needed to obtain these millons of prints?
      Where are these people going to live whilst they are obtaining these prints?
      Who’s going to feed these people while they obtain prints?
      Who’s going to pay for these people whilst they obtain these prints?

      The UN appeared to have been listened to in the invasion of Libya?

      The Chinese? WTF? Why on earth would the Chinese care to be involved?

      Plan B is required because your Plan A shows how out of touch reality is for you.

      Geoff, stick to you small ideas and running the footy club. (hint: they don’t have millions of people to scan, feed or inject.)

    • Kika says:

      01:09pm | 25/08/11

      Good call Erick and I completely agree. But how can you enforce in an African mans head that having a squillion kids with as many women as he likes does not make him a better man? Better with the implanon in the women and the man will never know. You’d probably find a lot of the women would be willing to go through with the microchipping instead of having to carry yet another child.

    • LeftWingGreenVotingSingleMum says:

      02:54pm | 25/08/11

      Hmm I never thought I’d agree with one of your posts Erik, but it’s a great idea. Why are these people having babies?
      I’m a huge believer in long-term contraceptives being used on people who are incapable of looking after their kids. Over-populated countries, countries where there is not enough food, families with too many children, people who have abused or neglected children in the past or habitual drug-users. These people obviously love their children but how about focusing on ensuring a decent supply of food without adding another member to the family?

    • Erick says:

      03:18pm | 25/08/11

      @Sceptic - You’re just being silly now.

      @Kika - My proposal doesn’t involve putting any ideas in anyone’s head. It’s a simple proposition: Any starving African who wants food aid must accept contraception. Those who refuse are free to fend for themselves.

    • Matthew says:

      03:32pm | 25/08/11

      Sceptic, there’s actually quite a lot of internet coverage in Africa.  I mean, there’s a whole country there known for its internet scams.

      All modern luxuries are available for the “rich” (which are probably just average by western standards).  What Erick is talking about is not entirely feasible and is morally questionable but it proves the point that population is the biggest problem and needs to be curbed (not entirely removed though).

      Doing it as a conditional part of getting food is a good way to enforce it and will allow them to get food.

      Personally, I’d agree with let them starve except for the disease that’d follow.

    • Gemma says:

      03:36pm | 25/08/11

      Erick, do you value the concept of human rights at all? Because your proposition would deprive people of many political, civil, and social rights.

      Also need to note that it is severe weather conditions that have caused this drought, not overpopulation. In fact, the population density is much higher in Italy, for example. Should Italians therefore be forced to be injected with contraceptives when buying their food? Many western nations have a higher population density.  And education is the biggest key to reducing birth rates, not enforced sterilisation.

      Secondly, offering them a ‘choice’ to be injected is no choice at all…to be faced with death via starvation or an injection, one must choice an injection even it is not what they want. Given the severe rates of malnutrition because of lack of food it is highly unlikely that these women would be able to fall pregnant at the moment anyway.

      It is colonisation that got africa into the mess it finds itself in; the west has ravaged and pillaged the african continent and destroyed traditional culture and then left it in a nice mess; we got rich of their natural resources and now they suffer the consequences. Having only the ‘west’ enforce such patronising programs would be really a continuation of such colonial-superior mindsets and such thinking makes me embarrassed to be Australian.

    • fml says:

      03:47pm | 25/08/11

      sceptic,

      I agree its not a feasible plan.

      Erick,
      Contraception will still not work, slowing down the birth rate is not going to make a difference when there is not enough food at the moment.

      Money should be spent on creating drought resistant wheat and plants.

    • Helen says:

      08:21pm | 25/08/11

      How obserd - Why not just castrate the men, then the women wouldn’t get pregnant. Milly, Gemma and Marley, you seem to be the only ones that get it here. Yes, the key is education.

    • Nathan says:

      07:10am | 25/08/11

      well that is going to stir a few people up no doubt. I agree that something needs to done about population not sure if this is the answer (i would like to think that we don’t need to go that far but in saying that i am not hearing many other options) but i ask would this measure have any long term effects of population growth if the drug wears off after a couple of months?

      Africa is complex place and needs to be invested in to see any long lasting effects. Lets help solve the problem and not feed their dependency every time there is a drought. Getting rid of corrupt officials would be a nice start but clearly they like to cling to power in violent ways

      I also think developed nations needs to be held accountable for our actions and the roll we have played in their food supply problems i.e. using the world bank as a tool to dump excess crops on and kill local agriculture

      Reply

    • Elphaba says:

      07:31am | 25/08/11

      It’s clear that throwig money at the situaion is not working.  I’ve been hearing about aid towards Africa for as long as I can remember.  It’s not working.

      Erick’s suggestions are great, and the aid workers need to b able to move freely through the country without interference from the government.  If that takes military who can use force to help them, so be it.

      As far as I’m concerned, this is nature fighting back.  The current solution of just giving money and food isn’t working.  Something has to change, or the situation will need to be left to play out to its inevitable conclusion.

      Reply

    • adam says:

      09:17am | 25/08/11

      Agree Elph,

      We seem to have a bad habit, as a society, of both thinking we know the best responce and then insisting on keeping on the same path even when it doesn’t work. I don’t have the answer, Erick may well have cracked it.

      So you don’t think less of me, yesterdays topic we were friends first then her circumstances changed and I starterd looking at her different

    • Elphaba says:

      09:49am | 25/08/11

      @adam, not at all.  I was just grumpy at the fact that the solution offered to you was to stope being nice and start speaking to women like they’re inferior.

      Please don’t take that advice.  Next time, just tell her that you like her.  If you end up alone at the end of it, then at least you can say that you tried.

      And the right girl likes a guy who can be her mate first. smile

      I think the whole food contingent on contraception is a good idea.  But we should also be mindful that the planet’s ability to renew is something we don’t fully understand yet.  If Mother Nature is creating the drought to end all droughts because she’s been pushed too far, and she’s eliminating the people in order to renew her land, then we are fighting a losing battle anyway.

      Population control is something all nations, wealthy and poor, need to start considering, lest we end up in the same boat.  And we will, eventually.

    • marley says:

      10:13am | 25/08/11

      @Elphaba - actually, all nations don’t need to look at population control.  Most of the developed world has little, if any, population growth other than by migration, and birth rates are plummetting in a lot of the developing world as well - North Africa, Indonesia, even India, are all seeing fertility rates drop as income and education improve.  The big exceptions are Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a few other places with poor governance, high illiteracy rates and struggling economies. 

      Get those economies growing, and combine that with family planning clinics, and some of these issues will, over time, resolve.  Exchanging food aid for birth control wont.

    • Elphaba says:

      10:36am | 25/08/11

      @marley, I suppose, if the economies get a kick up the bum and become better, and people become more well-off and more educated, they’ll have less kids.  But for the meantime, before that can happen, there needs to be a short term solution to get some control on the numbers.

      I don’t know the answer.  I just know that throwing money at it like the aid agencies are saying, isn’t working, and I would argue, hasn’t worked in all the time I’ve been hearing about aid.

    • Kipling says:

      07:40am | 25/08/11

      I tend to think that propping up tin pot dictatorships in order to keep cheap labour might go a long way to preventing future instances of this.
      Of course, the tin pot Governments are not suffering at all, the real people are though.
      Given the high attrition rate it makes sense that these people would continue to populate. Maybe not economic sense, but their problems are only partly created by nature and predominantly created by their fellow humans.

      Reply

    • Blackadder says:

      01:56pm | 26/08/11

      The problem in propping up tin pot Governments is how this whole sorry mess across Africa started. Think of all the billions in aid provided over the years for as long as we can all remember (remember Mr Geldoff ?). What difference has it made ? Nothing. Where has it all gone ? Straight into those same tin pot Dictator’s Swiss bank accounts…that’s where. Whilst these Governments and their crony ministers (who primarily are relatives) are so corrupt, the people don’t stand a chance. Change will only happen, when responsible Governance is implemented. Until then, it’s a complete waste of time and effort.

    • Charles says:

      07:43am | 25/08/11

      Most of the problems African children face are self-inflicted by their parents.  Lack of ability to provide a decent government, tribalism, etc. all play a role in causing this misery.

      Any aid given to them in the future should be made with the proviso that it is distributed by Western aid agents as Erick has maintained above, and no cash or any other assets that could be converted into war-mongering.

      Improving the governance is the only way forward, and the lack of it can be seen in the descent of countries like Zimababwe where a nation rich in assets and resources has effectively put itself into calamitous circumstances, simply because of greed and stupidity by its political leaders

      Reply

    • Fiddler says:

      07:48am | 25/08/11

      Why does everyone in life always assume there is a solution to everything? Not saying the author of this does (in fact he did a good job of not using this article to bash others as many do) but I view this in a similar vein as welfare, giving them welfare is often wasteful and discourages self-reliance, giving them nothing causes them to starve. Immigration/refugees is not an option either because for every one who comes to the west/better country more are born to fill their places. And every time we invest in an African countries infrastructure they are only one coup/civil war away from square one.

      Reply

    • thatmosis says:

      07:58am | 25/08/11

      I agree that something should be done but lok at the big picture. What has Africa got that the West needs???????????? Not much and therein lies the problem. If it was oil or gold there would be a flurry of countries out there trying to do the right thing but because there isnt this incentive they see Africa aa a big pit that swallows money for no good reason. Harsh, you bet but nearer the truth than anything so far written. Add to this the corrupt governments and infighting in these countries and the people who would make donations realise that a lot of the money they raise goes to sources other than those they contributed to to buy weapons and keep an elite few in the manner that they have become accustomed to.

      Reply

    • fml says:

      10:36am | 25/08/11

      Actually africa has a wealth of natural resources, oil, diamonds, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver, petroleum. They just need stable and non-corrupt government.

    • Susan Riley says:

      08:06am | 25/08/11

      I feel so sad when I hear about the babies and small children starving worldwide, including Africa, and I agree, as I have always maintained, that birth control is a possible solution. I would add that a contraceptive, such as Mirena implants would be much more beneficial in these cases as they last up to 5 years, which should be a fairly decent recovery time for the country. Hand outs seem to constantly go awry…. recalling for a second that the Feed the world campaign raised all that money for Africa and purchased machinery and tools etc. and it was nearly all intercepted by the African government to line their own pockets. The seeds that were sent to be planted were boiled and eaten by the hungry. I remember a news bulletin that came out not long after the campaign about this but was promptly quashed due to a public outcry of trying to help a country that wouldn’t help themselves. It’s devastating, to say the least, and I have contributed my fair share of money to the charities involved, but feel that definitely, the population issue needs to be addressed as well as the famine.

      Reply

    • egg says:

      01:53pm | 25/08/11

      susan, forced sterilisation is not an option unless you’d be happy for it to happen to you. under any circumstances. so if the government decided to do that here - for whatever reason - would you accept it?

    • Susan Riley says:

      02:38pm | 25/08/11

      I would absolutely accept it, Egg, if I were in living conditions as these poor people are… Wouldn’t you????  I would much prefer that to watching my baby dying in the dirt from hunger or illness, or both. And an implant is not sterilization, it’s just a longer lasting form of contraceptive that wears off after 5 years.

    • Susan Riley says:

      02:38pm | 25/08/11

      I would absolutely accept it, Egg, if I were in living conditions as these poor people are… Wouldn’t you????  I would much prefer that to watching my baby dying in the dirt from hunger or illness, or both. And an implant is not sterilization, it’s just a longer lasting form of contraceptive that wears off after 5 years.

    • Joan Crawfish says:

      08:07am | 25/08/11

      The first thing I thought of was how these women would probably prefer not to be pregnant through such terriblbe times and remembered the poor things don’t have “family planning” like we do here.  So I have to agree with Erick’s plan.  I don’t think any of the women would have any objection to his plan, either.  I’m sure they are sick of having child after child (and watching them die).  But governments are sooooooooooo scared to talk about population control, whether it is here or over there, aren’t they?  I don’t know why this subject should be so taboo.  It’s not like we have to propagate the species anymore…

      Reply

    • marley says:

      10:16am | 25/08/11

      It’s not taboo at all.  Look at some of the family planning programs operated by UNICEF and NGOs, not to mention national governments in the developing world. 

      For a lot of these people, though, the problem is sheer ignorance - not knowing or understanding birth control - combined with lack of access to the pill or other contraceptive measures.

    • Kika says:

      01:15pm | 25/08/11

      A lot of those women don’t have the choice - women are very much men’s property in Africa still and she will give him children whether she wants to or not. In a Somali man’s head the more children the bigger and better man he is. A lot of them also believe God will decide whether a child is born - not whether the act of copulating has anything to do with it.

    • marley says:

      03:46pm | 25/08/11

      @kika - too true.

    • Nafe says:

      08:24am | 25/08/11

      Charity starts at home, Untill all out homless, povety stricken people are looked after, Then we can look to help others.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      09:25am | 25/08/11

      You do realise it is not an either/or situation don’t you?

    • Michael says:

      10:13am | 25/08/11

      Sounds like the kind of excuses people use to do nothing at all.

    • saddlebags says:

      11:00am | 25/08/11

      I agree. This is why I believe in prioritising the care of people on Earth before whipping up donations for Martian colonies.

    • Nafe says:

      11:47am | 25/08/11

      Andrew, you do realise that resources are limited. Why should we use our limited resources somewhere else where they can help themselves a bit while we have people starving, living homeless and with the indigenous communities living in the same squalar that these others are living in?

      Help the Australians first and then we can more effectively assist elsewhere.

    • fml says:

      01:00pm | 25/08/11

      Nafe,

      How many people actually do help Australians? If we stop helping Africans, that doesnt necessarily equate to people automatically helping Aussies. Many people are helping africans because their plight is much worse than Australians.

    • Richard the Lionheart says:

      08:54am | 25/08/11

      No. These are the same children, now mothers, I helped 20 years ago. Rather help youth at home.

      Reply

    • MarkS says:

      09:11am | 25/08/11

      Save 200,000 today so 400,000 can die tomorrow. No thanks, out of sight, out of mind & I intend to keep it there. The problems of the world are not my problems & bleeding hearts are not going to make them mine.

      Reply

    • fml says:

      11:09am | 25/08/11

      No one is asking anything of you.

    • David says:

      12:18pm | 25/08/11

      Lots and lots would agree with you.

    • MarkS says:

      03:48pm | 25/08/11

      @fml
      “But, for now, with 12 million lives at stake, we must agree to agree.
      Donations to UNICEF’s East Africa Emergency Appeal can be made”

      Looks like somebody was asking something of me

    • Frank says:

      09:53am | 25/08/11

      Where is Bono when you need him? What about Band Aid 2011? or Live Aid again lets keep doing what we have been for 25 yrs let the celebrities make us look good and send money then let it be forgotten for a little while then rinse and repeat….. Africa is it’s own worst enemy, most of their corrupt Governments are the cause and no matter how much money or aid we throw at them unless we they have a more democratice and less corrupt culture then it will make no difference and in 20 yrs time we will still be talking about the same “Oh what a shame they live like that” issues - its a harsh analysis but it needs to be said..

      Reply

    • just a girl says:

      10:22am | 25/08/11

      If I am correct this area of Somalia has a strong Muslim population, having lived for 5 years and given birth in a Muslim country I know that Birth Control is not encouraged.  Secondly those in this area who are able to help are not doing so as they say it is his will, this goes directly against the Holy Koran which reminds that the poor must always be looked after and given that it is currently Ramadan makes this decision offensive I would think to the many Muslims currently fasting and donating in accordance to their beliefs.

      Reply

    • Malcolm Keating says:

      10:54am | 25/08/11

      The best thing we can do for Africa is to ignore it and hope it goes away. Articles like this keep it constantly in our attention - this results in compassion fatigue. I remember back to live aid in what was it 1981 - 30 years have passed and nothings changed - we are wasting money by giving it to them. And here’s an interesting fact - the villages that receive sponsorship end up losing the better educated villagers, so the investment is worthless, africa doesn’t want to help itself. They’ve been like this for millenia - why do we think we shoudl help now?
      I’m totally over the guilt trip and couldn’t give a flying fuck what happens to them over there. You know what would be a win/win situation - round up all the greenies and lefties and send them to Africa.

      Reply

    • BT says:

      11:19am | 25/08/11

      Honestly, if most of you had a brain you would be dangerous.
      The problems in Africa are the makings of the West. Western companies have come in, taken the traditional livelihoods and resources away from the populations that depended on them, leaving the locals with polluted river systems, ground water, no jobs etc and therefore no means to support themselves. Their communities are left with no alternative but to attempt to take back what was originally theirs in order to survive by any means. It’s been happening all over the world for centuries.
      Take for example the biggest hypocrites in the world,the Americans, coming in with their huge navy ships to Somalian waters to get rid of the “pirates”, when it was their policies and practices that left the local communities with absolutely no way of supporting themselves. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/world/africa/01pirates.html
      FML is right, Africa is indeed very very wealthy in terms of resources that are deemed valuable in the West, causing a great deal of fighting to secure these resources, resulting in no one being able to steadily farm produce because they have to escape deadly militias, which of course leads to famine. These enormous mining operations do not employ the local people who remain in these areas, they bring in their own employees because they do not want to have to bother with training the locals. All their operations do is take, take, take.
      It is NOT the fault of the African people. They do not need population control or any of that nonsense. What they need is for the West to stop the incessant mining of their resources and mindless, voracious consumption that has such a huge impact on their countries and people.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      12:38pm | 25/08/11

      Nice diatribe.  By the way, your point about the Americans and Somalia is wrong.  Yes, there has been a lot of illegal fishing there - by, among others, the Taiwanese, not the Americans, and yes, there has been a lot of illegal dumping, mostly by the Europeans, not the Americans.  Lay the blame where it belongs.

      As for mining operations - the mines in South Africa, Zambia, Angola etc etc do employ local Africans and in massive numbers.  They don’t pay them particularly well, but the real problem is that they do not pay sufficient in royalties to the government.  But it’s not as simple as saying they don’t employ locals. 

      And while the west certainly has much to answer for, it is not western militia that are disrupting peoples’ lives, nor western politicians ripping off international assistance and building Swiss bank accounts, nor is it western countries engaging in endless border wars rather than looking after their people.  The Africans have to take some responsibilitiy as well.

    • shelly says:

      12:42pm | 25/08/11

      So who is doing the fighting? That would be one group of Africans fighting another group of Africans right? No one can farm right because of the deadly militias? Who make up the deadly militias? Africans right? Oh, I believe Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of Africa wasn’t it? Why isn’t it now? Wouldn’t have anything to do with the corrupt Zimbawean regime in power would it?

    • Michael says:

      01:11pm | 25/08/11

      BT the trouble with self determination is that some folks are just determined to be who they are not who they could be. You don’t have to look far to see what i am talking about.

    • Fiddler says:

      02:06pm | 25/08/11

      Yawn, you mean the governments allowing foreign companies to mine their resources because they don’t have the infrastructure or expertise to do so? The mistake is talking about “Africa” as one homogenous place. Some parts are full of resources and have fertile ground, others do not.

      Australia could easily exist if we stopped the miniscule trading we do with all of Africa, so please don’t lay the blame at us. As per my earlier post there is no solution, forces over there such as religion, superstition and tribal lines seem determined to keep themselves in the dark ages for short term personal gain. That is far more the cause of their problems than the “West”

    • Kika says:

      01:22pm | 25/08/11

      Don’t get me wrong. I donate my money. I sponsor two children. I give when I can. But how much longer does the rest of the world need to be made guilty for the troubles in Africa? Because we stuffed up helping them before and made things worse?
      There are a billion theories as to why Africa is one messed up place. Colonialisation? Definitely. Slave Trade? Definitely. Lack of modern education? Of course.

      We can’t ignore the Somalis, but in saying that, how CAN we help? If money is sent it with the most probability get tied up in administration and corruption, if we go on the ground we are putting on yet another ‘band-aid’ (pardon the pun) solution onto the problem - until the next drought hits.

      If we sit there and let ‘nature take its course’ what will result of the Somali people?

      It certainly is a tricky situation… I for one have not a single clue how the world should respond other than individual action picking up a pen (or getting on the net) and sponsoring a child. The money goes to their community to build the resources and facilities they need, the schools and school supplies to educate their kids and to bring a decent standard of living to people in abject poverty.

      Reply

    • Giraffe says:

      01:54pm | 25/08/11

      This is the problem Kika, well done.

      No-one knows how to help them, and too many people love to tell us all to throw money at them when in fact, it does no good at all. I think there is some validity to suggestions such as Ericks, but these things will never happen because there are too many bleeding hearts who live in a idealogical ‘happy place’.

      Australians need to think about sponsoring an aboriginal child or two and sending them to school, making sure they have food on the table and aren’t being abused at every turn. There is a fantastic program being run out of South Australia at the moment, getting young aboriginal children into private boarding schools thus solving a number of problems all at once.

      These African nations are often their own biggest enemies. The corruption is out of control, the education of the masses is non existent and the end result is what we see here. These countries need to be invaded and controlled until they can be left alone with a secure, legitimate government, that governs for the country and not just a select few.

    • fml says:

      01:57pm | 25/08/11

      I dont get this whole, but how much longer should we be made to feel guilty syndrome,

      There is no one making you feel guilty but yourself. Dont read the newspaper, dont read the articles, just continue on.

    • Malleeringneck says:

      01:35pm | 25/08/11

      How about some of the African leaders worrying about the African children instead of just feathering their own nest .

      Reply

    • RickyB says:

      01:44pm | 25/08/11

      I am still amazed that we can give money to others when we have thousands of homeless in Australia who this money should be spent on.When our own have been looked after, then we can look at helping the money pit of Africa.Its sickening to think that there are Australian kids sleeping on the streets when illegal freeloaders are given public housing & welfare.

      Reply

    • Obob says:

      02:11pm | 25/08/11

      The main problem is that they are breeding like rabbits.

      The news footages show hordes of children totally outnumbering the adults.

      So where is the responsibility of the parents who insist on yet more breeding in the face of cyclical droughts and famines?

      These “tragedies” seem to recur with monotomous regularity in the area and the billions in aid seems to have absolutely no effect.

      Money down the drain.

      Reply

    • Demoman says:

      03:55pm | 25/08/11

      Third world populations give rise to third world nations.

      Skilled and intelligent immigrants from African nations is part of the problem in that it deprives these nations of the human capital to solve their problems. These traitors to their own people are too lazy and greedy to bother to build functioning nations.

      Time Africa stood on its own two feet and suffered a bit so the people can figure out what they want from their civilization.

      Reply

    • MayHeather18 says:

      12:07am | 26/08/11

      People in every country take the business loans in various creditors, because this is easy.

      Reply

    • Elaha says:

      01:34am | 26/08/11

      This is heartbreaking. I dont know when the world will realize that it is not fair that someone have a million dollar house and luxurious life and others live in poverty.Every country and every person thinks in improving their quality of life. It is never enough. I wish the whole world come together to vanish the poverty.As every worker in a country have to pay tax, if it becomes compulsory for every person to contribute according to their incomes, I am sure the poverty will vanish. I wish the whole world hear my idea and implement it in reality..

      Reply

    • josh says:

      08:51am | 29/08/11

      So now you want people to be forced to live differently so someone in Africa who won’t stop having kids can be given the freedom to have more ? Karl Marx would be so proud.

    • Someone who cares too much says:

      06:57pm | 26/08/11

      I love how you care so much Elaha.

      I would give a lot more money if I knew that African women were having the long term pill injected in their arms. Right now the charities aren’t getting enough money and that’s possibly because we have given and given and the problem still remains and along the way have given up hope that we can be part of the solution.

      How many of you would be more willing to give more money if you knew that it would actually fix the problem as opposed to bandaiding it?

      We have tried everything else.

      I’m not waiting for China or India to decide to move in….that could take forever and there are children dying.

      I’ve got a shit load of breastmilk in my freezer. How do I get it there?

      Reply

    • Anthony says:

      11:48pm | 26/08/11

      Thus will sound cruel but this is nature at work. By sending them aid we are just prolonging the misery for future generations to repeat the same problems of the wrong people in the wrong places having too many children. Just like Bill Gates immunisation programs, sound great & would make him feel a little less guilty for his obscene wealth, but how many children in the future will exist & starve due to his generosity?

      Reply

    • perplexed says:

      09:10pm | 27/08/11

      Ok Anthony then how about we stop cancer research, leukemia research, diabetes research oh the list goes on and on because after all, it is nature at work, so who are we to step in the way of nature.  Bet you wouldn’t be saying that if it was your grandma on her deathbed, fool, ignorant heartless fool.  And the whole Bill Gates immunization statement, I hope you didn’t immunize your children, if you have any, (god I really hope you don’t and I hope you never do, the world could do with less ignoramuses) lest you come out looking like a hypocrite.

    • perplexed says:

      09:05am | 27/08/11

      Erik? so you are condoning genocide? these are people like you how dare you say they should be forced to be sterilized and basically micro chipped.  Just like you do to your pet dog and cat.  People like you scare me.  Ignorant fools with scary opinions.

      Reply

    • Confused says:

      08:25pm | 27/08/11

      The difference between here and there is we have a choice - our homeless usually have a decent home they can go to - or they have the opportunity to source government help but they choose not to - these people - more the children have no choice - is it really their fault…................ or is it ours - we all live in the same world.

      Reply

    • Gen says:

      09:11pm | 27/08/11

      We are starting to see the effects of overpopulation.  The earth simply cannot sustain endless population growth and will correct this itself with droughts, famines and disease.  I think there is little that can be done if population growth is not addressed.  Send money and the cycle will continue.

      Reply
 
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