Friends and Famine

Partying on the Coast while others go hungry... is it wrong?

 

My good friend Barry came for a visit from Canada bringing with him news of the politics and the continuing "struggle" of Canadians as they battle a financially reckless and feckless government while braving shockingly cold weather accessorized draconianly with heaps and heaps of snow. Even in Victoria  where you are more likely to see unicorns than than fluffy white stuff  - there are wide-ranging complaints of the categorical unfairness of it all.  I tease - not about the snow.... and Barry didn't make any complaints really - I'm always of the aware of "suffering" of my native peoples in a somewhat tongue in cheek manner, contextually speaking. Barry also brought me some vitamins and a few other hard to find items for which I am very thankful. (Vitamins are almost always counterfeit .... who would know?) Also thanks to Stevie for rounding up a few things in Victoria for Barry to pass along to me. Love you girl 💕

But it's what Barry left behind that is far more important and a mark of the remarkable man he is. He very unselfishly gave up holiday time to work with the slum kids teaching computer skills for a day. More than that, he generously agreed to some financial support for Brunah pictured here on the side. (Or did the kids teach Barry a few new skills he he)
Brunah is a quick-witted, pleasant crazy-smart girl from the Malezi school deep in the heart of the worst slum in Kenya. School is taught by caring adults with little or no formal education training at all. So even without formal education, Brunah is very smart indeed. I'm a puzzle guy and was surprised during our last session when the 11 year old Brunah reached the answer to a puzzle well before me. Hmmm ... my ego was so badly shaken I may take my volunteer efforts elsewhere !!!!!

Here's the thing - underprivileged does not mean dumb. Unbelievably I forget that there is simply no correlation and here is an poignant reminder that Brunah may never make a contribution to the world simply because she's a girl and comes from the slum. That's all. Does she have the potential to be the next President of Kenya. Why not? Who knows for sure....
For Brunah, she has nothing by North American standards ... no running water, sewer or guaranteed place to sleep each day. Her school meal is likely the only one that she can count on...and that is through the volunteer efforts of caring community outside Kenya. This slum is famous for a place where one can get sex for around 75 cents and there is filth and disease throughout. Her family life is - well complicated - as she and her 4 brothers and sisters make their way along in an intensely violent and uncertain environment. More on Brunah in the weeks months and perhaps years to come.

Friends and time well spent

Hmmm not a bad breakfast spot I'd say...

While Barry was here we caught up with Chris on the coast for a few delicious day.  Introduced earlier in my blog, and clearly living the Vi da Loca  here in Africa - Chris continues to do the important and serious work of bringing Savannah pirates to justice for their inexcusable sins of killing and then trafficking in rare animal parts. Shame shame shame!!! for these pirates are truly despicable.

That said, we had a brilliant day mountain biking in the wild. As we cycled past Giraffes and Zebra under a bright azure African sky we shared a wonderment of the world. So wild yet peaceful, serene yet busy, beautiful and so so very fucking hot!!!!

We did a bit of trekking into Hells Gate marveling at mother natures' artistic endeavors seemingly created for just us to marvel and enjoy.

The most challenging part of living abroad is the absence of those friendships that have a sense of permanency about them. In Africa - people come and go as missions start and end.. governments move funding from this to that and the human resources flow with it. I've been fortunate to build a wonderful friendship with Chris and a number of others here in Africa and am grateful for their efforts offering that important and much needed component in my life. I spent a number of years concentrating of being a father, husband, and business guy and am fortunate to be able to now concentrate on being a friend to my family and others who make my life so rich and colorful. Nameste to that!!!

Famine... what does that mean exactly?

 

 

Famine is a pretty clear term for all of us and like pornography, you know it immediately when you see it. Formally (WHO/ UNICEF etc)  would say that famine is defined when 2 out of 10,000 are dying daily and 20% of the population is not receiving sufficient daily caloric intake to sustain life. However -  it is also a vehicle often used to secure funding and can be used incorrectly to link images like the one above with people so that they will open their wallets..  There are 5 stages in food shortage terminology.... from food secure through to famine. To be unequivocal, and to not rely on shifting definitions - for the first time in a quite a number of years, large numbers of people are currently dying of hunger.

Four countries are officially declared - those being Somalia, Yeomen, Nigeria and South Sudan. In all cases  - the famine is due to a combination of insecurity caused from warring factions and drought.  People are dying today... mostly old and children... dropping dead as they walk with their emaciated and quickly thinning  herds of goats and cattle. There are reports of kids in South Sudan dropping dead on their way to school as they walk along. So what do we do? Nothing really. I have the unique perspective from Africa and relationships with the folks at the agencies who are best able to respond to these crisis. In conversation with various colleagues in other NGO's  ... I have been fairly direct in saying that like the ease of seeing weather coming a week away on the Great Canadian Prairies, how do you not see this coming from a long way off ????

Sadly and pathetically, there's little that can be done now as there is not the logistical infrastructure to get the food to where it needs to go. Also - for the first time in humanitarian history - workers are being targeting. This  stops the Aid workers with help in the way of food supplement (peanut butter with some goodness thrown in) from to where the starving are waiting. And equally unfortunate is that reality that starving people don't have the strength to walk to centralized and secure distribution points. Again the people are paying the price for a war they didn't ask for....

So!!!!!! The concept of resilience as a program approach to hunger is the key. We simply can't respond to food shortage disasters once they are identified as such. The work needs to be done well before to ensure that sufficient food is available and the infrastructure to facilitate response is adequate. There are many NGO's doing great work in this area and they need continued support. It's easy to get money when people see the pictures like the one above. But it's much harder to get funding for genetically modified drought resistant maze. Partying on the coast while others starve is the reality of our world. We are haves and have nothings. And as long at the Trumps and like minded people ignore the suffering of others and restrict funding for resilience programs our future is full of these massive contradictions.










Thanks for reading...Layno!