Ethiopia
Europe granted £1.8 million in emergency aid to Ethiopia today in 1984. One million people were believed to have died in the famine of that year and aid workers described the situation as “hell on earth”.
And it’s Monday so what’s on your mind? Share it here.
Let me tell you the story of Shane Dolan.
I met him two decades ago, when I was in Ethiopia for Four Corners, filming “The Forgotten Famine”, which I wrote about in this space a month ago.
Shane was an aid worker. Not the kind who hands out food at emergency relief centres, but the kind who works for the long term.
Continue reading "How a black cloud was lifted in an impoverished land" »
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Mr Subramanian says:
Fabulous. I hope articles like this encourage people to increase their giving towards charitable organisations as much as ones about others’ poor experiences with charities discourage them from doing so. Because it’s all really about how effective such aid is, rather than one’s own personal willingness to give, isn’t it? Read more »
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Chuck says:
Mark, what Eric said is true. We rarely comment on your stories, but keep them going. Each one is a great read Read more »
One of the more unedifying spectacles on the world stage in the last fortnight has been the verbal dogfight between Bob Geldof and the BBC over aid to Ethiopia.
For me the allegations, that money from Band Aid and Live Aid was diverted for political and military purposes, and Geldof’s furious denunciations, had particular resonance.
Exactly twenty years ago, I was in Ethiopia to make a film for Four Corners, called the Forgotten Famine, which addressed some of these issues on the spot. The debate today seems to me confused, exaggerated and divorced from reality.
Continue reading "Baseless attacks on Bob Geldof threaten foreign aid" »
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Phil says:
Eric, are you seriously still trying to claim that one of the reasons for invasion was stopping WMD production? There was no production. There were no feasible plans for production. They made it all up. Similarly Saddam’s alleged support for terrorism, there is not one credible piece of evidence that… Read more »
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Astrosodi says:
Hi Eric I don’t presume anyone is good or bad purely based on membership to class, regardless of where you feel that class may sit on a left/right line. I’m not sure what you’re assuming about me, but I appreciate (as I’ve stated) that there are many complex and interrelated… Read more »
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