Still not my grand return, but I saw this on Aid Watch’s twitterfeed, and wanted to comment.
The Bumpers Amendment is in no way a support of international development. To refuse to allow aid money from USAID aka United States Agency for International Development to be used to fund agricultural development is counterproductive.
The goal of aid, especially aid directed towards development should be to make itself obsolete. Refusing to allow development aid money to develop is a waste of resources and in no way useful in the big picture.
OK. I’ll step down from the podium, now.
This isn’t my grand return to blogging. That will be made with my critique of IC, post Gulu meeting. It’s coming. I promise.
I just felt this needed to be shared in as many outlets as possible. It’s insanely dangerous for a band with the exposure to young people that the Foo Fighters possess to endorse such a message. Irresponsible and ignorant.
(via Mother Jones) & (via alanna_shaikh)
I’m Back…
Once I get my life in order, I’ll have real posts. Until then, it’s good to be home.
And I’m off!
I’m currently sitting in Amsterdam, waiting on my connection to Entebbe.
I said I would have a couple of posts the other day, but it didn’t happen. Desole.
I was considering and even began setting up a separate blog for my time in Uganda, this summer, but I decided that was foolish, so anything I post will be right here for the time being. That being said, posts will be quite sporadic as internet will be spotty. I’ll be able to do posts through text, but Tumblr only allows one text pages worth per post.
So, look for tweets. You can follow me @dswinder or check the sidebar or both.
I won’t be retweeting or posting news stories that often, but I plan to do my best to keep a decent feed going.
Anyway, my internet time is running out, and I’m not paying another 12€.
This is a great post by Bill Easterly, of White Man’s Burden fame, over at his blog, “Aid Watch”. It deals with the problems faced when attempting to lump poverty and human rights together, as Amnesty International has done in its 2009 report. It slows down the solutions to both.
Chris Blattman also touches on this here.
P.S. I should have a post or two more going up today before I leave for Uganda tomorrow and they become much more sporadic.
It appears that Educate!, which I’ve talked so much about, is getting some much deserved national recognition.
Educate!’s founder, Eric Glustrom (who founded the organization when he was only 17-years old), will be on the CBS Early Show, tomorrow morning.
Congrats to Eric and everyone at Educate!.
Also, be sure to check out what Educate! is all about, and if you like what you see, remember to vote for Eric to win a $100,000 prize from DoSomething.org to go towards the new initiative being implemented by Educate!.
Go here. Click the vote tab. Find Eric’s video. Click the thumbs up.
This week, it is time for young artists of Goma to EXPRESS themselves. They are drawers, painters, musicians, dancers, and they have decided, through their art, to spread the word about the war that is ravaging their country.
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Voices of the youth from Eastern Congo: “EXPRESS” — Condition: Critical
This is a very well-done video about the role music and the arts plays as a form of expression in eastern DRC.
It’s a bit dramatic, but still well-done.
It’s also quite relevant to the Jazz for Justice Project.
I know I’ve mentioned Educate! a few times, and there’s good reason. Educate! is an awesome organization using culturally relevant social enterprise projects to empower students in Uganda to be leaders for their community. You can check out what I’ve said about them before, here.
Well, I’m mentioning them again because, now, Eric, the founder, is up for a $100,000 reward from DoSomething.org to go towards Educate!’s goal empowering a new generation of social leaders.
All I’m asking is that you check out more of what Educate! is all about. If you feel like they’re doing good work, vote for them. If not, don’t.
I mean, it should count for something that I’m so behind them as an organization. I think I’ve made it pretty clear how vocally critical I can be of many members of civil society. I’m looking at you, IC.
Go here. Click the vote tab. Find Eric’s video. Click the thumbs up.
