Each morning I get what they call a “Google Alert Email Alert”…What happens is I is pick the topic or name of a person and they send me all the information about that person or event in the form of an EM. This happens once a day or how ever how many times I want it..I also get Em’s and updates from most of the local newspaper news or local channel headline news. I do this because I don’t watch television news. Sometimes but very rarely I watch sports on TV…..After getting these alerts for a while I discovered its the same news every day…Its exactly the same, I couldn’t believe it…Its always all about the most outrageous things people do to each other, their pets, wives, kids or mothers and fathers…The question is, do we really need to know these very disturbing things? I noticed the only thing different is the names and the towns and cities they come from. It never changes it just goes and on and on. Why are people acting out with this kind of behavior you may ask?

     Yes there are those sick people but the United States is not a happy place and it hasn’t been for a long time. Things are changing faster than people can cope…Its the Trillions of dollars of National Debt and the hurtfully high gas prices. Do you really know how much a Trillion of anything is let alone a Billion? Paying $4.00 a gallon for something worth maybe .50 cents a gallon, if that. American Politicians will not say a word about that…Why?.. Because Washington with all its lawyer manipulation and legal corruption in the form of donations from oil company’s and God only knows who else, that’s why. Its because of greed and self interest and if they can’t steal it they just legalize it and take it anyway. That’s why. We are at a point where I don’t have to prove anything saying what I say. Just look around you! The proof is everywhere.

     Of coarse then there are the decaying morals and family values of the younger generation. Think about that son and daughter you may have or your little niece and nephew. There are young kids somewhere in your family. If you don’t have any, think about your friends son and daughter. Who will they be having sex with in say, 2 years, 5 years or 10 years? Well, actually the question should be how many guys will she be having sex with? How many young girls will he be having sex with?…That TV in your house is programing them constantly. Its always saying everybody does it, why not you? Over and over It is saying to your kids you can’t have real fun unless you drink alcohol and use drugs. Do you think it can’t happen to your son and your daughter? Wanna bet? Take the time to check and see what they are doing on that laptop you bought for them for school…

 And lastly, Government spending and Welfare are out of control  The Foreign aid alone is outrageous.. Bail outs? You have got to be kidding, The Banks and the Stock Market have very few rules. What rules they have if you can call them that, have been stretched to the limit. A Lawyer will just manipulate the words to fix the problem. No one will take responsibility. No one will make the tough decisions. What I just wrote here just scratches the surface.They just talk, talk, and more talk. Its all about those deals and with who..You just pay and pay. It cannot continue. Lines have to be drawn. It can’t last. Something is going to happen. The United States government is in serious trouble. Something has to give…Do you remember when stories ended with, “And they lived happily ever after”? Well, …… “That will never happen now,

I found this on Facebook, not sure who to credit!

I came across this picture on Facebook and I love it! I do a lot of writing about how bad things are in the developing world, but that’s not the whole story. There are a lot of wonderful things happening in the developing world that all of us here in America would do well to emulate. In many ways our opulence is our greatest enemy. Let’s take a look at what I mean by that.

First, if we’re not careful, our opulence will make us complacement and greedy. Our entire economy revolves around creating an artificial need for more and different stuff. The clothes you wore last fall are outdated and need to be replaced! Your lip gloss color is so last year! Your car is perfectly functional but it’s not fancy and European! You don’t have a smart phone? That’s practically criminal! Run right out and buy something better! If we buy into this nonsense, our whole lives will center on attainment. We will always be grasping for the next new thing and we won’t pause to be thankful for what we already have. Even worse, we’ll fail to give to those who really are in need because we’ll be too busy satisfying our imaginary need.

Second, our opulence provides us with so many gadgets and devices that we risk sacrificing our quality of life to be “plugged in.” Many kids would rather play video games on an iPad than make a fort in the woods. They can’t identify one single species of tree in the forest, but they know how to navigate all 26 levels of their favorite video game. I guess parents are okay with this because a child is “safer” in the living room than in the woods. The younger generation is missing out on a connection with nature that is absolutely essential to becoming compassionate and centered. Observing the interaction of animals, plants, rivers, oceans, forests and people reveals a world that is both incredibly resilient and heartbreakingingly fragile. It is a world at which no one child is the center. While each of our individual actions affects the world, the world does not exist solely for any of us. It exists for all of us, so we had better figure out how to share.

There’s a lot wrong with the Third World, but there’s a lot wrong with the First World too. It’s my wish that when I write or talk about people living in poverty it doesn’t come off as being from a place of superiority. The First World doesn’t have all the answers. We’re all in this together.

Locally Purchased Canadian Food Aid (photo by World Renew)

Sharing food, it’s a simple idea.  I have more than I need and you don’t have enough so I give you some of mine.  That was the thinking of the Mennonite farmers who in 1976 conceived of the idea that became the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which is now celebrating its 30^th anniversary.

But for the Canadian and U.S. governments which started the first food aid programs in the 1950s, the rationale was different.  Both countries were struggling with agricultural surpluses as farming mechanized and fertilizer use increased.  And both countries had foreign policy interests to stop the spread of communism.

Food aid was one of the tools used to deal with both of these issues.  Self interest was sold as ‘feeding the (hungry) world’.

Contrary to popular understanding, our government foreign aid programs have always had elements of both self interest and ‘other’ interest (development).  And the balance between these two has swung back and forth over the years.

In her 2012 award-nominated book, Hunger in the Balance, Waterloo academic Jennifer Clapp has traced the history of this popular form of foreign aid.  She points out that in the 1950s and 1960s, food aid was a major element of foreign aid, particularly in the US.  Under Public Law 480 (PL480) US food aid was used to reward friendly states and withheld from hungry but unfriendly countries.

Canadian food aid was less politicized but, as in the U.S., there was the hope that Canadian food aid, which was mostly wheat, would pave the way for later commercial sales.  When the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was established in 1968, Canadian food aid began to be given a stronger focus on helping others but self interest remained important.

The new 1975 CIDA food aid policy permitted up to 20% of Canadian food aid to be purchased in developing countries but pressure from domestic farm interests pushed this back to 5% by 1980.

During the 1980s, organizations like Oxfam became increasingly critical of food aid.  In particular, they spoke of ‘charity driving production out of business’.

One of the main criticisms was that food aid always seemed to arrive late and often at the time of the local harvest when it was least needed.  And one of the principal causes of late arrival was the time taken to purchase food half a world away and send it by ship to where it was needed.

The obvious answer to getting food there more quickly was to purchase it more locally.  In the late 1990s, Canadian Foodgrains Bank began to pressure the Canadian government to allow more local and regional purchase of Canadian food aid.  Canadian farmers who supported the Foodgrains Bank also voiced their support for this change.

Even with support from some of the Canadian farm organizations, the government resisted the change and self interest persisted.

It took a tsunami to make a difference.  When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami crashed ashore in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, it left tens of thousands of people without food.  However, only kilometers away, local crops were ripening in the sun.  This food was immediately available, less expensive and its purchase helped local farmers.

Under intense media pressure, the domestic support for ‘untying’ at least some of Canadian food aid increased dramatically; within months, 50% of Canadian food aid was untied.  Three years later, in April, 2008, the Conservative Government completely untied Canadian food aid.

Did sound development principles trump Canadian self interest?  Or was it simply that Canadian self interest changed?  It was clearly both, but the desire to use Canadian aid dollars effectively to help people in need played a key role.

The delicate balance of self interest and development interest is once again in question with the demise of CIDA. To maintain balance, and to ensure the effective use of Canadian aid dollars, the needs of the poorest people on the planet must remain a high priority.

Without clear development priorities, we might still be sending Canadian wheat to places where local food is a much better answer.

So… let’s talk:

North Korea:  Kim Jong Un threatens to fire a nuclear missle.  The United States’ first response?  We don’t believe they have the capability.  Now  it’s – we believe a launch could be any day but the United States can destroy their missles.  Well, what a change.

China is getting tired of North Korea and the world is getting tired of China, Russia and India with their cyber-attacks.  Don’t get me wrong — this is what it will come down to when we talk about the big players.   Cyber war.

RUSSIA:  is forming – or has formed – an alliance with Syria and is supplying them with nuclear weapons and other arms.  My thoughts on this?  China is using North Korea as a diversion and Russia will provide the means for a Syrian attack on Israel.  Soon the “great bear” Russia will invade Israel itself, walking over the Middle East. 

AFGHANISTAN and IRAQ:  We’re still there.  Training and funding the anti-Taliban and Al-Queida groups with our money and our weapons.  For what?  For them to use against us?  That’s what it seems is happening most of the time.  The United States hands out money disguised as foreign aid to oil rich countries that don’t need a cent but will take an American life in the blink of an eye.

CYPRUS:  barely made it by the skin of their teeth.  Still in the European Union but also still have their hands deep in their citizens pockets.  Somehow I see a similarity in the future with the United States.

UNITED STATES:  Strained to the limit on all issues including budget, more focused on gun control (and I stress the word control).  Unable to compromise on anything, both parties blame the other – with the Republicans probably still scratching their heads on how they lost the last election.  Voter fraud in Ohio.  How many other states?

Former Governor Jeb Bush looking for a run at the Presidency?  That’s all we need.  Another Bush in office.  Wasn’t two enough?  “A bird in the hand is better than two in the Bush.”  Well, one Bush in the White House was enough. Unfortunately we had two.

Illegal immigration is what it is.  Illegal.  Let’s not beat around the Bush on that one.  (Pun intended.)  However with the upcoming cuts, the White House et al is using it’s scare tactics on reduction of personnel that security will be less.  So why tell the world?  To blame it on the Republicans?

Then we have just plain stupidity.  That’s what irritates me the most about Washington, DC.  The absolute stupidity and the insulting thought that “if we (in Washington, DC) tell the general public what they want to hear, everything will be ok and they’ll go away.”  Let’s raise taxes instead of cutting spending (give them something else to think about), scare them about health care cuts, etc.  That’s the best this administration can do and it seems that all departments are desperate enough to go along with this hair brained idea.

Never before have I seen such a “do nothing” President and a media – with exception of a brave few – that will say “yes sir, I’ll print that story.  How much higher do you want us to jump?”

A “Good News” news channel.  (No, not the Christian Broadcasting Network.)  Unfortunately it’ll never happen.  Why?  Because good news doesn’t sell.

This article appeared in The Stabroek News.

During his visit here in March Haitian President and sitting Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Chairman Michel Martelly provided confirmation of what we already knew …that more than three years after a devastating earthquake that claimed thousands of lives and wreaked monumental physical damage, the country still faces a long and arduous journey on the road to recovery.  It is likely that Mr. Martelly’s entire presidential term will be spent seeking material around the world for his country’s rebuilding process.

During his stay in Georgetown the Haitian President made an appeal for local and regional private sector investment in his country, pointing out that this was one way in which the CARICOM countries could support his country’s rebuilding effort. What Haiti needs, Martelly was quoted by the Government Information Agency (GINA) as saying, are “investments that can bring jobs to Haitians. Instead of having Haitians come here looking for jobs, why don’t entrepreneurs from here go to Haiti and create these jobs and both countries can benefit?”

Not surprisingly, there has been no real response from the private sector here in Guyana to the Haitian President’s call for investment. While, conceivably, there might be niches in the construction and some service sectors, local businesses are unlikely to be queuing up to invest in Haiti. Their apprehension would have to do, chiefly, with a lack of any real familiarity with the Haitian business culture.

In November 2011 the Inter-American Development Bank hosted a major investment seminar in Port-au-Prince where the Caribbean was represented. There has been no feedback from which the extent of CARICOM interest in investing in Haiti can be reliably gauged. That same year regional private sector umbrella bodies and business entities met separately to discuss possible roles that CARICOM countries could make in helping to rebuild Haiti. At that time it was envisaged that entities in the construction, agriculture, agro-business and food distribution sectors, among others, might secure contracts funded by bilateral and multilateral donor sources that would enable them not only to support the restoration effort in Haiti but also to consolidate their own portfolios by being able to work alongside major international firms operating in Haiti.

Not a great deal has been heard subsequently about what at the time was being touted as a coordinated effort by CARICOM countries to throw themselves into the Haiti rebuilding effort. One might have expected that there would have been a robust region-wide effort – possibly coordinated by the CARICOM Secretariat to mount an initiative aimed at ensuring a strong regional contingent as part of the private sector firms from various parts of the world that would have found their way to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake.

The other circumstance that appeared to militate against the likelihood of CARICOM private sector entities making any significant imprint on the rebuilding effort was the  bureaucratic complexities associated with securing contracts for jobs in Haiti, given what we are told are the procedures and protocols associated with being able to work on projects funded by bilateral aid to Haiti.

In the wake of President Martelly’s visit here the Washington-based think tank Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) has published a report that paints a picture of troubling anomalies in the disbursement of US funds for the restoration of Haiti. CEPR’s primary focus appears to be on alleged inefficiencies associated with audits and evaluations. According to the report of the US$1.5 billion in US contracts awarded so far more than 50 per cent of these went to “the top 10 recipients of global USAID awards.”

CPER also makes the point that contrary to the expectations of the Haitian government and people Haitian contractors have benefitted from just over US$28 million in contracts while foreign contractors who have received the lion’s share of the contracts have hired far fewer Haitians than promised. More than that the report asserts that goals associated with the execution of projects have gone unmet, grantees have received inadequate supervision, and USAID had not conducted internal financial reviews of contractors. It names the giant American company  Chemonics International as being the major beneficiary of US rebuilding contracts in Haiti.

What, according to the CEPR report is also missing from those rebuilding projects in Haiti financed by the US is the practice that has now become commonplace in aid-related situations of increasing local procurement and working closely with host countries. Apparently, foreign contractors are also the beneficiaries of most of the procurement associated with projects even in cases where local contractors can meet the requirements.

Beyond the physical damage, the February 2010 earthquake has caused Haiti to slip even deeper into a quagmire of dependency associated with the need to reach out to countries and organizations in order to bring an end to the misery of the people there in the shortest possible time. Three years on the rebuilding process grinds on, ponderously, impeded by myriad hurdles and hindrances that render the Martelly administration powerless to do much more than watch the process unfold.

For the original report go to http://www.stabroeknews.com/2013/opinion/editorial/04/09/rebuilding-haiti-the-dependency-the-hurdles-and-the-pitfalls/

Click for the official Web site.

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 ..by Anura Guruge

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Extract from a Press Release from Dartmouth Hopkins Center announcing withdrawal of Band. Click here to access the Hopkins Website with the Press Release. ‘Marsit’, referred to at the start is the Director of the ‘DCWE’ — Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble.

If you haven’t heard about this click here to watch the CNN video and read their report.

I actually talked to the Hopkins Center’s extremely motivated and energetic Publicity Coordinator/Writer, Rebecca Bailey, about this yesterday. Appears that you can’t even get the band to perform further than 100 miles from West Point even if you offered to pay ‘all’ the costs — since the Pentagon insists that there are still ‘hidden’ costs that are being incurred.

This is a shame.

This, ‘stick to the public, to make them squeal’ stuff with the sequestration, does not sit well with me. This is D.C. playing games with us. Yes, I am totally in favor of them cutting expenditure and increasing revenues. But, this petty sequestration stuff is pathetic and is just trying to get a raise out of the public — when the only thing they should trying to raise is taxes.

The Band can’t make it to Dartmouth but how much foreign aid are they giving to Israel and Egypt this year? Yes, MY PRESIDENT should stop using the gas guzzling ‘Air Force 1′ as if it was a golf cart. Scale back on his trips or use a more cost effective plane. If you look at some of the cuts, in addition to the White House tours, Military Bands and the Blue Angels, they are all to do with the elderly, the poor and kids. This is crazy. There are 30,000 troops in the DMZ in Korea. In my estimation it would take about 20 minutes to achieve a successful and permanent regime change in North Korea. Rather than spending all this money they should just eliminate the North Korean ‘problem’ and just have a united Korea. That would save billions.

Yes, this stuff makes me livid. I hold MY PRESIDENT responsible for some of this. He loves to play his little games too. I guess we now have to wait for Hillary. 

Click to access DARTMOUTH COLLEGE WIND ENSEMBLE Saturday, May 4, 2013 performance details.

The good news is that the Dartmouth College Wind Ensemble is proceedings with their concert despite the let down. It should, as with everything Hopkins’ related, be another great concert. We won’t be able to make it, but I am sure it will be a blast.

The “sequester” went into effect 1 March, and we are now beginning to see the full effects. Will this be the economic disaster that some predicted or just another “mini-economic crisis” that results from our fractious political climate? The nation also took time to ponder the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and what lessons we might glean from one of the longest wars in American history. We are now confronted by what may well be the first “nuclear” crisis of the 21st century as tensions mount on the Korean peninsula.

Domestic security issues and observations

a. Effect of Sequester. The “sequester” commenced on 1 March with serious cuts in the defense budget for the current fiscal year. General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff pulled no punches during testimony before Congress. “The uncomfortable truth is that we’re halfway through the fiscal year, and we’ll be 80 percent spent in our operating funds. We don’t yet have a satisfactory solution to that shortfall, and we’re doing everything we can to stretch our readiness out.” Dempsey further pointed out that the new numbers show DOD must find $41 billion to cut in the remainder of fiscal 2013, which is better than the previous $47 billion estimate, but that the Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) account is running $7 billion over budget. Later in his testimony Dempsey related a message from the Marines he visited at Parris Island. “Dysfunction back here is a distraction to them. Nearly every question I fielded in my town hall meeting with military members and their families was about the protracted budget uncertainty. And that’s a shame.”

Still the question remains has the military “oversold” the impact of sequestration on the force and readiness? Furthermore, it is unclear at this point whether this is a onetime budgetary reduction that is the result of political paralysis and a dysfunctional Congress or the onset of a new reality. Bloomberg’s Tony Capaccio posed the following question to General Dempsey during a recent interview: “Are we entering a period of readiness crisis? Or is it more a period of adjustment, where you have to live within your means, basically?” Straight answer, from Dempsey: “The answer is yes, actually. It’s both.” Dempsey said to ask again in two weeks if there’s enough in the budget to avoid a full-blown readiness crisis. “We’re in the midst of trying to figure that out.”

b. Capture of bin Laden’s son-in-law. Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, a senior al-Qaeda leader and Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law was captured in Jordan. He had been expelled from Turkey and was enroute to Iran. Abu Ghaith is a former mosque preacher and religious teacher. He had served as a senior spokesman for al-Qaeda and justified their attacks on September 11th 2001. He argued that Muslims had the right to kill four million Americans. He is believed to have been part of the al-Qaeda senior inner circle that included bin Laden and current leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.

He was arraigned in Federal court in New York on charges of conspiracy to kill Americans. Many Republicans criticized the administration for allowing Abu Ghaith to appear in a Federal court. They argued that he should be transported to Guantanamo to face a military commission. The Obama administration has long argued that terrorists such as Abu Ghaith have appeared before Federal courts and been successfully prosecuted. In fact there have been 67 convictions in Federal court and only seven by military commissions.

c. Tenth anniversary of invasion of Iraq. March 19th marked the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, and there were numerous discussion, conferences, and television broadcasts to mark this date. All of them reflected on the nature of the war and what the United States achieved or failed to achieve during the conflict. The cost of the war seem terribly clear. Overall the United States suffered 4,482 killed in action and 32,221 wounded. 110 female soldiers were killed in action and 235 service members committed suicide while deployed. The number of severely wounded is nearly the same as the number killed in action. Over one million Americans served in Iraq, and many served multiple tours. The total budgetary costs are roughly one trillion dollars with many millions more to be spent caring for injured veterans.

But the costs of this war must also consider Iraq. At the time of the war the population of Iraq was roughly 26 million inhabitants. According to the Brookings Institution Iraq Index 115,376 Iraqis were killed between 2003 and 2007 as sectarian violence intensified. The number wounded is unknown but is very likely to be 500-750,000. The number of displaced Iraqi civilians rose from 400,000 in 2003 to 2.7 million by 2010. Iraq remains a violent place with fifty civilians being killed in a series of attacks on the anniversary.

The US military can take some solace in its ability during the war to adapt albeit more slowly than many experts would have preferred. In reality, the US military fought several “wars” with differing actors during its time in Iraq.

The invasion in 2003 resulted in a short conventional war which ended with the defeat of the Iraqi Army and the occupation of the capital. From 2004 to 2006 the US military witnessed the growth of both a Sunni insurgency and terrorism as al-Qaeda forces entered the country. Clearly, the decision to disband the Iraqi Army coupled with the fact that coalition forces were insufficient to both dampen down the insurgency and secure the borders are harsh lessons that must not be forgotten. In 2006 the destruction of Golden Mosque sparked the dramatic growth of Shiite militia and a near civil war. The decision in 2007 to “surge” American forces coupled with a new counter-insurgency strategy brought a measure of calm to the country that allowed the US to transition its forces home. It is possible to argue that the strategy for force employment was as important as the additional forces. This coupled with the surge of forces also had a dramatic effect upon the Sunni population who in essence changed sides. The “Awakening” by the Sunni tribes particularly in Anbar province, and their decision to work with the US and Iraqi government to defeat al-Qaeda was definitely a turning point in the struggle.

Still President Bush argued in his speech announcing the surge that it was to provide the Iraqis “breathing space” in order to solve difficult political issues. These were critical to not only short term stability but the long term unity of the country. Sadly, most if not all of these issues remain and, consequently, we have witnessed an increase in violence in Iraq since the American departure at the end of 2011. Whether or not democratic forces and processes can overcome the sectarian disputes remains unknown on this tenth anniversary.

International security issues and observations

a. Sanctions on North Korea and growing tensions. March 2013 may go down in Korean-American history as a month of paradoxes. Former NBA star Dennis Rodman visited North Korea and watched a basketball game with Kim Jong-un. He subsequently attended a party at Kim’s palace and described him as “my friend”. While Rodman was enjoying his North Korean “vacation” the United Nations issued a report claiming that a quarter of North Korean children are stunted from malnutrition, while two-thirds of the North Korean population have no idea where their next meal is coming from.

At the same time, tensions continued to rise on the peninsula following North Korea’s successful nuclear test in February and the imposition of additional economic sanctions by the United Nations Security Council. The United States and South Korea also began a series of military exercises that had been planned for many months. These included a flyover of the peninsula by B52 bombers and a practice bombing run by B2 bombers that were launched from bases in the continental United States. Clearly, these exercises were designed to send a “deterrent” message to North Korea as well as a “reassurance” message to both South Korea and Japan. Deputy Secretary of Defense Ash Carter visited South Korea and reiterated American support for the ROK. This was followed by a much publicized phone call between Secretary of Defense Hagel and South Korean Defense Minister Kim during which Mr. Hagel also underscored American support for Seoul.

Kim Jong-un has responded to the new sanctions and military exercises with several provocative steps and raised the level of rhetoric to a new high. North Korea announced that it would nullify all non-aggression agreements with the South. Pyongyang further declared that the 1953 armistice agreement was suspended and cancelled the “hot line” between the two capitals. By the end of the month North Korea further announced that it was placing its missile forces on a high state of readiness and would strike American targets not only in Hawaii, Guam, and Okinawa but also the continental United States. There have been reports of massive demonstrations in support of Kim Jong-un in North Korea as well as the evacuation of at least some of its citizens into emergency tunnels with provisions. There were also cyberattacks against South Korea. The computer networks in three South Korean banks and two large broadcasting companies were attacked, and most experts believe these attacks emanated from North Korea.

In response, the Obama administration announced that it will spend $1 billion to deploy ballistic missile interceptors to the Pacific Coast over the next several years in response to North Koreas bombastic threats. While this will do very little in the near term it does suggest that the Pentagon does not believe North Korea currently has the capability to strike the United States with missiles but intends to acquire that capability in future. The Pentagon also announced that it would elevate the U.S. Army Pacific (USARPAC) commander from a three-star job to a four-star position in part due to the increased tension on the Korean peninsula. According to a former USARPAC commander, it was the Pentagon’s belief that war on the Korean Peninsula has become increasingly likely which led to the decision that a four-star commander should be placed in command. LTG Vince Brooks will be the first Army officer to assume this position as a four star.

It is important to also examine this crisis from the perspective of South Korea. Newly elected South Korean President Park urged North Korea to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons and reduce tensions. Still during March South Korea also marked the third anniversary of the sinking of the naval ship Cheonan. This resulted in the death of 46 South Korean sailors. While North Korea has never claimed responsibility for the attack, an investigation conducted in the aftermath of the sinking concluded that it resulted from a submarine attack by the North. This was followed by an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong island by North Korea in November 2010. In both cases, South Korea placed its forces on a higher state of readiness but did not respond militarily. The new government has made it clear that any such attack will now result in a military response.

Both China and Russia have shown concern as the situation has continued to deteriorate. The Chinese government has, however, reiterated its support for Pyongyang and stated that it will not abandon North Korea. Both Beijing and Moscow have pressed for dialogue and not sanctions.

b. Syria. The situation in Syria has continued to deteriorate, and there is increasing pressure on the Obama administration to provide assistance to the rebels. The number of refugees caused by the civil war has now exceeded one million which is placing increasing pressure on stability in Lebanon and Jordan in particular. The humanitarian crisis in the region is rapidly becoming a major international disaster. In addition, Israel and Syria exchanged gunfire in the vicinity of the Golan Heights in the latest border skirmish between the two nations.

Iran has also become a more important actor in this ongoing struggle. During the month, Iran’s Foreign Minister criticized the United States over the decision to aid rebels fighting against the Assad government in Syria. Iranian leaders have long argued that this assistance will only prolong the conflict. Israeli leaders have argued that the Iranian government is fielding 50,000 troops in Syria in an effort to help Assad’s regime maintain power. At the end of the month, Secretary of State Kerry made a surprise visit to Baghdad. His discussions were reported to be focused on convincing the Iraqi government to stop Iran from transporting weapons to Syria through Iraqi airspace. It is widely believed that the Iraqis refused.

It was also reported that chemical weapons were fired on rebels near Aleppo. The Assad regime countered that it was the rebels who had used chemical weapons. UN Secretary General Bain-ki-moon announced that the United Nations would launch a full investigation. President Obama and other American leaders have long expressed the view that the use of chemical weapons by either side is unacceptable and constituted a “red line” for the United States. In the days following the alleged attack, American officials stated that there was a “high probability” that chemical weapons were used and caused at least twenty-five deaths and injured 80 civilians. Britain also announced a plan to send hundreds of chemical weapons detection kits to Syria.

Still it is unclear at this writing whether or not chemical weapons were used and, if so, what type of chemicals were employed? The films that were distributed in the aftermath of the attack did not show casualties with the normal symptoms resulting from mustard or nerve gas. It is possible that chlorine gas was employed which dissipates rapidly and would be difficult to verify.

Many have feared that Syrian rebel groups might get access to the Assad regime’s chemical weapons. It was reported in the Long War Journal in December 2012, that Syrian rebel groups may have obtained access to the Assad regime’s chemical weapons. In December 2012, the Al Nusrah Front had seized control of the Sheikh Auleiman base in Aleppo as well as a chlorine factory near the city. The Sheikh Suleiman base was believed to have been a key node in the Syrian military’s chemical weapons program. Al Qaeda elements in Iraq had also attempted on a few occasions to use chlorine gas containers against allied forces and civilians in Anbar Province.

The Syrian rebels may have made gains on the battlefield but their political prospects have been mixed. The Arab League announced that Syria’s seat would now be given to the opposition. At the same time Mouaz al-Khatib, the President of the Syrian National Coalition, resigned and its military leaders refused to recognize the Prime Minister who was elected to lead an interim rebel government.

c. Egypt. The security situation in Egypt has continued to worsen despite the fact that it does not receive much media coverage here in the United States. Violence increased in Port Said during the month, and security for the city was eventually turned over to the Army to “alleviate tension.” Protests in the city are due to the courts sentencing twenty-one people to death for stadium riots in 2011 that killed seventy-four. In the aftermath of this decision, the Egyptian Football Federation headquarters in Cairo was burned. Protesters believe the trial was unjust and accuse the police of bias in favor of Al-Ahly, Egypt’s best soccer club because they support the Muslim Brotherhood.

Egyptian elections scheduled for April 22nd were postponed due to a court ruling that the law governing elections should be referred to the Supreme Constitutional Court. The United States announced $250 million in aid to Egypt for economic reforms, while the World Economic Forum released a report on international travel industry ranking Egypt the least safe and secure of 140 destinations. The Egyptian government also announced a plan to start rationing subsidized bread.

The real challenge for Egypt may be economic. There are increasing reports of fuel shortages, electricity blackouts, rising food prices, etc. The government must soon carry out a package of tax increases and subsidy cuts that are tied to securing a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund. Failure to do so could result in cascading economic problems including food shortages which will only fuel ongoing political turmoil.

d. Iran. Tensions continue between the United States and Iran throughout the month. American and Yemeni officials seized ten Chinese heat-seeking missiles in an Iranian arms shipment off the coast of Yemen. Over the Persian Gulf, an Iranian jet followed an American surveillance drone until contacted by an American fighter escort that warned them off.

U.N. investigator Ahmed Shaheed reported massive human rights abuses in Iran, from the torture of civilians to the detainment of journalists. Iran’s Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has also moved to block a common type of software used by millions of Iranians to skirt government Internet censorship. This is the latest attempt by Iranian political leaders to reassert national control over the Internet. All these actions are in preparation for the elections in June. The Iranian government has largely denied these reports and claimed that they are propaganda from the West.

During his visit to Israel President Obama reported during an interview on Israeli television that he believes it will take over a year for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and that the United States is doing everything it can to prevent that.

e. Hagel visits Afghanistan and other developments. The Taliban launched suicide attacks outside the Defense Ministry in Kabul and in Khost province as US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited the capital on his first trip to Afghanistan. The suicide attack in Kabul was executed by a Taliban bomber who detonated his vest at the main gate at the Defense Ministry. Two security personnel and seven civilians were killed in the attack, which also injured two Afghan soldiers and 11 more civilians.

The Taliban claimed credit for the attack in a statement released on their Website, Voice of Jihad. The Taliban claimed that “15 puppet officers,” a reference to Afghan security personnel, were killed, and nine vehicles were “destroyed as martyr attack hits defense ministry.” The Taliban routinely exaggerate casualties and the results of their operations. Despite Coalition and Afghan efforts to seal off the Afghan capital, the Taliban have been able to infiltrate Kabul and conduct suicide attacks and assaults. The Taliban have launched two suicide attacks on the National Directorate of Security’s headquarters in Kabul since December, and badly wounded NDS chief Asadullah Khalid in a suicide attack as he was welcoming visitors in a guesthouse.

In Khost, a suicide bomber killed eight children and a security official in an attack in the Mangas area of the eastern province. The suicide bomber detonated his vest as an Afghan and Coalition convoy passed by the area. The Taliban have not claimed credit for the attack, but the Haqqani Network, a powerful Taliban subgroup, operates in Khost province.

These high-profile attacks in Kabul and Khost follow another that took place in Kapisa province. Three Afghan soldiers turned their weapons on Coalition personnel at a base in the province, killing a civilian contractor and wounding three US soldiers. The three Afghan soldiers were killed during the attack. The attacks also occurred as Hagel was in Afghanistan to meet Coalition and Afghan officials to discuss the withdrawal of NATO and US forces and the transfer of security to the Afghan National Security Forces. NATO officials see the these attacks as part of the Taliban’s coming campaign for the spring fighting season, and there have been a number of attacks on the border with Pakistan.

President Karsai had also accused American special operations forces of ordering their Afghan counterparts to abuse Afghan detainees in Wardak Province and ordered the removal of all such forces from the province. After several weeks of negotiation between American and Afghan leaders the US removed special operations forces from one district in Wardak. U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) finally relinquished full control of the U.S. Detention Facility in Parwan (DFIP). It was formerly known as the Bagram prison to the government of Afghanistan. The facility’s new name is Afghan National Detention Facility at Parwan (ANDF-P). Both of these events are indicative of the ongoing transition to Afghan forces and the continued efforts by President Karsai to assert his position as well as Afghan sovereignty.

Other media security issues and observations
The following are a brief summary of the major national security issues that the media focused on during the month.

a. Death of Hugo Chavez. President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela succumbed to cancer and died during the past month. Chavez had long been a nemesis to the United States and a strong supporter of the Castro regime in Cuba. His vice president has been designated as his party’s candidate for the upcoming election campaign and is widely expected to be successful. Efforts to embalm Chavez’s body and place it on display like Lenin in Red Square failed, and he has subsequently been buried.

b. Marine training accident. Seven Marines were killed and 8 wounded when a 60mm mortar exploded in an “in bore” detonation. An investigation is ongoing as the 60mm is widely used by both the Army and Marine Corps. A temporary moratorium was placed on the use of the 60mm as well as the lot of high explosive and illumination ammunition that were being used.

Final observations
As we look ahead I would make the following final comments.

a. Crisis in North Korea. As suggested, tensions on the Korean peninsula are as severe as perhaps any time since the so-called “ax attack” in 1976 that resulted in the death of at least one American officer. Most officials seem to believe that Kim Jong-un is largely using this as an opportunity to enhance his position domestically and expect things to cool down following the completion of the ongoing American-ROK military exercises. Still very little is known about the young North Korean leader. As one expert remarked, “we know far more about black holes in the galaxy than what goes on in North Korea!”

b. The impact of the sequester. The full effects of the sequester are yet to be fully felt. Initially, the Obama administration had announced the sequester would result in DOD employees being forced to take a 22 day furlough between May and the end of September. In the aftermath of the passage of the Continuing Resolution that now appears to be reduced to 14 days.

————————————————–
Jeffrey McCausland is the founder and CEO of Diamond6 Leadership and Strategy, LLC (http://diamondsixleadership.com/).

McCausland is a retired Colonel from the U.S. Army and completed his active duty service in the United States Army in 2002 culminating his career as dean of academics, United States Army War College. Upon retirement McCausland accepted the Class of 1961 chair of leadership at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland and served there from January 2002 to July 2004. He continues to hold a position as a senior fellow at the Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership at the Naval Academy.

“Cypress, Texas, Just before noon (CDT) Lone Star College alerted the campus to “two armed suspects” on campus.  Several people were seen being loaded on to medical evacuation helicopters. One suspect has been capture the other is still at large.

Lone Star College was the scene of a campus shooting earlier this year. Now 14 people have been injured some seriously, possibly with life threatening injuries by two suspects with knives.  Where does the craziness end; first we try to stop it with more gun control using several unfortunate tragedies to pull at the heart-strings of politicians to do something, anything to end the violence with guns. These people who were stabbed today are older though still most likely students and teachers.  If any of them die is there going to be a call to ban knives too.

Knives don’t kill, guns don’t kill, explosive don’t kill, pick your weapon of choice and none can kill without a person doing something to cause them to kill.  No weapon, no explosive, no car, truck or bus can kill unless a person is in control of that object and does something to cause it to kill.  The sooner we all realize this and accept this the sooner we can take real action against violence.

Banning weapons cannot and will not end the violence.  Someone bent on mayhem will find away.  What has to be done is to spend the time and the money to fix what is wrong that is causing the violence. We spend billions of dollars in foreign aid each year to feed people in other countries though we begrudge the hungry in our own country.  We spend more millions helping these same people to set up factories and then export our jobs to them.

There is an old adage that charity begins at home.  It is about time that we stop helping others before we have helped ourselves. We cannot depend on the charity of large corporations to feed and provide jobs for the poor. We cannot expect the disadvantage to quietly sit by and accept table scraps, live in rundown dangerous neighborhoods, some where even the police fear to go, while they watch others eat well and live in good housing and have what life should offer.  What this country is supposed to offer to us all.

Yes there a few, a very few that think they should be handed everything.  Those people I do not support.  I do support those who just want a helping hand to lift them out of poverty and give them the chance that the vast majority of us have.  We have to want to and stop doing things to placate the vocal minority who are well-financed and can buy the legislation they want. We all know well-financed groups get the legislation they want through campaign financing. It is just that simple. Politicians need to learn to say thank you but I need to do what is right for everyone not just for those who have money.  I know I’m being idealistic now, though wouldn’t it be nice if things were this way. No class system the way the founding father saw things.

With its high altitude and cool, wet climate, Tanzania’s northwestern Kagera region seems ready-made for growing kahawa, better known by its English name, coffee. Indeed, European entrepreneurs thought the very same when they introduced the plant to the area in the 1950s.

For years, farmers made a decent living off coffee exports but then prices plummeted worldwide in the 1980s and many farmers abandoned coffee and started planting other crops including bananas, corn, cotton, cassava, beans and tea.

But with a new generation of coffee lovers proliferating throughout the Muslim world as well as in India, Japan and China, kahawa is a hot commodity again. Problem is, the region’s plants were overgrown and coffee-growing knowledge and expertise had dwindled to nothing.

Enter Zaverio Kirimi M’Imwere, a tall, middle-aged Kenyan and father of five who was raised in a large, poor but loving family in the hills east of Mount Kenya. He didn’t own a pair of pants or shoes until he was a teenager, but he was a smart and dedicated student.

With degrees in agriculture and agricultural economics, M’Imwere spent nearly 20 years with the Kenyan Tea Development Authority before running for Kenya’s national assembly in 2008.

A growing concern

He didn’t win so he tried his hand at consulting. It was around then his wife asked him what he was doing to fulfill his charitable obligations. Very little, he realized, so he decided to volunteer as an agri-business market linkage advisor in Tanzania. Cuso International is a strategic partner with VSO, and the two organizations share programming in many countries in Africa and Asia. Volunteers are recruited from both developed and developing countries.

By January 2009, M’Imwere was in Tanzania, helping coffee growers revive their skills and ramp up production. Agriculture is in his blood: Kirimi means “farmer” in his native tongue, Kimeru.

People drink less alcohol and more coffee now, M’Imwere says, driving up worldwide demand. “We can see that, over the next 20 years, this demand will not go down,” he says. “My job is to organize farmers so they can market coffee themselves in an effective manner.”

Partnering with the Kolping Society of Tanzania, part of Kolping International – a Catholic lay organization committed to improving social and economic conditions for rural peoples – M’Imwere is helping to manage the society’s KOLCAFÉ project which was started by Canadian Cuso International volunteer Jamie Kyles.

KOLCAFÉ is a coffee co-operative spread over five villages in the Bukoba and Muleba districts of Tanzania which lie just west of Lake Victoria and south of the Uganda border. Roughly 1,300 farmers, belonging to 286 households, are participating in this project.

The goal is to improve agricultural practices, increase the yield through the use of organic compost and pruning, hull and grade the beans and then sell them at the international auction. But none of this is simple.

Farmers helping farmers

Farmers in Canada who want to learn how to grow potatoes, say, need only consult a library or the Internet for information. But there are precious few libraries in Tanzania and most families have no electricity let alone computers. Education needs to happen on the ground, with peer-to-peer demonstrations.

M’Imwere takes us out to some of his demonstration farms to show us how it works. We jump into his 4X4 SUV and head south along the shores of Lake Victoria and into rolling green hills covered in banana palms and maize.

“If there’s anything I enjoy, it’s being out with the farmers,” he says. “You hear their problems, you can give suggestions. They don’t always take your suggestions. Maybe you get mad a little bit. You call a meeting. All my life, I have enjoyed working with farmers.”

Our first stop is the farm of Albertina and Gerardi Myaka who have about 300 coffee plants now and support a family of six children including an orphan boy named Kevin whom they found wandering in the woods behind their house when he was about five years old.

Albertina, along with Archardi Mushema and Richardi Simoni, KOLCAFÉ’s chairman and secretary respectively, lead us through the plantation. It’s humid and about 28 degrees Celsius in November. Branches bend low, heavy with green coffee beans which will ripen to crimson in December.

Albertina explains in Kiswahili that thanks to KOLCAFÉ, she has learned to use mboji – an organic fertilizer made from manure and compost – to cover the ground with straw for moisture retention and to cut the coffee plants back to increase the yield. Getting farmers to prune their plants remains one of the biggest challenges, M’Imwere says, because it doesn’t make initial sense to them.

He shows us the difference between a pruned plant with three or four main stalks, and one that has been left to grow at will. The former is bushy, contains more beans and the beans are larger which means they earn a better price. The latter has numerous long, spindly branches with fewer, smaller beans.

“A coffee plant is like a family. If you have 15 children, they will always be hungry. If you have five or six, they will be well nourished,” M’Imwere says. “Visual aids are a very strong tool. We think we are more than tripling our yields.”

Mushema explains that growing coffee is an exercise in delayed gratification because it takes three years of dedicated attention to nurture and prune seedlings until they are strong enough to start producing a healthy crop. That’s a lot to ask a poor farmer in Tanzania so they usually have to plant bananas, maize and other crops to earn a living while the coffee plants mature.

“Now, with prices going up, we have better profits and income builds houses, feeds children,” he says in Kiswahili. “We can buy other things, a cow, a goat, medicine. It’s the only crop that gives us a steady income.”

It’s not always a grind

M’Imwere says it’s frustrating sometimes when farmers decide to sell their beans individually to middlemen buyers for instant, albeit less, cash. He tries to convince the farmers that they are stronger, independent and self-sustaining as a unit going to auction but he knows what an empty stomach can do.

“What we find is that, although the farmers have a lot of interest, most of them think they will be given money to do things on their own. When poverty strikes, people need money. So they get discouraged. We tell them to have hope, and to wait, that they will make more money in the end,” M’Imwere says.

This and other demonstration farms have been chosen because they are near main roads and can be easily accessed by interested farmers. Coffee-growing workshops are held on farms like this and then KOLCAFÉ mentors visit individual farmers to follow up, answer questions and help make manure.

We visit two more farms before heading to KOLCAFÉ’s hulling and grading facility near a village market. He shows us the corrugated aluminum building held up by eucalyptus wood beams that will house a massive hopper for removing bean husks. Cleaned beans will then pass through a chute to the next room where they will be sized and bagged.

It’s been a long day under the hot equatorial sun so we head back to Bukoba, a city of about 100,000 and the area’s main urban hub. M’Imwere is wrapping up a three-year placement and is due to return to Kenya in January 2012. He’s hoping his replacement will continue adding value to KOLCAFÉ by helping the farmers become organic and fair-trade certified and to find overseas partners to sell and showcase the brand.

“They don’t need me anymore,” he says, satisfied. “I can now rest and the work will continue.”

Written by Lisa Gregoire

Photos by Scott Portingale

**

En haute altitude, dans un climat frais et humide, la région de Kagera, au nord-ouest de la Tanzanie est l’endroit rêvé pour cultiver le « kahawa », mieux connu sous son nom anglais, le café. C’est ce que pensaient les entrepreneurs européens lorsqu’ils ont implanté le caféier dans la région, dans les années 1950.

Durant des années, les agriculteurs ont bénéficié d’un revenu décent grâce à l’exportation du café, puis les prix ont dégringolé à l’échelle mondiale dans les années 1980 et de nombreux agriculteurs ont délaissé le café pour s’intéresser à d’autres cultures comme celles des bananes, du maïs, du coton, du manioc, des fèves et du thé.

Une nouvelle génération d’amateurs de café dans le monde musulman, de même qu’en Inde, au Japon et en Chine ont remis le kahawa au goût du jour. Le problème c’est que les plants de la région étaient à l’abandon et que peu de gens désormais avaient les connaissances et l’expertise nécessaires pour cultiver le café.

Puis arriva Zaverio Kirimi M’Imwere, un Kényan de grande taille, d’âge moyen, père de cinq enfants, élevé dans une grande famille démunie mais aimante, dans les montagnes à l’est du Mont Kenya. Il a eu sa première paire de pantalons et ses premières chaussures à l’adolescence, mais c’était un élève intelligent et studieux.

Grâce àses grades universitaires en agriculture et en économie agricole, M’Imwere a travaillé durant près de 20 ans pour l’Agence de développement du thé au Kenya avant de se porter candidat à une élection de l’Assemblée nationale du Kenya en 2008.

Une préoccupation grandissante

Il n’a pas été élu; il a donc fait ses débuts comme consultant. C’est à peu près à cette période que son épouse lui a demandé ce qu’il faisait pour remplir ses obligations envers les plus démunis. Très peu, a-t-il été obligé d’admettre; il a donc décidé de se porter volontaire auprès de la Fédération internationale VSO en tant que conseiller du secteur de l’agroentreprise. VSO est un partenaire stratégique de Cuso International et les deux organismes administrent des programmes partagés dans de nombreux pays d’Afrique et d’Asie.

En janvier 2009, M’Imwere était rendu en Tanzanie, aidant les cultivateurs de café à retrouver leurs compétences et à accélérer la production. Il a l’agriculture dans le sang : « kirimi » signifie « agriculteur » dans sa langue maternelle, le kimerou.

Aujourd’hui les gens consomment moins d’alcool et plus de café, dit M’Imwere, ce qui provoque une augmentation de la demande dans le monde entier. « Nous savons déjà qu’au cours des 20 prochaines années, cette demande ne diminuera pas. Mon travail consiste à rassembler les agriculteurs pour qu’ils puissent eux-mêmes commercialiser le café de façon efficace. »

En partenariat avec la Société Kolping de Tanzanie, membre de Kolping International – une organisation ouvrière catholique qui s’est donné pour mandat d’améliorer les conditions socio-économiques des populations rurales – M’Imwere participe à la gestion du projet KOLCAFÉ de la société qui a été mise de l’avant par le volontaire canadien de Cuso International, Jamie Kyles.

KOLCAFÉ est une coopérative de producteurs de café implantée dans cinq villages des districts tanzaniens de Bukoba et de Muleba situés à l’ouest du Lac Victoria et au sud de la frontière de l’Ouganda. Environ 1 300 agriculteurs, membres de 286 familles, participent à ce projet.

On veut améliorer les pratiques agricoles, augmenter la production à l’aide du compostage des matières organiques et de l’émondage, décortiquer et classer les grains de café, puis les vendre aux enchères internationales. Mais tout cela n’est pas simple.

Les agriculteurs s’entraident

Les agriculteurs canadiens qui veulent apprendre comment cultiver la pomme de terre, par exemple, n’ont qu’à se procurer l’information à la bibliothèque ou sur Internet. Mais les bibliothèques sont rares en Tanzanie et la plupart des familles n’ont pas d’électricité pour alimenter les ordinateurs. On s’instruit sur le terrain, avec l’aide de ses voisins.

M’Imwere nous fait visiter certaines des fermes de démonstration pour nous montrer comment tout cela fonctionne. Nous montons à bord de son VUS 4X4 en direction sud, sur les rives du Lac Victoria, dans des sentiers montagneux verdoyants couverts de palmiers de bananes et de maïs.

« C’est ce que je préfère, être à l’extérieur avec les agriculteurs », dit-il. Ils vous confient leurs problèmes, vous pouvez leur suggérer des solutions. Ils ne les acceptent pas toujours. Il arrive que cela vous vexe un peu. Vous demandez qu’on organise une réunion. Toute ma vie, j’ai aimé travailler avec les agriculteurs, et c’est toujours le cas. »

Nous nous arrêtons d’abord dans la ferme d’Albertina et Geraldi Myaka qui ont environ 300 plants de café maintenant et élèvent six enfants, dont un orphelin appelé Kevin qu’ils ont trouvé dans la forêt derrière leur maison; il était âgé d’environ cinq ans.

Albertina, et Archardi Mushema et Richardi Simoni, respectivement président et secrétaire de KOLCAFÉ, nous font visiter la plantation. La température est humide, il fait environ 28 degrés celsius, on est en novembre. Les branches sont basses, chargées de grains de café verts qui vireront au cramoisi en décembre.

Albertina explique en swahili que grâce à KOLCAFÉ, elle a appris à utiliser le « mboji » – un engrais organique fait de fumier et de compost – à couvrir le sol de paille pour retenir l’humidité et à élaguer les plants de café pour augmenter la production. Il est très difficile de convaincre les agriculteurs d’émonder leurs plants, souligne M’Imwere, car pour eux ça n’a pas sa raison d’être.

Il nous montre la différence entre un plant émondé, avec trois ou quatre tiges principales, et un autre qui a poussé librement. Le premier est touffu, contient plus de grains et ceux-ci sont plus gros, ce qui signifie qu’on pourra en tirer un meilleur prix. Le deuxième a plusieurs branches longues et grêles, et les grains sont plus petits et moins nombreux.

« Un plant de café est comme une famille. Si vous avez 15 enfants, ils auront toujours faim. Si vous en avez cinq ou six, ils seront bien nourris, dit M’Imwere. Les aides visuelles sont un outil très solide. Nous pensons que nous triplons notre production, voire plus. »

Mushema explique que cultiver le café est une activité qui porte fruits à long terme parce qu’il faut compter trois années de soins assidus pour nourrir et émonder les tiges jusqu’à ce qu’elles soient assez solides pour commencer à produire une saine récolte. C’est beaucoup demander à un pauvre agriculteur tanzanien; ils doivent donc habituellement planter des bananes, du maïs et d’autres cultures pour gagner leur vie en attendant que les plants de café arrivent à maturité.

« Maintenant, avec la montée des prix, nous faisons de meilleurs profits et pouvons construire des maisons, nourrir les enfants », dit-il en swahili. « Nous pouvons acheter d’autres choses, une vache, une chèvre, des médicaments. C’est la seule culture qui nous procure un revenu fixe. »

Le café n’est pas toujours moulu

M’Imwere dit qu’il est parfois frustrant de constater que des agriculteurs décident de vendre leurs grains de café individuellement à des acheteurs intermédiaires pour moins d’argent, mais de l’argent comptant. Il tente de convaincre les agriculteurs qu’ils sont plus forts, indépendants et autonomes en tant que groupe qui vend son produit aux enchères, mais il sait jusqu’où on peut être prêt à aller quand on a le ventre vide.

« Nous constatons que bien que les agriculteurs soient très intéressés, la plupart d’entre eux pensent qu’on leur donnera de l’argent pour faire les choses à leur façon. Lorsque la pauvreté règne, les gens ont besoin d’argent. Alors ils se découragent. Nous leur disons d’entretenir l’espoir et d’attendre, qu’ils auront plus d’argent au bout du compte », souligne M’Imwere.

Cette ferme et d’autres fermes de démonstration ont été choisies parce qu’elles sont situées à proximité de routes principales et que les agriculteurs intéressés y ont facilement accès. On administre des ateliers de culture du café dans des fermes comme celle-ci, et les conseillers de KOLCAFÉ visitent chacun des agriculteurs pour assurer le suivi, répondre aux questions et les aider à faire de l’engrais.

Nous visitons deux autres fermes avant de nous rendre aux installations de KOLCAFÉ où l’on décortique et classe le café, près d’un marché de village. Il nous montre le bâtiment recouvert d’aluminium ondulé soutenu par des piliers de bois d’eucalyptus, qui abritera une gigantesque trémie servant à décortiquer les grains. Les grains nettoyés passent ensuite dans un déversoir dans la pièce suivante où ils sont pesés et ensachés.

Après une longue journée sous le chaud soleil équatorial nous revenons à Bukoba, une ville d’environ 100 000 habitants et le centre urbain principal de la région. M’Imwere achève une affectation de trois ans et doit retourner au Kenya en janvier 2012. Il espère que son remplaçant continuera de donner de la valeur à KOLCAFÉ en aidant les agriculteurs à se tourner vers le commerce équitable ou biologique et à trouver des partenaires à l’étranger pour vendre et faire la promotion de la marque.

« Ils n’ont plus besoin de moi, dit-il, satisfait. Je peux désormais me reposer et le travail se poursuivra. »

Par Lisa Gregoire

Photos : Scott Portingale

Traduit de l’anglais par Carmen Caron, trad. a.

UK’s aid to Rwanda was said to be “funding a dictator” by a former aide to the President of Rwanda.

Tracing back to UK’s first halt on the Rwanda-destined aid in last July, it’s clear that DfID’s aid policy to Rwanda can be inconsistent. The first halt was announced due to an interim UN report that unveiled Rwanda’s military involvement in the DRC conflict, according to the Guardian. Contentiously, DfID resumed the aid, claiming that Rwanda was shown to have ended its support of rebels in DRC. Roughly two months later, the new DfID Secretary, Justine Greening made the decision of suspension again because of the international criticism and subsequent evidence from the UN. But now, DfID presents the world with a “reprogrammed” aid plan to the same Rwandan government.

Based on Greening’s statement on March 1^st and the Guardian’s report, UK’s “reprogrammed” funding enjoys the following “advantages” that target on the needy Rwandans directly while bypassing the Rwandan government:

• NOT distributed as general budget support, which means it will not count as the government’s fiscal budget.
• Mainly channeled through Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP), which is “a social protection initiative owned and led by the Rwandan government”.
• “Cash transfers and cash for work opportunities” are disbursed to different bank accounts and monitored.

Even though DfID’s restructured aid is said to aim at the poor population in Rwanda, it is indeed constrained by several shortcomings related to the aid’s definition and enforceability.

Because it’s not the general budget support, theoretically it will not be  restrained by UK’s aid partnership principles, which generally refer to the aid usage requirements of poverty reduction and MDGs; human rights; governance and financial management; and accountability to citizens. So, is it a sector budget support that will contribute specifically to the poverty-reducing sectors? According to the Guardian, a recent DfID  summary report indicates that the aid is defined as the “financial aid and technical co-operation” but not concretely as the sector budget support. In other words, the funds can technically be applied to the sectors that are not necessarily related to the poverty reduction.

In addition, it seems that the UK has been distributing aid to VUP since 2008 based on the DfID’s project information on its website. The information shows that the funding is attached to “special conditionality”, though it has not been identified clearly. If it refers to the “conditionality” mentioned in the DfID’s glossary section, it is somewhat equivalent to the partnership principles for the general budget support. But undoubtedly, the real meaning of the “financial aid and technical cooperation” to Rwanda is left for DfID to explain.

The second issue is how the UK will ensure this “cash” aid could reach the poor through the local partners and organizations rather than governmental agencies?

From one aspect, VUP — the major aid distribution channel, is said to be a “collaboration” between the Rwandan government, private sector and nonprofits under the supervision of the Ministry of Local Government. The funds will be allocated to different bank accounts and audited separately as mentioned before. Moreover, the UK seemingly has a clear strategy to prevent the misuse of aid and corruption in Rwanda. “DFID’s Anti-Corruption Strategy for Rwanda”, a report published by the DfID in Jan, 2013 reiterates that the corruption scenarios in Rwanda have largely decreased in recent years. DfID makes efforts to preserve the integrity of its aid in Rwanda via multifaceted precautions including “risk assessments”, “internal and external audits”, “risk management” and regularly updating information of aid partners’ fund usage on its website.

From another aspect, VUP is often criticized for its strong government control. Stephen Devereux, a research fellow at the Institute of Development Studies who used to conduct assessment for DfID on the VUP programmes commented that in VUP, most decisions are made by the government regardless of what private and nonprofit partners want to do.

Questions arise over hos DfID will help Rwanda’s poor and simultaneously draw a clear line between itself and the Rwandan government, since this affects UK’s credibility as a global aid donor. Therefore, DfID can first clarify what it means by “foreign aid to the government” and explain the ad hoc restrictions and principles attached to the aid distribution and utilization.

In the meantime, it’s indispensable for DfID to consider other funding routes. Before its announcement of this “reprogrammed” aid, 44% DfID’s funding to Rwanda was sent directly to the Rwandan government as the general budget support and 36% distributed through government-associated channels, while only 13% was directed towards NGOs or other non-governmental channels. Although it’s unclear how much funds will be granted to which sectors in the new aid package, we know that the major channel will be VUP, which is also a government-owned program.

UK’s waste of aid in Nigeria where teachers left children to play in class time.

On the other hand, it’s worth mentioning that besides Rwanda, UK has encountered many aid policy challenges in Africa recently. In Nov. 2012, its Uganda-directed aid was suspended because the funds were reported to be transferred to the Ugandan Prime Minister’s private account. Before the Ugandan aid chaos, DfID’s subsidiary private investment enterprise, CDC Group, was accused of investing in the money laundering companies related to James Ibori, a notorious Nigerian money-launderer.  Concerning these adverse impacts on UK’s donor credibility and the previous “up-and-downs” in Rwanda, DfID may need to be more cautious about its aid structuring and enforcement.

Last week began a seven-part treatment of Jay Richards’s book Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem (All material in quotation marks and most of the material in general for these posts comes from his book). I treated the Introduction, which argues that Christians not only may but should endorse capitalism. I also discussed chapter 1, “The Nirvana Myth,” which argued that given our fallen state, man will never bring heaven down to earth, but that of all the “live options” for economic well-being, free-market capitalism works best. Communism has failed; it killed tens of millions in the name of human flourishing before it finally fizzled out on a large scale. That said, its effects and main tenets are still embraced by many today. Christian believers (and everyone else) should keep their eyes open to such residue.

This week’s topic is chapter 2, “The Piety Myth,” which focuses on our good intentions instead of the unintended consequences of our actions. Before progressing, however, I must disagree with Richards when he writes of “God’s abiding concern for the poor, and his expectation that we share his concern. That’s the message from Genesis to Revelation” (emphasis added). It is a message, but not the message. Rather, the message is that man has fallen and God is restoring him into a right relationship with God through Christ. Richards’s book, however, is still one of the best at explaining basic economics and how to think and act about it.

His central thesis in this chapter is that scripture is full of admonitions to care for the poor, but we cannot simply have a heart for the poor; we must have a mind for them as well. Good intentions do not help if they lead to continued or greater poverty! Several policies aimed at helping the poor often actually end up hurting them long term.

Minimum Wage Laws

For example, “living” or “minimum wage” laws “make it a crime for individual employers and employees to enter freely into agreements for work and wages.” Liberal Christians like Jim Wallis support such laws based on passages like Isaiah 65, “My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands; they shall not labor in vain,” and James 5, which speaks of employers withholding laborers’ pay. Neither of these passages, however (nor any others I know of), mandate government price-fixing for labor. The fact is that the poor and unskilled are those most likely to suffer from minimum wage laws since employers might hire unskilled workers for a smaller amount, and such jobs often lead to the “experience and connections” necessary to advance into higher paying jobs. The higher the minimum wage, the less likely employers are to hire unskilled workers.

“Fair” Trade

“Fair” trade is another failed attempt at helping the poor rise out of poverty. For example, when a government or third party (or a good-hearted Starbucks customer) subsidizes coffee growers in third world countries, paying them twice (or more) the market price for coffee beans, those coffee growers continue producing coffee thinking all the while that everything is okay. But when Americans and others who drink the coffee get tired of paying higher prices for “fair” trade coffee, they will switch to cheaper, free trade coffee, and at some point the subsidies to the coffee growers will end, leaving them in a bind. The beauty of the free market is that if prices were left to fluctuate based on supply and demand, coffee farmers could then predict whether they ought to continue producing coffee or not. Coffee has grown in demand, so several other countries are producing it now, and prices have actually dropped (at the time of Richards’s writing). Farmers need to know this without artificial price-fixing, so they can plan for the future. No one has a “right” to continue getting paid artificially inflated prices to produce some product just because he did it last year or enjoys it or doesn’t know how to do anything else. Free markets (and free trade) forces humans to adapt and learn new skills, or move on to work for someone else.

Before you get upset about paying $5 for a cup of coffee, remember that those pennies worth of beans had to be “packaged, preserved, labeled, shipped, delivered, carefully roasted, prepared to extremely high maintenance specifications with expensive equipment,” and then served up hot in a trendy cup at a fancy store. Value increases as the product goes up the supply chain. So while coffee farmers aren’t as well off as Starbucks executives, they’re better off than they would be if there were no Starbucks in the US demanding the beans.

I’m running out of space and time so I’ll be brief on the last two items (and you can buy and read Richards’s book for yourself; I recommend it, even though I don’t know him and receive nothing for promoting it).

Foreign Aid

Foreign aid comes mainly in the form of cash or bulk products like cotton or some sort of grain. When US cotton farmers are subsidized to produce more cotton than the market needs, the government takes it and dumps it into a country that “needs” cotton; but when this happens there is no incentive for that country to produce cotton. Or, if there were cotton producers there, they go out of business; how can local cotton producers compete with free cotton from overseas? Such schemes make us feel good, but they hurt the very people who need help and do not address fundamental problems. For example, many of the neediest countries are corrupt, have horrible property laws, and have little in terms of the rule of law. While it’s not as cool and hip as the “One Campaign” (an attempt to get developed countries to donate one percent of their budget to struggling countries), these countries need help with the hard, boring things just mentioned (rule of law, etc.) as well as advice on developing thrift, discipline, creativity, entrepreneurship, etc.

Government-Run Welfare

Finally, government-run welfare is another way we feel good about ourselves but hurt the people we are trying to help. Aristotle said, “If you want to encourage something, reward it; if you want to discourage it, punish it.” Our government rewards both parents working outside the home (instead of one staying home caring for and perhaps educating the children), it rewards staying single and having lots of kids out of wedlock, it rewards not having a job for long periods of time, and it punishes hard work, entrepreneurship, and wealth creation. It’s all completely backwards. But it makes us feel good to write people checks…with someone else’s money, of course.

So what should we do as believers? We should invest our time, money, and effort in promoting property rights, the rule of law, personal virtues like diligence, thrift, and ingenuity, and the cultural values of trust, an orientation to the future, and the willingness to delay gratification. We should promote the principle of subsidiarity, according to which help comes first from the person himself, then his immediate family and friends, then churches, synagogues, local charities, and community organizations. These individuals and institutions, not the federal government, are the starting points.

On a human level, only wealth creation can alleviate poverty, and government handouts don’t create wealth; they simply force one person to give his own money to another. This is neither prudent nor Christian. Believers should think critically about these things, both at home and abroad, and they should never forget that people need Jesus more than rescue from poverty. All the money and self-sufficiency in the world won’t keep a person out of hell. We ought never to forget to share the gospel first and foremost in every situation. We are trying to balance this at Criswell College with our several Bachelor’s and Master’s programs, including our new undergraduate PPE (Philosophy, Politics, and Economics) minor starting this fall. We hope you’ll come check it out.

How many times have you heard O rail against “shipping jobs overseas” over the last five years? How many times have you heard liberals rant and rave about Nike and Apple manufacturing their products in China “on the backs of slave labor” to save money?

But now, if O gets his way, American farmers will be cut out of U.S. food aid programs as the Regime moves to feed the world’s hungry with locally grown products.

O’s budget – due to be released next week – will propose that the government buy food from “developing countries” for international food aid programs. The Regime says the change will save millions in shipping costs and get food to the needy more quickly. (Incidentally, the term “developing country” is a misnomer. If a country hasn’t “developed” by the 21st century, chances are, it’s not going to happen. Yet, trillions of dollars of aid have been (and continue to be) shipped off to sub-Saharan Africa and the like – much of it ending up in the pockets of corrupt dictators.)

Damn, I don’t know where to start. First, since when has O worried about the cost of anything? (Except the military, of course.) Why is it okay for the government to “ship jobs overseas” to save money – yet not okay for American companies to do the same? Why is U.S. government-funded “slave labor” in Kenya or Ethiopia just fine, but the working conditions of employees of Apple or Nike in China are not? Listen, O, I get the whole “profit thing” about evil corporations, but do you really think those Kenyans and Ethiopians working in the fields know the difference – much less, give a damn?

Trade groups as varied as the USA Rice Federation and the American Maritime Congress are lobbying to halt the change, fearing U.S. companies will be hurt and jobs will be lost, The New York Times reports:

“Growing, manufacturing, bagging, shipping, and transportation of nutritious U.S. food creates jobs and economic activity here at home, provides support for our U.S. Merchant Marine, essential to our national defense sea-lift capability, and sustains a robust domestic constituency for these programs not easily replicated in foreign aid programs,” trade groups opposing the move wrote to members of Congress. James Caponiti of the Maritime Congress told the NYT, “We are talking about hundreds of jobs lost. This is a very, very bad idea.” 21 farm-state senators are already on record for opposing the Regime’s plan.

Al Jazeera, Apr. 5, 2013

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/04/20134561410847150.html

“The main UN humanitarian agency for Palestinians said it was suspending operations in the Gaza Strip after demonstrators angered by aid cutbacks stormed its headquarters.  Some 800,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza’s population, depend on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the shuttering, announced on Thursday, could exacerbate hardship caused by Israeli and Egyptian controls on the isolated enclave’s borders.  The distributions cutoff will affect up to 25,000 refugees every day, the agency said.”

Quickie analysis:  Even the UN is temporarily shutting down in Gaza.

Life after oil and gas (New York Times)

“It’s absolutely not true that we need natural gas, coal or oil — we think it’s a myth,” said Mark Z. Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering and the main author of the study, published in the journal Energy Policy. “You could power America with renewables from a technical and economic standpoint. The biggest obstacles are social and political — what you need is the will to do it.”

Amen to that last sentence.

What you need to know about the terrifying Monsanto Protection Act

“Don’t be fooled by the phony baloney, consumer-friendly name it’s been dubbed—the Farmer Assurance Provision; the deceptively titled piece of legislation not only won’t help farmers, it’s bad for the rest of us. The general crux of the bill is that it essentially bars the federal courts from stopping the planting or sale of genitally modified or engineered seeds, even if they are shown to cause severe and adverse health risks.”

Guaranteed to get your blood pressure up. One reason why I’m tripling my produce garden this spring and planning to boycot the grocery store.

Obama administration seeks to overhaul food aid

“The current food aid program is not mission driven or about poor people…It’s about moving product.”

And this is exactly why I support this proposed policy change—even if the approach currently remains rather flawed. The mostly farm-state opponents to this shift who are arguing that this will take away jobs and economic revenue from the US are concerned because it means a loss in expected profits for the large-scale commodity croppers whose interests they represent in Congress. They are not interested in the fact that this move would bring foreign aid closer to the definition of what it is actually supposed to be. By buying grain and other food from local farmers, in-country, emergency aid and relief programs will be less of a weak, dependency-reinforcing band aid, and more of a boost to the economies of the country in crisis—which is a no brainer, since economic instability is typically a major factor leading to food-related emergencies in the first place.

In addition to reducing the aid dependency factor, sourcing locally could* ensure that culturally appropriate and preferred foods and practices are maintained in the process of an aid effort, rather than introducing a substitute—if the program encourages the purchase of traditional crops instead of pushing something like a super rice crop a la the Gates Foundation. This would respect indigenous practice and knowledge, and build resiliency by keeping empowerment within the community in need.

*I’m already placing too much hope on this, firstly because I would be shocked if Congress didn’t try to kill this like they did under Bush. But secondly, because I have just a sneaking suspicion that initiatives like Feed the Future and other US govt/USAID ventures aimed at ‘feeding the billions by 2025′ (always with very vague language about helping small farmers and combating climate change) are still heavily tied up with private foreign investment, including the likes of Monsanto. But I could be wrong.

Happy Friday!

Its findings are, and despite the fact “there is corruption, a frequent absence of the rule of law and low tax collection”, that the Department for International Development should continue aid and attempt to encourage “reformers” within Pakistan to design and put in place policies compliant with UK demands.  (SCG feels that these are weasel words uttered merely to placate the screaming UK masses opposed to the hand-out of any UK taxes to foreign peoples and/or governments).

In other words, the IDC Select Committee wants to both (a) keep paying our taxes to Pakistanis, and (b) interfere in another country’s politics.

These are totally unacceptable options for the citizens of the United Kingdom.

In the UK we have decent people, young, old, married, single, employed and unemployed, who are struggling with day-to-day bills. Forget that fancy new suit you spy in the store, you have more important concerns such as finding the money to top-up the electricity or gas. British people are trying to figure-out how to maintain their traditional lives by scrimping and saving. God-help them, should they need to visit the dentist, or buy that new pair of shoes, or fix the car. It is very likely that the only answer is going even further into debt just so that they can get to work, feed the kids, or get that tooth ache sorted.

Yet, with all these dire and life-destroying worries (yes, people have killed themselves because of liberal economic policies) the political and bureaucratic classes – not to mention the 1% – continue to maintain the indecent policy of helping foreigners!

Systemic Change Group understands the feeling of ethical righteousness these elites gain from such globalist/socialist ideals. But we know that such an endeavor is madness when our own country is underwater in deficits, virtually bankrupt by gross debt and literally falling apart.

SCG advocates a complete end to all British foreign aid, development funds, call it what you may. We support British taxes for British people. Is that too difficult a concept to understand?

END

Also see: Islamic extremism: a home-grown problem by Cyril Almeida

This game, in my opinion, was a great way to truly understand some of the problems the countries actually go through, and also how the World Bank is able to step in and aid in such situations. My group made the gutsy choice to refuse aid from the World Bank and to attempt to control and manage our own resources. As soon as we made that brave choice, problems immediately started happening. By denying the World Bank’s offer, we also denied help from United States and Britain since their help was contingent on support from the World Bank. To receive the funds Simulafri needed, the only offer we were left with was from China. They offered us savings on the purchase of small arms and light weapons  in return for access to our copper and cotton resources, which would save us approximately 30 million over the course of 5 years. While it is not a bad agreement, their purpose is solely out of their own self-interest. They also wanted to help with bettering our transportation, again, purely self-interest because it allows for better trade between the countries.

As soon as the group felt like we were taking control of the situation, another problem would arise, and then another. It was like taking a step forward only to be set back another two. But it was a good realization that this is how the world actually works. There are constantly new arising problems or concerns that countries encounter and those who are in charge need to constantly be thinking of new solutions and ideas that will most positively affect their country. Our group’s decision to decline aid from the World Bank illustrated World Systems Theory because a Core Country is a dominant capitalist country, China in this case, which is exploiting a peripheral country, Simulafri, for raw materials.

I wonder if our group had to accept aid from the World Bank if we would still run into some of the same problems that we did, or if we would have benefited more from their arrangement. This activity was a great way to better understand just exactly what goes on in governments and what countries have to do to survive, to keep going and to protect their inhabitants as best as possible.

Lori Zunti was “bit hard by the travel bug” when, as an undergraduate at the University of Alberta, she spent time volunteering with a doctor in India. She later completed a clinical placement in Cape Town, South Africa, and travelled with her sister through East Africa.

Years later, and now a certified occupational therapist with Canadian experience, she’s volunteering at the Pantang psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Accra, the capital city of Ghana.

Pantang is one of three psychiatric hospitals in the country, and the only one with a functioning occupational therapy (OT) department. Zunti works with nine OT assistants, but notes that Ghana lacks a university degree program for OTs and a formal training program for OT assistants.

{Photo: Godwin Amewu, left; Lori Zunti, right}

Although she’s building on the solid work of her predecessor, a British OT volunteer, Zunti admits that it’s been an uphill battle to get hospital professional staff to understand the purpose of OT and to make patient referrals. The department has been viewed variously as a “glorified rec department” or a place for vocational training, she explains.

Finding their voice

As well, intercultural differences have made life interesting. “It’s been a learning curve,” she says. “I don’t like to be forceful, and I’m new to a supervisory role.”  As a result, she faced some initial difficulties because her Ghanaian OT assistants aren’t generally accustomed to giving their opinions, as this is considered rude or aggressive, she explains.

“At our first team meeting, I asked for opinions and advice and nobody would say anything.  I just said we’re going to sit here until people start talking,” says Zunti, still a bit surprised at her own resolve. “Eventually, they began to talk. I think they now realize that I really want the team to do well, that this is a safe place, and they know my heart is genuine. It has been trial and error.”

Zunti has been teaching her assistants that OT “assesses how disability impacts a person’s life – physically, emotionally, cognitively, socially and environmentally – and his or her ability to participate in everyday activities.”

After the assessment, the OT’s role is to “develop a treatment or rehabilitation program that uses purposeful and meaningful activities to reduce the impact of a person’s illness or disability, and improve their ability to function and enhance quality of life,” Zunti explains.

“We used to do things without knowing why,” says Nicholina Yorke, an occupational therapy assistant at the Pantang psychiatric hospital in Accra, Ghana. She’s with a handful of female patients who are sorting and stringing beads in one of the occupational therapy department’s activity rooms.

“Now we are asking if what we are doing is purposeful. We are reading meanings into activities and seeing changes in patients.” For example, not everyone can string beads, Yorke says, so other tasks are found, such as choosing which beads should be strung. Patients are gradually eased along into more meaningful activity, she says.

Zunti has introduced patient care record books, so that Yorke and her colleagues track patients’ activities and progress.

The Pantang hospital OT department has facilities and equipment for beading and dressmaking, carpentry, cane weaving, tailoring, ceramics, drawing and painting. Substance abuse groups are held once a week, twice a month there are cooking classes, and the department also runs supported discharge groups.

The art of change

Godwin Amewu is an artist who began working as an OT assistant in 2000. In his first years on the job, he says, “we would just do this, do that, with the patients.”

But in 2006 Amewu, now the senior OT assistant, took a leave to study art education at university. Now back on the job, he is able to design appropriate art therapy projects and see patient improve in terms of their ability to concentrate and their thought processes.

He says that while previous OT volunteers made key contributions, it wasn’t until Zunti developed a protocol, and “put her foot down,” that hospital staff began to make referrals to the OT department. Referred patients have diagnoses ranging from schizophrenia and bipolar illness to alcohol abuse.

Amewu says Zunti has also made other positive changes.  “In Ghana there are some things we overlook, especially punctuality, but Lori doesn’t tolerate lateness and she wants reasons if people are absent.”

As the most senior OT assistant, Amewu admits to being slightly anxious about what happens when Zunti leaves. “I will have to continue with the structures that she has set up.”

But the department also needs a trained OT, he stresses. Zunti notes that there is hope in that regard — a Ghanaian-born OT, who trained in London, as been hired by the University of Ghana to start up a four-year Bachelor of OT program.

Although it is not the case for all volunteers – some struggle to adapt to their volunteer position and/or a new country – Zunti says that she experienced “a very smooth transition.” As a university athlete, she met sporty Ghanaian-Canadians who have been a beneficial resource during her time in the country. Every morning Zunti, who played on three varsity teams, can get in her daily run – trailed by interested children.

“On the whole I’ve had more ups than downs, but even the downs have been beneficial because they’ve been a good learning experience for me.  I am really enjoying my OT position, my staff, and my time in Ghana as a whole. I’m definitely learning things about myself that I didn’t know before.”

Written by Ann Silversides

Photos by Louise Renaud

**

Lori Zunti  a « eu la piqûre des voyages » lorsque, en tant qu’étudiante de premier cycle à l’Université de l’Alberta,  elle a travaillé bénévolement pour un médecin en Inde. Elle a ensuite fait un stage clinique à Cape Town, en Afrique du Sud, et voyagé avec sa soeur en Afrique orientale.

Des années plus tard, maintenant ergothérapeute agréée au Canada, elle se porte volontaire pour une affectation à l’hôpital psychiatrique de Pantang, aux abords de la ville d’Accra, la capitale du Ghana.

{Godwin Amewu, g. ; Lori Zunti, d.}

L’hôpital de Pantang est l’un des trois hôpitaux psychiatriques du pays, et le seul doté d’un service d’ergothérapie fonctionnel. Lori Zunti travaille avec neuf assistants en ergothérapie, mais constate que le Ghana n’a pas de programme de grade universitaire en ergothérapie et de programme de formation officiel d’assistants en ergothérapie.

Lori admet qu’elle a dû lutter tant bien que mal pour faire comprendre au personnel professionnel de l’hôpital le but de l’ergothérapie et aiguiller des patients. Le service est perçu de diverses façons; comme un « soi-disant service de loisir » ou un lieu de formation professionnelle, explique-t-elle.

Ils ont leur mot à dire

De plus, les différences interculturelles ont alimenté son quotidien. « Ça a été une courbe d’apprentissage, dit-elle. Je n’aime pas m’imposer et j’en suis à mes débuts dans un rôle de supervision. » Elle a donc connu des difficultés au départ parce que ses assistants ghanéens n’ont pas l’habitude de donner leur avis, car on juge que c’est impoli et agressif, explique-t-elle.

« Lors de notre première réunion d’équipe, je leur ai demandé d’exprimer leur point de vue et personne n’a réagi. J’ai donc dit, nous resterons assis ici jusqu’à ce que quelqu’un prenne la parole », a dit Lori, un peu surprise de sa propre décision. « Après un moment, ils se sont mis à parler. Je pense qu’ils savent maintenant que je veux vraiment que l’on fonctionne bien en équipe, qu’ils sont en lieu sûr, et que j’ai bon coeur. J’ai travaillé par essais et erreurs. »

Lori a enseigné à ses assistants que l’ergothérapie « évalue comment l’incapacité affecte la vie d’une personne – sur le plan physique, émotif, cognitif, social et environnemental – et sa capacité de participer aux activités quotidiennes. »

Outre l’évaluation, le rôle de l’ergothérapeute consiste à « élaborer un traitement ou un programme de réadaptation au moyen d’activités volontaires et significatives visant à réduire les conséquences de la maladie ou de l’incapacité d’une personne et à améliorer sa capacité de fonctionner, contribuant ainsi à une meilleure qualité de vie », explique Lori.

« Nous avions l’habitude de faire des choses sans savoir pourquoi », dit Nicholina Yorke, une assistante en ergothérapie à l’hôpital psychiatrique de Pantang, en périphérie d’Accra.

Elle travaille avec une poignée de patientes qui trient et enfilent des perles dans l’une des salles d’activité du service d’ergothérapie.

« Nous nous demandons maintenant si ce que nous faisons est utile. Nous comprenons la signification des activités et voyons les changements chez nos patients. Par exemple, tous ne peuvent pas enfiler des perles, dit, Yorke, aussi nous leur trouvons d’autres tâches comme celle de choisir les perles qui doivent être  enfilées. Les patients sont amenés graduellement à exécuter des tâches plus importantes», dit-elle.

Lori a mis en circulation des registres de soins des patients pour que Yorke et ses collègues puissent faire le suivi des activités et des progrès des patients.

Le service d’ergothérapie de l’hôpital Pantang est muni d’installations et d’équipement de broderie perlée et de confection de robes, de menuiserie, de tressage, de confection, de céramique, de dessin et de peinture. Nous offrons des séances d’information sur l’abus d’alcool ou d’autres drogues une fois par semaine,  des cours de cuisine deux fois par mois, et nous offrons également des services de réadaptation à une clientèle cible.

L’art du changement

Godwin Amewu est un artiste qui a fait ses débuts comme assistant en ergothérapie en 2000. Au sujet de ses premières années de travail, il mentionne : « Nous occupions les patients de notre mieux. »

Mais en 2006, Amewu, l’assistant en ergothérapie principal, a pris congé pour suivre des cours en éducation artistique à l’université. De retour au travail, il peut concevoir des projets d’art-thérapie appropriés et constate une amélioration de la capacité de concentration et des processus mentaux de ses patients.

Il dit que les anciens ergothérapeutes volontaires ont réalisé de grandes choses, mais ce n’est qu’au moment où Lori Zunti a élaboré un protocole et « pris les choses en main » que le personnel de l’hôpital a commencé à diriger des patients au service d’ergothérapie. Les patients qui nous sont référés souffrent de maladies allant de la schizophrénie, à des troubles bipolaires ou de problèmes liés à l’abus d’alcool.

Amewu mentionne que Lori a aussi apporté d’autres changements positifs. « Au Ghana, il y a des choses auxquelles nous portons peu d’attention, la ponctualité, par exemple, mais Lori ne tolère pas les retards et elle demande au personnel de justifier leur absence. »

En tant qu’assistant en ergothérapie principal, Amewu se demande ce qui va arriver lorsque Lori va quitter l’hôpital. « Je devrai conserver les structures qu’elle a mises en place. »

Mais le service d’ergothérapie a aussi besoin d’un ergothérapeute, souligne-t-il. Lori mentionne qu’il y a de l’espoir dans ce domaine — un ergothérapeute ghanéen qui a fait ses études à Londres, a été engagé par l’Université du Ghana pour mettre sur pied un programme de baccalauréat en ergothérapie d’une durée de quatre ans.

Bien que ce ne soit pas le cas pour tous les volontaires – qui luttent parfois pour s’adapter à leur poste de volontaire et/ou à leur nouveau pays – Lori Zunti mentionne que pour elle, « la transition s’est faite en douceur ». En tant qu’athlète universitaire, elle a rencontré des Ghanéens-Canadiens sportifs qui l’ont beaucoup aidée durant son affectation au pays. Tous les matins, Lori, qui a joué dans trois ligues universitaires, peut faire sa course quotidienne – suivie de près par des enfants intéressés.

« Tout compte fait, j’ai eu plus de hauts que de bas, mais même les périodes difficiles ont été salutaires parce qu’elles m’ont beaucoup appris. J’aime vraiment mon travail d’ergothérapeute, mon personnel, et mon séjour au Ghana, dans l’ensemble. J’apprends beaucoup de choses sur moi-même que j’ignorais auparavant. »

Par Ann Silversides

Photos : Louise Renaud

Traduit de l’anglais par Carmen Caron, trad. a.