On The Fence?

My cause will always be Africa, it's close to my heart now, somewhere I felt like I belonged and I've always wanted to help as anyone who really knows me will tell you. However, helping Africa is my way of helping the world and I can see that not everyone will agree with me.

Maybe we do need to sort out the problems of our own countries before we start worrying about the rest of the world. I guess there are so many problems in the world, and just not enough people with the drive or dedication to go about changing them. Then again, if it isn't broken, don't fix it. I just don't know, so the best I can do is to keep living my life the way I see id best. Doing my part to make a difference.

Corruption. Greed. Two Universal evils and no matter where in the world you go you will find them. Corruption within government, even in countries you might consider not to have a government, to be too primitive to think of such a notion. No, it's there. From village council and elders to Prime Minister and President.

Tied into this corruption you get greed and here is where I see the problem with giving aid to Africa, and I don't mean the money you drop in Oxfam's pot or whatever, I mean the government aid that goes to the African governments. Why? Because we can not always be sure where this money will be spent. It is a sad truth that in certain places and within certain governments our aid money is wasted. It can be used on aeroplanes, new cars, redesigning the government house. I don't know... there are problems.

On the flip side of this though you get your charities who are working on the ground, who are doing their utmost with your money to ensure that the people who need it most get the benefit from it. We see aqua boxes, shelter boxes, food aid, medical aid, schooling and such like. We are making a difference, we are having an effect and it is positive.

Debt. We all know what debt is, the odds are most of us, if not all of us, will experience debt at some point in our lives. University costs, bank loans etc. they all lead to debt eventually, and you always have to pay it back.

Debt has to be one of Africa's biggest problems, when the continent as a whole is expected to pay back more than it earns how are they ever expected to improve their own lives? Africa can't afford to pay back it's debt and those who loaned the money can afford to not get a penny back.

If we gave Africa full debt relief then we might see some improvement. When parts of Africa were given debt relief as part of the millennium goals we saw improvements. In Tanzania ALL primary education was made free to EVERYONE. In terms of health care all those with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania can now get their medication free. Not that there are enough of the drugs for this.

Lack of resources. There aren't enough doctors in Africa, because not enough people can afford to go through the school system. For the same reason there aren't enough teachers and some teachers have nothing more than a primary level education themselves.

No doctors or teachers from the developed world are going to go and work in such conditions. An Africa teachers earns on average £30 a month, teaching a class which can have hundreds of children in it at any one time and not enough desks for them all. The doctors wont go and work for a poor wage and without the equipment and drugs that they are used to here.

There are things we do to help Africa and then there a problems we can do nothing to help with. We can't make it rain in Africa and subsequently we can't make the crops grow without water. We can dig as many wells as we like to provide these people with drinking water but without education they are still going to wash their clothes in it and pollute it.

We can all do our part though, and not just for Africa, for the whole world. The way I see it is that we are all responsible for our own actions and we are all responsible for whether we choose to sit on the fence and watch the world go by or whether we stand up and tackle the problems. Sure, as a single person you aren't going to rid the world of corruption but you could feed a family and make them smile.

You might never move a mountain, but you can bring joy to the hearts of many people by so many simple gestures.

It takes one person to make a difference. It is the sum of all these little differences that makes the big change. The sum of these individual conquests that shape the world we live in. It's our world and our choices. Are you on the fence? Or off the fence and making a difference? Only you can choose.