Many North Carolinians help in Africa
My column today:
I can't get images of Africa out of my head.
- A snarl of safari vehicles, their drivers vying to give camera-toting tourists the best view of a leopard prowling through the Serengeti grass.
- A sudden face-to-face encounter with a female elephant and her calf.
- Maasai children singing ABCs under a shade tree -- their village school.
- Street kids in Mwanza begging, "Give me money, baba. I'm hungry."
- A leper, sitting on a sidewalk, reaching out his hand for a coin, stubs for fingers. ...
After two weeks in Kenya and Tanzania, my comprehension of Africa is more limited than my meager grasp of Swahili. Once past the greetings, I'm lost. But, how well does anyone know this vast continent of 53 countries and nearly a billion people?
We have impressions: the strikingly beautiful landscapes, majestic wildlife, rich natural resources; the history of exploitation through slave-trading and colonialism; civil wars and horrendous violence, intense poverty, droughts and famines, AIDS and countless other life-sapping diseases; corrupt governments, decaying infrastructure.
The world wants to help. I met many Americans on mission trips or working for aid organizations. On board my flight to Nairobi was a group of education students from N.C. Central University who were going to teach in Kenyan schools. Last week, North Carolina Congressman David Price was in Kenya viewing the work of Carolina for Kibera, a Chapel Hill-based group that promotes better health care, sanitation and education for young people.
Greensboro's Westminster Presbyterian Church is launching a mission project in Kenya this fall, consisting of three components: medical professionals who will work in a hospital; a group helping at New Life Homes, a facility for abandoned babies; and a team that will visit an AIDS-prevention education center and explore opportunities for more health-related projects in the future. Westminster plans to send teams at least once a year, minister Bob Henderson said.
New Life Homes is a focus of efforts by the Amani Children's Foundation of Winston-Salem. Founders are Dr. Chad Stephens, a physician with years of medical experience in Kenya, and his wife, Jane Stephens, who chairs the English department at High Point University.
East Africa is practically filling up with North Carolinians doing extraordinary things. And then there are government programs, including the Peace Corps, in which my son, Andrew, serves.
Price said he saw effective work by three U.S. agencies: Peace Corps, the Centers for Disease Control and the Agency for International Development. He also praised Carolina for Kibera and other private organizations.
At the same time, he added in a phone interview Tuesday, Africans must solve their own problems. "You do wonder where their government is," he said, recalling the sprawling Kibera slum, where people lack decent housing and basic services like sanitation, running water and electricity.
Africa holds great potential, but the challenges seem almost overwhelming.
Tanzania's attractions -- the wildlife parks, Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, Indian Ocean beaches -- draw tourists, but not enough. The country lacks the infrastructure to accommodate more.
It needs investment in airports, roads, power plants and water systems. It needs businesses and industries that can put people to work -- even for low wages. It needs hospitals, schools, doctors, nurses and teachers. And engineers, urban planners and competent, honest government officials.
Tanzania, peaceful and generally safe, has done very well in protecting its wealth of wildlife. That just makes sense. Yet, it creates the impression that animals are valued more than people. What else can you think when visitors pay big money to see leopards and elephants but brush blindly past hungry children?
Somehow, tourist dollars have got to feed children and build healthier nations. Africa's natural resources must serve the needs of people.
Comments (5)
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I feel for Africa but I can't help think of the poverty and starvation going on right here in the USA.
There was a show on recently that showed areas of the USA that have no running water, disease, and starvation. It's not a pretty thing for the media to cover (so they usually don't) and there are people who won't believe it, but it is happening and our help is needed too right here at home.
Posted on July 13, 2006 12:25 PM
There definitely is poverty in our own community and across the United States. Starvation? From http://www.foodshare.org/main.cfm?page=2 :
"Although we do not see starvation in the United States, hunger and malnutrition still have significant consequences:
"Malnourished pregnant women are more likely to have stillborn or low birth weight babies
"Inadequately nourished infants and children are apt to have learning problems and more illnesses
Adults who are hungry are less energetic and productive, making it difficult to find and keep a job or care for children
"Malnourished elderly persons are less able to prevent illness and enjoy good health."
We all should support efforts to address these acute needs here at home, but doing so does not relieve us of our obligations beyond our shores. Human needs are far greater and more acute in Africa than in the United States.
Posted on July 13, 2006 3:58 PM
Out of Africa, I have to agree with my dad here. I am a big, big proponent of doing more to alleviate poverty at home, but we are not talking about the same thing at all. Areas of the US without running water? I'd be surprised if 5% of the people here in Tanzania have running water. With my 5 dollars I make a day I'm among the wealthy here. Even so, I don't have electricity. There are only enough schools and teachers to send about 10% of kids to secondary school. And disease? The life expectancy here's around 40. Most families lose at least one child to malaria. One out of 12 is HIV postive. I believe we can do more at home, but the level of suffering isn't comparable.
Posted on July 15, 2006 2:10 AM
My name is Maria Nkonge and I am UNC-Chapel Hill student working in the
Kibera slum outside of Nairobi this summer. As I was born and raised
in Greensboro, NC, my parents read your article in the News & Record
today and forwarded it to my email account. My work has allowed me the
rare opportunity of working with Carolina for Kibera, the
international, nongovernmental organization with connections to my
university. Although I can not accurately describe for how much I have
grown and matured over the past few months at this time, I can say that
it is a remarkable organization that is striving to erect change with
the smallest of resources. Grounded on the principle of participatory
development, CFK understands that the only ones capable of bettering a
community are the people who live and learn in it. Run by Kenyans
(most of whom are Kibera residents) and supported by U.S. volunteers,
Carolina for Kibera achieves a level self-sustainability that is
lacking greatly in many NGOs in developing, resource-poor communities.
I just wanted to write and say thank you for documenting your
experiences on the African continent and more specifically, Kenya. As
I met Congressman Price and members of his staff when the visited CFK's
office, I agree with your statement that the presence of North
Carolinians abroad is increasing and helping to raise awareness of
issues affecting our global community.
I wish your son the best in the Peace Corps and hope you will make
another trip to this beautiful continent and possibly visit some of the
organizations, both local and international, that are making changes as
best they can.
If you would like to learn more about Carolina for Kibera, please visit
the following website: http://cfk.unc.edu
And please feel free to contact me via email at the address below. Once
again, thank you. Every voice, letter, fundraiser, and article helps
to educate our community. From one Carolinian to another,
Best,
Maria Zawadi Nkonge, student
UNC-Chapel Hill, C/O 2007
B.A. Candidate, International Studies & African Studies
Posted on July 18, 2006 8:44 AM
Thanks, Maria. Good luck in Nairobi, safe travels home. I would like to visit Africa again.
Posted on July 18, 2006 8:45 AM