Sustainable Aid

What would happen if North America and Europe called up Africa and told them that in just five years they would stop sending aid money to help fuel development projects and the economy?

This is the main question that Dambisa Moyo poses in her book Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working And How There Is A Better Way For Africa. Her thesis is simple: millions of dollars worth of aid money being pumped into the African continent is actually doing more harm than good.

I'll admit that when I first began reading this book for class I was a little shocked. How could Moyo possibly say that aid money was slowing development in Africa? However, once I kept reading, and began to understand the fundamentals of her argument, it all came crashing down and made complete sense.

It's important to first understand the exact type of aid money that Moyo is lamenting against.

For instance, in her opinion, aid money given in lieu of a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or flood, is acceptable. In this case, I have to agree. When a catastrophic event of this nature takes place it is absolutely necessary to help fellow humans that are experiencing life-threatening danger. To just sit back and do nothing would be irresponsible. Now, I'm not saying that everyone should hop on a plane and rush over to wherever such an event occurs, but giving even the smallest amount can go a long way to ensure that a child has clean drinking water for a day.

However, with emergency aid and charity aid, Moyo advises people to be wary of where exactly money is going, because charities may not be spending money where they say they are.

While I understand that this is something to be skeptical about, I also understand that there are many overhead costs to running a charity, and not every dollar raised can necessarily go directly towards a development project or program. There are transportation costs involved, salaries, insurance payments, accommodations for staff and so on. To any respectful charity or NGO, these are realistic costs that must also be met.

However, charities or NGOs that simply hoard their money or find alternative and inappropriate ways to spend their fundraising dollars have no excuse. Moyo is absolutely correct in stating that these ventures should be avoided, because they are indeed helping no one.

The same argument, she argues, can be said about African governments that receive large monetary loans or transfers from rich, developed countries. Billions of dollars have been given to a number of different African countries, but issues regarding poverty, food and water supplies, education and numerous other basic human rights still loom over many people's lives. Mass corruption and civil wars are also present, and only make matters worse.

So why is it that Africa has been stuck in a cycle of dysfunction? If countries are receiving millions of direct dollars each year, why are so many life-threatening problems still present?

After completing Moyo's book, paired with my own knowledge and opinions, I believe that a severe lack of sustainable projects, couple with irresponsible governments.

For example, if a country receives, let's say, five thousand dollars to help alleviate hunger, and rations are given out to families, only a bandaid solution is provided. While those families may be fed for a week, what happens afterwards? Would it not be more sustainable to invest that money in agriculture tools and educational workshops to teach the families how to farm and feed themselves for a prolonged period of time? Then, not only would they be able to feed themselves, they would also be able to sell portions of their yields and create a small income for themselves.

By simply continuing the pattern of bandaid solutions, in various circumstances, people are becoming dependent on aid money. This is not a solution, but rather a corrupt system that forces people to live off of reliance. Systems such as these are not helping anyone.

Many governments, rather than helping their people, are also responsible for only making matters worse. Instead of using aid money to better their country and their people, some African leaders simply mismanage their country's economy, and take large sums of money for themselves and immediate family members, friends and close supporters.

Robert Mugabe, the leader of Zimbabwe, has been criticized both nationally and internationally for mismanaging monetary funds and running his country's economy into the ground. While he has a lavish lifestyle, his people are suffering.

This is not uncommon in many African countries. There are multiple leaders that take money and invest it only in themselves rather than bettering their country as a whole. While many Western countries and donors actively avoid proving aid to these leaders, it is difficult to completely avoid corruption.

This has become a sad reality when attempting to help people in developing countries. As a result, it has become extremely important to recognize where your aid money is going, and what exactly it is funding.

In order to properly help those in need, sustainable projects must be funded that target basic human needs. That is the first step developing countries need to take in order to become self-sustainable.

Should you really celebrate Columbus Day?

Today is Columbus Day, where many Americans celebrate Christopher Columbus arriving in the New World way back in 1492. Some even like to celebrate it as a day of Italian-American culture and heritage, but if you want to get technical, Italy wasn't a country until 1861, and Columbus was actually Genoese.

Columbus also didn't discover the New World, as many people celebrating today probably believe. There are records indicating that Norsemen (Leif Ericson) travelled to present-day Newfoundland around the tenth century, which was before Columbus sailed his Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria across the Atlantic.

In 1947, Thor Heyerdahl also embarked on his Kon-Tiki expedition, where he sailed on a raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands to prove that ancient peoples, pre-dating Columbus, had the ability to travel across waters and inhabit new lands.

I'm also just going to point out that Columbus never stepped foot on the mainland of North America. His travels were focused more on the Caribbean islands and the coastline of South America -- no where near present-day America.

You can argue, as many have, that Columbus didn't discover the New World because, you know, there were already people living there before he arrived. And it's because of his interactions with these indigenous populations that so many different groups have begun movements against Columbus Day.

Why?

Well, I like to refer to it as "a horrible excuse to hide history and ignore all the genocide that was unleashed against indigenous populations." Because that's basically what happened. You just never hear about it because people don't want to admit to the atrocities that happened in the past, or they're too ignorant to attempt to understand why this disgusting holiday is still celebrated.

One of the largest movements against Columbus Day in the USA is lead by the American Indian Movement (AIM) who argue that his arrival brought absolutely nothing good to indigenous people that were already present on the land he supposedly discovered.

Europeans that came along with Columbus not only brought infectious diseases that killed off countless natives, but they also carried out acts of warfare, enslaved their populations, attempted to assimilate them, and if there was any opposition, the native populations were tortured and/or killed.

To put it simply, Columbus and his fellow Europeans brought a genocide onto the native populations that they stumbled upon.

On Columbus Day people are celebrating a history of colonialism and enslavement that ravished indigenous populations. So before you go out celebrating today, maybe you should stop and think about the history behind this so-called holiday.

Is this really something you want to be joining?

Maybe you could instead opt to celebrate one of the many alternative holidays that are emerging into the mainstream American culture. For example, in Berkeley, California, today is known as "Indigenous Peoples Day" and commemorates those that were living before Columbus arrived.

Instead of celebrating a part of the past ripe with imperialism, slavery and mass murder, stop to think about the reality of the situation.

Fun (Canadian) Thanksgiving Day Facts

You guys, I'm really sorry to have to say this, but in my last post I lied to you!

I credited Americans with hosting the first "official" Thanksgiving at Plymouth in the early 1600's (1621, according to Wikipedia), when in fact, Martin Frobisher celebratory "three cheers for not dying while looking for the Northwest Passage" Thanksgiving was held in present-day Newfoundland in 1578. That's a 43 year difference in "first" Thanksgivings.

As an apology, here are some Thanksgiving-themed fun facts that you may or may not have already known!

1. Thanksgiving in Canada is always celebrated on the second Monday in October. 
2. Thanksgiving isn't a statutory in the eastern provinces (Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and New Brunswick). 
3. According to the Turkey Farmers of Canada, 3 million turkeys were purchased by Canadians for Thanksgiving weekend in 2011. 
4. Apparently the Etruscans began the tradition of breaking the wishbone in 322 BC, and carried it throughout Europe as they went along conquering. The tradition struck and was passed along to other Europeans, who then brought it over to North America when they conquered the New World. 
5. During the 1920's, Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving during the week of November 11th, but after Remembrance Day became a nationally recognized date, Thanksgiving was pushed back to October so the dates would not coincide. 
6. According to the Turkey Farmers of Canada, there are only 548 official turkey farmers throughout the entire country. 
7. In Canada, we don't have Black Friday sales the day after Thanksgiving. It's just more of a normal Tuesday, except the majority of people are suffering from serious turkey comas. 

Why do we celebrate being thankful?

If you're Canadian, this weekend you probably travelled home to be with friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving. You're probably going to eat a giant turkey or ham, potatoes, squash, corn gravy, pumpkin pie and whatever else your mother makes for your annual Thanksgiving feast.

You'll probably all share what you're thankful for too. Common themes refer to family, friends and good health.

But let me ask you this: Why do Canadians even celebrate Thanksgiving? This weekend I've been asking a bunch of my friends, and they all basically have the same answer: "I don't actually know ... because we're so close to America?"

Thanksgiving is a big deal in America, because AMERICA! Why not celebrate how wonderful it is to be the largest country that oozes capitalism and chants of 'MERICA? Although the first reported "Thanksgiving" was held at Plymouth in the 1600's, which is much more likely why Americans are so adamant about celebrating every year.

For Canadians we celebrate thanks to the traditions of those wonderful Europeans that crossed the Atlantic Ocean and settled in North America. Or should I say Lower and Upper Canada?

One of the first "official" Thanksgivings in what is now present-day Canada was celebrated by Martin Frobisher for surviving the journey through northern waters in an attempt to find the Northwest Passage.

For many other European settlers, fall harvests happened in October or November, and they were thankful for the bountiful new land they had that gave them lots of delicious food, and the tradition stuck. While more settlers came over to North America, more celebrations occurred.

Today, some of the original traditions hold true, but for most Canadians, this weekend is just a good excuse to take Monday off and eat as much turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie as humanly possible.

To me, this seems a bit weird, but hey, it works.

News Briefs

Starfish vanish from West Vancouver waters 
Divers that frequent the waters off the shore of West Vancouver have recently alerted the Vancouver aquarium that starfish, or sea stars, have been rapidly disappearing. In the past few years, the population had been booming, but now, these sea creatures are dying in mass numbers with no explanation.

Researchers at the Vancouver aquarium have described this as an epidemic, and dubbed it the "Sea Star Wasting Syndrome," as they have yet to discover why the population has almost completely disappeared.

It's been difficult to identify the root of the problem because there are little to no specimens of starfish left in the water to collect. However, some experts are speculating that because of the previously large population, some sort of disease was developed and passed around, which has now almost completely decimated the population.

Researchers in other others -- Florida and California -- have reported similar incidents with their starfish populations, but it is too soon to tell is these events are in any way linked.

Source

Running of the bulls kills one, injures three
Earlier today, officials in Spain announced that a woman in her late 50's was killed during an annual festival in the small town of Ferez, in central Spain. She was participating in the running of the bull, a common Spanish tradition, when the bull gored her through the abdomen.

Three other people, including her daughter, were also injured by the bull.

While the running of the bull clearly poses many lethal dangers, it is still a very common traditional in various Spanish traditions, and is preformed multiple times throughout the year in towns and cities around Spain.

Source

Home Alone: Lost in Las Vegas 
Last week, a 9-year old boy from Minneapolis was able to board a plane and fly to Las Vegas without any parental supervision or a boarding pass. Before boarding the plane, he also got lunch at one of the airport restaurants, and then snuck away without paying by saying he needed to use the washroom.

While this may sound like a dream come true to many children and young adults, it is in reality a terrifying incident that shows the lack of attention staff at this airport had on that day.

Source