Dead Aid

For anyone who has not yet cottoned on to why our current, conscience appeasing way of delivering humanitarian aid to Africa isn't working, please read this book. It wasn't written by a rock star or a Hollywood celeb. It was written by a Zambian economist called Dambiso Moyo.

This is one girl who has her head screwed on right. What a pity the big wigs aren't listening to her... yet!

On being rich

I've had a rough couple of months during which I have had no income. Of course, my husband has continued to earn his (very decent) salary, but our overheads were always based on two incomes and the loss of one put things like our house and our car in jeopardy. It was scary there for a while.

Not for the first time in our lives, we found ourselves on the receiving end of the kindness of friends. Bags of groceries, gifts of money and invitations for meals. It has been hard to accept these gifts, to be honest. I felt like a burden. I also felt embarrassed, because I knew there were people who are far worse off than we are. One friend pointed out we have always been the sort of people who consider it a privilege to do that sort of thing for other people, so we should realise that those who were helping us were seeing it in the same way. It was a lesson in humility.

But, even though I have learned this morning that a new contract is winging its way to me, the lesson wasn't over yet. Anol Bhattacharya (who twitters as SoulSoup) tweeted a link to this site this morning.

It is sobering to see that 99% of the world's population is poorer than we are - even when I don't earn a penny. We are truly privileged.

If you ever travel to Cape Town by air, almost on arrival, you will be reminded of how privileged you are: right next to the Cape Town airport is a squatter camp where people live in shanty houses made of bits of wood, corrugated iron and other scraps.

It gives you a sense of perspective about the air conditioning not working in your hired car!

Image by GNJOR on Photobucket

Food for thought

On the aforementioned trip to Oxford today, I came across this poster on the door in the loo (er.. bathroom). No, I hadn't taken my camera in there with me - although that wouldn't be the weirdest place I have taken it. I took this picture with my phone. In case you can't read it, it says:

If your home has something other than a dirt floor, you are in the top half of the world's population
If your home has a roof, a door, windows and more than one room, you are in the top 20%
If you have refrigeration, you are in the top 5%
If you have a car, a microwave, a video, a computer and this toilet has a cubicle door, then you are in the top 1%.

At the bottom is a Mahatma Ghandi quote: "We must be the change we want to see in the world"

I'm assuming that, although it isn't mentioned, this top x% refers to material wealth. There's a lot that could be said about the chosen wording, in spite of which, this is a sobering way of representing this data.

Blog action day 08

Today is blog action day. The topic this year is poverty. Of course, victims of poverty are not able to access this conversation, so we need to be careful not to adopt a "let them eat cake" attitude.

I don't really feel qualified to make a meaningful contribution to the conversation, since I have been blessed with a life of (relative) privilege.

However, while you're here, may I ask one favour?

If you have the means to be reading this post, then you have means above and beyond the wildest dreams of the vast majority of the world's population. Please consider using those means to access an online charity related to poverty and make a donation. If you can't think of any charities, I shall list some at the end of this post.

Alternatively, swing by your local Oxfam or Sally Army with a bag of clothes or children's toys. To put things into perspective: I once asked a friend who worked with a poor community near Cape Town if she could use some of my kids' old clothes, or if they were too shabby. Her response was: "The worst thing you have ever thrown away is better than the best thing they have ever owned."

A representative of MAF was recently explaining to us how the spiralling cost of fuel was crippling their efforts... and how the poorest people groups are so poor that they have no concept of things like the credit crunch and recession. They still see us as being unspeakably wealthy and expect us to continue the same level of provision. They consider it churlish of us to send them less medication and fewer doctors simply because our wealth has dropped from stupendous to astonishing.

Projects to consider (in addition to the links included above):
Wonlife
tearfund
World Vision
Christian Partners in Africa
Mercy in Action