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)
To say ”We recognise that HIV is a serious disease but it is not the only disease affecting Ugandans,” as chair of the house standing committee Rose Akol Okullo has is an absolute cop-out and unacceptable.
In addition to the large defense fund that the article discusses, earlier this year, Uganda spent 88.2 billion shillings on a new Gulfstream for President Museveni. Yet, somehow, Uganda wants to cut funding on ARV’s to address other health concerns. I guess it would be completely unreasonable to cut the flippant spending on things like new jets.
I mean, Museveni’s old jet wasn’t good enough for him? It sure was sufficient enough in 2003 to fly his daughter to Germany for the birth of her child — At an estimated cost to Uganda of £70,000, at the high end, and £20,000, at the low.
Museveni is a darling of the United States and the West, literally getting away with murder. The legislation on Uganda and the U.S. involvement is concentrated on ridding the world of the LRA, completely forgetting that the UPDF also abducted children. The UPDF also raped, looted and killed. And the UPDF is still responsible for the displacement camps that people still live in, today.
Yeah, that’s right, the IDP camps weren’t a choice. Either you moved in or were considered amongst the ranks of the LRA, and, according to the government, thus… guilty.
Of course, then people were corralled up for the LRA to come through with warnings of anyone left in the camps the next day are considered government sympathizers and, according to the LRA, thus… guilty.
But all of this is ignored by the governments of the Western world. Mugabe is the hot word because he’s sat atop a country for a ridiculous 29 years, but Museveni is still a-OK ruling a country and marginalizing a region for 23.
It’s time that we realize that one of the biggest threats facing Uganda is Yoweri Museveni. He’s not a darling. He’s a tyrant. It’s time to hold the Ugandan government accountable for their actions. This latest proposal to cut ARV funding is just the most recent in a long line of irresponsible moves when dealing with the lives of people, and it is unacceptable.
Big thanks to Oprah for getting so many people off the streets of Chicago
You know, since that’s what matters and all.
Just a quick rant — I promise.
I really must be at least some part masochist because I continue looking at the Twitter trends for #therescue, and it makes me sick.
Just a few recent Tweets showing the ignorance involved with Invisible Children:
- @nbrooks8: Thank you @Oprah for coming to Chi-town’s rescue! We knew you wouldn’t let us down! #therescue
- Me: Hmm. So, is it about Chicago or is it about those actually abducted? And by “actually,” I mean not hanging out in a concert festival like setting. You know, abducted.
- @coalescex: #therescue thanks @oprah for her support! What a great way to save the last city.
- Me: Is Chicago the last city? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I would say the last “city” would be somewhere in Garamba. Or maybe Gulu where people are still in IDP camps, trying to cope with over twenty-years of war in ways that don’t involve a sensationalized film or t-shirts with insensitive imagery.
- @Anna_Iana: TOGETHER WE ARE FREEEEE!!!!! THANK YOU OPRAH!!! IC IS AMAZING!!!!!!! #therescue
- Me: Who is “WE”? Is it the American teenagers who have been having such a hard time as they hang out with their friends, are well-fed, and endure all other horrible types of suffering? Is IC amazing? Do they educate their followers? Where’s this war you care so much about? Most IC supporters I’ve spoken too still seem to believe that the LRA are wreaking havoc on northern Uganda, failing to realize that Garamba National Park is in the DRC and the DRC is not the same as Uganda. So, I ask again, who is “WE”? Are we all good to go now that these American kids in trendy t-shirts can go home?
I can’t get over the blind following Invisible Children has been able to amass. What’s immensely sad and even more frighetning is that they have a wonderful opportunity to bring real attention to a war that has gone largely unnoticed by the world until the last few years, and instead, they choose to worry about making slick films and hipster clothing. These kids follow blindly with Invisible Children as their cause and little idea of the real situation in the Great Lakes Region.
IC does great development work in northern Uganda. Schools for Schools has arguably done more for education in northern Uganda than any previous program. They facilitate wonderful micro-finance programs. Sadly though, they choose to focus on sensationalism and the sensibilities of a West-Coast culture, forgetting entirely about Acholi culture… You know, the people they claim to support.
IC is a peace building nightmare — Completely unaware of the culturally grounded efforts being undertaken to heal in northern Uganda. Militarized language and insensitivity will help no one. IC is not a savior, nor should they be. It’s time they step back and realize the harm that they’re doing. It’s time that they realize what’s being done in Uganda by Ugandans. It’s time that they become a little more invisible as an organization and begin worrying about truly helping people — not because they’re helpless, but because they’re human beings.
———
I just had to get that off of my chest. I’ve been rather incognito due to a hard drive crash, coupled with finals, but I think I’m back on a regular schedule now.
