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Original poster

so here i am watching the news about niger

239 replies

Heathcliffscathy · 22/07/2005 22:23

and crying. and seeing ds in all of the starving childrens' faces. and knowing that it isn't nature to blame but every one of us. i know i'm always doing this, but i just feel so awful about the state of the world at the moment.

the famine in niger was predicted years ago. we obviously on a governmental level haven't given a toss.

we worry about being blown up by a terrorist. we tolerate a world where people are starving to death. we wonder why people are angry and hate-filled at us at the west.

i had really good news today. we exchanged on a house ending a long process of house hunting and i can't feel anything but over indulged and despairing. and so angry.

we spend billions on slaughtering civilians in iraq. and begrudge pennies to africa.

i don't even know why i'm posting this except that i don't know what to do with myself.

OP posts:
MamaMaiasaura · 23/07/2005 00:12

it is [said] and upsetting. i started a few posts on this recently too just to air how i was feeling x

HappyDaddy · 23/07/2005 00:43

It is a terrible, awful situation. Apart from the obvious need these people need from outside, it must be acknowledged that their own governments could do something about it too. If they were so inclined. There is no easy solution but it doesn't mean we shouldn't try to find one.

edam · 23/07/2005 10:59

Save the Children are appealing for funds for Niger. here

Apparently so far only one plane load of aid has landed

edam · 23/07/2005 11:00

HD, Niger is one of the very poorest countries in the world. I've no idea what their government is like but it's possible that they just don't have the capacity to help.

CountessDracula · 23/07/2005 11:01

It has made me really angry that they have been showing all these news reports but not putting details at the end as to where you can donate money. Do you not think that a phone no at the end would result in a lot of extra donations?

edam · 23/07/2005 12:00

Agree CD - I had no idea which agencies operate in Niger. Actually I'm not sure any are there at the moment, but certainly some are gearing up to go. I googled Niger appeal - not hard to do but putting details on news would increase donations hugely.

Original poster
Heathcliffscathy · 23/07/2005 12:10

msf have report on their website. see below

OP posts:
suzywong · 23/07/2005 12:34

"we on a governmental level haven't given a toss"

yes I can understand your POV sophable, but one issue that Live8 raised recently was that African governements themselves should take accountability to some degree.

Justs to echo soapbox's post you may be interested to know
that the government of Niger doesn't seem to ve very big on supporting it's own people recently. The government has played down the scale of the crisis and has an appalling track record on slavery. See this

Of course I am not downplaying the plight of the starving or wishing to take on African politics but if might make your suffering easier if you didn't take so much personal responsibility for this particular natural and man-made disaster. I too find it very hard and therefore have become very hardended that no matter how much of our personal money we throw at disasters like this we cannot change the political infrastructure of a country and therefore cannot guarantee that this will not happen again or that those people saved from starvation will have anything like a decent quality of life . I take my hat off to those aid workers on the ground and in the field.

Original poster
Heathcliffscathy · 23/07/2005 12:51

but aren't 'we' in the west partly responsible for the state of many govts in africa given our colonial pasts and recent dodginess (in terms of sponsoring coups etc for our own gain)?

I hear what you're saying. and maybe all this is because my hormones still haven't recovered from having ds (i suspect they haven't actually).

i don't sit around crying all the time (using the phrase 'might make your suffering easier' is a bit of a stinger, but point taken), but the emotion evoked when i see news reports like the one yesterday, with a child in such an advanced state of starvation that her body couldn't heal it's own horredous skin lesions....i just go apeshit, i feel so awful, and want to do something. so sometimes i post on here. and sometimes i try to give some money. and sometimes (as in the case of iraq) i go on a march. all still doesn't feel enough at all. maybe the point is that i should think about using my qualifications (as a psychotherapist) when i get it, to some kind of end that would alleviate my sense of responsibility. or perhaps the point is just to feel the responsibility and witness the horror. as that is all we can do. i don't know.

OP posts:
Original poster
Heathcliffscathy · 29/07/2005 22:44

oh god oh god...here it is again...on the news right now in niger...it is heartbreaking. sorry. i know it's annoying that it's gets to me, but we have to do something.

OP posts:
Original poster
Heathcliffscathy · 29/07/2005 22:45

guy from medicins sans frontiere....dh just said they are just so f*cking beyond any politics and i love them for that....come on, just do something.

OP posts:
dot1 · 01/08/2005 09:33

I've just donated some money online via Oxfam. Watched about 2 minutes of the news last night and couldn't stand it. It was seeing a baby's legs - so thin - and thinking about my own baby's huge fat thighs... Couldn't get on with things until I'd got to a computer and given some money - it just seems wrong to have so much stuff (even though you'll find me constantly moaning that we're broke!).

desperatehousewife · 01/08/2005 09:43

I agree sophable - it's a disgrace and means so much more now I have a child and I see him being fussy over his food.

I think it is criminal that most of the Western World are spending billions of pounds a year on slimming aids and gym memberships, when there are so many people who do not have enough money to keep their babies alive.

lemonice · 02/08/2005 09:29

1 in 4 children in Niger dies before the age of 5

It has the highest birth rate in the world

Niger Statistics are Shocking

Niger News BBC

Toothache · 02/08/2005 09:32

$30m is all it will take to stop this. I saw a woman on the news today getting her dd weighed (3lb!!!).... here twin had already died of starvation. Her Mum looked so desperate. THankfully her dd was being put in intensive care. But how many don't? God it's awful.

csa · 02/08/2005 10:02

the DEC is now collecting for niger. i agree that since having ds, these news are so much more heartbreaking. and as desphousewife says, it is sometimes so exasperating when ds is fussy over his food. sadly, it reminded me of when i was little and my mum used to say "finish your food. there are people starving in africa". sad because i didn't always and sad because this problem is still around after all these years.
also, did anyone see dispatches last night (channel 4) on "supermarket secrets"? the wastage! and all i could think of is how wasteful we are in the western world when there are other people in the world who survives on desert rats (if they are lucky).... but i think that might be another debate on another thread
sophable, i don't think it is just the hormones and i applaud you for speaking up for what you hold close to your heart. it is not wrong to care.

lemonice · 02/08/2005 10:15

I think it is a great shame that the 20 year Band Aid and G8 Make Poverty History etc. didn't also raise funds.

I think it was a missed opportunity.

I understand the reasoning but I doubt those children and their parents who if they grow up will expect only to live unitl they are just past their fortieth birthday do.

loulabelle222 · 02/08/2005 10:46

i understand what your saying but it isn't our fault! i think our country does enough to help other countries out its our own that we need to sort out fast! i cant help feeling that if our country ended up in poverty not many places would help us out.

Toothache · 02/08/2005 10:47

I think it is our fault..... Global Warming!!!

loulabelle222 · 02/08/2005 10:49

I pay enough out.. if i had the money to donate i would... but why doesn't our hard earned tax money go to these places?
at the end of the day maybe we should ship millions of free condoms to these places and at least the birth rate would be cut down... that is one way to solve a lot of problems!!!!

loulabelle222 · 02/08/2005 10:51

i don't believe that if you donate say for £10 that £10 will feed a family... its admin costs that it will go to. I would rather donate things such as clothes...food... at least that way you know that it has to go to somebody!

Toothache · 02/08/2005 10:51

Loulabeele - !!!

So because we have polluted the atmosphere.... you're saying these people should stop breeding??????

Lizzylou · 02/08/2005 10:52

Loulabelle!

QueenOfQuotes · 02/08/2005 10:52

"i understand what your saying but it isn't our fault!"

Perhaps not in Niger - but much of the poverty in the commonwealth countries can be brought back to us. We colonized half the world, we pushed them to the 'back', built a vast wealthy empire of our own, and denied 99.99% of the people in those countries the "luxuries" which we were enjoying.

I don't think this country could EVER get as bad as most of the people in the world have to live. No matter what happens we've got electricity, we've got water running into our houses, we have comfortable houses (yes even those horribly dirty, and moldy council flats are better than what most of the people in the world live in).

And as for "would they help us" - almost definitely not if we don't make a PROPER effort to help them while we can afford it. If (by some strange and unimaginable occurance) we were to turn into a country like Niger, Sudan, Ethiopia etc etc - they wouldn't be able to afford to help us!

QueenOfQuotes · 02/08/2005 10:54

"don't believe that if you donate say for £10 that £10 will feed a family."

Well I donate £18 a month to sponsor a child (in the Phillipines). Of that money I know that at least £15 goes DIRECT to feed the child (and their family), cloth her and educate her etc etc

Even some of the 'high' admin charities still spend at least 75% of the money donate actually helping the people who need helping - so if you donate £10 - they'll spend £7.50 helping a family.

And £7.50 is MORE than enough to feed a family in most parts of the world for a month (or even more!)

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