How important is aid to Africa?

In rich countries, when economic growth declines by three or four percentage points, some people lose their jobs and possibly their houses, but they recover when the economy rebounds.

In poor African countries, children get pulled out of school—and don't return.  They miss out on becoming productive adults. In some cases, children die before they even have a chance to go to school. If the current growth collapse is typical of the ones Africa has experienced in the past, an additional 700,000  African children may die before their first birthday.

In short, the effects of fluctuations in the global marketplace on Africa will be permanent. 

So the idea that aid may be threatened because of the recession in rich countries seems to have the logic backwards. Precisely because the effects in rich countries are temporary, resources should go to places where they may be permanent. Of course, there are political pressures to spend domestically. But do politicians in rich countries really think that a few more votes are worth more than the lives of the infants who will die as a result of the recession?

Furthermore, the relatively modest sum spent on aid to Africa in the past decade was at least partly responsible for the continent’s rapid growth.  From 1998-2008, aid to Africa was increasing and economic growth was accelerating (to over 6 percent in 2007); poverty was declining and human development, especially primary school completion rates and the spread of HIV/AIDS, was improving. African countries had strengthened their macroeconomic policies—inflation had dropped to half its level in the mid-1990s—so that aid was more productive.  Private capital was flowing in at a faster rate than in any other continent. All of these developments have come to a grinding halt because of the global economic crisis—a crisis that was not remotely the fault of Africans. By increasing aid to Africa, the international community has a chance to reverse this trend and prevent a temporary shock from having permanent consequences.

Why aid to Africa must increase

Submitted by Shanta on Mon, 2009-05-25 16:14  updated and posted 2012-04-03.

Government's purpose

There is only one legitimate purpose for government.  It's embodied in the words, 'public interest'.

One person governs himself.  Two people cooperate or go their separate ways.  More must agree on some things for the sake of each and all.  Thus, government and public interest.

The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself.

There is continual debate about what that actually means, but everyone is aware of the price if it's done poorly.

Governance, then, particularly 'good governance' is about how well a government serves the interests of its' citizens, collectively and individually. Note the increasingly frequent uprisings and protests; from Egypt to Syria to Wall Street.  And Kyrgyzstan (left).  

Former South African president Thabo Mbeki in Uganda addresses issues of governance (right).

Globalization, and the new citizenry
Are we further obliged to 'not harm' other countries with our actions?  That's the new question; what's the international impact of our national policies.

After US regulatory changes, Wall Street ran amok and slammed the world marketplace. The 2007-8 upheaval spiked inflation in Kenya to around 30% for a couple of years. Here, we were angry and worried about our retirement investments.  In Kenya and elsewhere in the developing world, people went hungry and died.

The price of corn meal, the staple on which the poor survive, doubled.  When you spend more than half your income on food, such a change is deadly.  We did that to them.  The U.S. government mandated 10% ethanol program contributed to the price increase.

The consumer price index in Kenya is up by 30+% since then.  The change in the US is 7% for the same period.

In the US, we were annoyed by the partisan scrap over the debt ceiling last summer.  The EU was struggling a bit with the Greek bankruptcy.  In Kenya and elsewhere, living costs continue to rise rapidly and people continue to starve.


The emerging question on the world's agenda as we labor over the environmental impact of our existence; now we must also consider the impact of national economic policies as well.  It's life or death on each front, and there are no simple answers to be found.

Have you thought much about your part in all this while it plays out?  Things are moving rather quickly now; it's worth a thought or two.

A UNESCO study highlights wider human development impacts of the '08 financial crisis specifically, including the prospect of an increase of between 200,000 and 400,000 in infant mortality. Child malnutrition, already a rising trend, will be one of the main drivers of higher child death rates. "Millions of children face the prospect of long-term irreversible cognitive damage as a result of the financial crisis," says Montjourides.  A few hundred folks did all of this.

Nothing.  Nothing can describe the blinding fury evoked in a father's heart against the perpetrators for such actions.

Money! and reaching your goals ...

The American Dream!  

• House?
• Cars?
• Vacations?
• College for the kids?
• Retirement?
• Having enough?

We didn't begin this way, but these days, our kids learn early that our appropriate goal is a comfortable life.  It's ingrained in us by everything we see and hear.  Better paying jobs, home ownership, nicer cars, nicer things, retirement funding, all are the goals of our culture, and that's the way we live.

The screwballs among us like nuns and peace corps volunteers and 'doctors without borders' don't count.  They're just odd.

Everybody knows you need to pour out your life on work and material things so you can take care of yourself and your family.  You never really get enough, though.  You always want more.

None of the world's religions, none of the world's revered philosophers, and none of the folks we admire support anything like the 'American Dream' as an acceptable life purpose.

What if ...
What if we started with a different premise? What if we chose a different purpose for our lives and then reorganized our affairs accordingly?

What if we decided the most fun we could have was in being useful to others; caring, sharing, helping, being there when needed.

You could still be a teacher or an engineer or a stay-at-home mom or a bookkeeper, but your purpose would be much larger than just your occupation, and the opportunities could mushroom into great things.

Could you still have a house and car and running water and a chance for college for your kids? Sure. Nothing wrong with those. You might choose somewhat differently though, if your goal was being able to serve others. Perhaps, perhaps not.

Casa Fiz do Mundo   (homemade world!)

"Freely you have received, freely give," we're instructed, perhaps because we're not intended to squander what we're given on more stuff for ourselves.  Having too much stuff will get in the way of giving, and giving is much more fun than getting.

(Left) These young people and their friends fill a shipping container every year with essential goods, and then they send that along with a team to a place where they work really hard.  Every year, they do this.  It's hundreds and hundreds of hours of tedious work.  Curious why? 

They serve children and their families and community in a country where life is difficult.  They love doing it, too.


It's such a great joy to make a difference.  Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, ... as though they were your own family.

What would our lives look like if we chose a different purpose?  Got the guts to work through it?  I barely know how to begin.

"I'm going to pour out my life on something.  I might as well pour it out on something that makes a difference." ~ inner-city teacher 

A father's dream ...

Nobility, grace, strength, courage, ... such, perhaps, are the hopes in a father's heart for his own gift to his wife and children, and to his world as well.

Dad was a composer, conductor, music educator... and an impressive tenor; a tuxedo type, lots of the time.  Mom was a talented soprano and was often in his work.  Dad had a long career with choirs and orchestras, college and churches and communities.

Of the hundreds of performances I attended through my childhood, I remember one best; a community performance of Handel's Messiah at Easter.  Dad assembled a composite choir of a couple hundred voices from several churches.  Along with an orchestra, they performed in a packed cathedral for Catholics and Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, the larger family which in those days was fairly unusual.  I remember, as the crowd stood for the chorus, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.  Many of us wept as the inspired magnificence of Handel's work swept across the hall and through each one of us.  In the days before sound systems, the voices and instruments filled the world with wonderful power and clarity.

His students were family, and it was common to have twenty of them or more over for an evening event.  They adopted mom and dad as their own parents-du-jour which meant my sister and I had a lot of siblings.

In retirement, a friend asked Dad if he would teach piano to his child.  In no time, Dad had 30 students, lessons once a week each. 

Dad passed away rather suddenly, shortly before his 70th birthday.

I heard stories about him for years afterwards.  One of the most illuminating, perhaps, was from a school teacher.  One of the boys in her class, when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, said, "I want to be a piano teacher like Mr. Dickerson."  He was one of dad's students, and though he had no notable musical interest, he knew he wanted to be like my dad.

Nobility, grace, strength, courage; you did well, Dad.  Now, these decades later, I begin to understand your heart.