Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Death in Ethiopia: Tragedy Repeats Itself
BreakPoint ^ | 22 May 03 | Chuck Colson

Posted on 05/22/2003 9:31:01 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback

Nineteen years ago, a British television crew shot footage that shocked the world. The pictures of starving children, their bellies distended from hunger and their eyes lifeless from malnutrition, alerted the world to the tragic famine then unfolding in Ethiopia.

The response was almost immediate. Musician Bob Geldof, previously known for a song about a schoolgirl who shoots her classmates, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his relief efforts. His "Live Aid" concerts were viewed by a huge worldwide audience. They raised millions of dollars to help eight million people in danger of starvation and signaled a determination that something like this would never happen again.

But it has. Only this time, it's not eight million, but TWENTY million people facing death from disease and starvation.

For the past year, word has been coming out of East Africa about a looming humanitarian catastrophe. A severe drought destroyed much of the 2002 harvest. Hardest hit were subsistence farmers who not only lost their harvest, but also the seeds necessary to plant future crops.

As a result, between eleven to twenty million people in Ethiopia and neighboring Kenya face starvation. In addition, millions more, weakened by hunger, are threatened by diseases like tuberculosis, measles, malaria, and meningitis. As Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the BBC, "if [the 1984 famine] was a nightmare, then this will be too ghastly to contemplate."

This prospect, and the world's indifference to it, prompted Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia (R), a Wilberforce Award recipient, to write an op-ed piece for the WASHINGTON POST. In it, he writes that when he tried get the media to cover the story, one television producer said that he wouldn't be interested "until hundreds of children were dying on a daily basis."

That's shocking. Even more shocking, in its own way, is what happened when Wolf approached the United Nations. He asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan "to appoint a special envoy for hunger to help elevate the crisis in Africa and to deal with other hunger issues around the world." Annan's response, Wolf writes, was "less than enthusiastic."

Since we appear to be lacking star power this time around, the leadership role in averting this catastrophe falls squarely where it belongs: the Church.

As my friend Frank Wolf rightly reminds us, this task isn't optional. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells us that the line that divides sheep from goats is our response to the poor and the hungry -- the least of Jesus' brothers. If Christians won't be moved to action by what Wolf and others have described, who will?

Part of our response, in addition to giving to good Christian relief agencies, is making our concerns known to our leaders. This is an issue that really is a matter of life and death. And we should treat it as such. We are blessed to live in the one nation that can make the difference. Let's work to see that saving twenty million lives is a top priority.

Wolf calls what's happening a "silent emergency." It doesn't have to be that way -- not if the people of God, as Wolf says, tell the story of what's happening "loudly and boldly."


TOPICS: Activism/Chapters; Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: breakpoint; charlescolson; colson; ethiopia; famine; frankwolf; humanitarianrelief; starvation
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last
To: Alberta's Child
Pinochet put Chile on the road to financial solvency and to being the most stable ecomomy in Latin America by hiring the "Chicago Boys" from the Economics department of the UofC to come down and design the economy. I wish Ethiopia could do something like that. Unfortunately, the rulers, having succeeded an emperor, believe themselves to be infallible and emperorlike. They do not ask advice.
21 posted on 05/22/2003 12:17:46 PM PDT by arthurus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: tru_degenerate
Ethiopia is potentially rich. The government needs to institute the open market and invite in the industry of the world with minimal taxation and regulation. The place would boom.
22 posted on 05/22/2003 12:22:18 PM PDT by arthurus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: arthurus
Yea, but at what price.

It can't be as simple as you suggest. There has to be other obstacles to overcome.
23 posted on 05/22/2003 1:00:38 PM PDT by tru_degenerate (that which is hidden will eventually come to light)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: neutrino
"If so many are starving, why does the population keep increasing? Ahh, but we aren't supposed to ask that, now, are we?"

My question too. I don't know about you but if I KNEW that if I had a child and that it would more than likely die of starvation or disease I wouldn't bring a child into the world. Maybe if they kept their population in check there'd be more food to go around.

24 posted on 05/22/2003 2:09:19 PM PDT by Chi-Town Lady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: arthurus; tru_degenerate; Mr. Silverback
The government needs to institute the open market

In my round-about way, this is what I am getting at. The present crisis demands emergency action, but if structural changes are not made, we will all be right back here dealing with the same problem next decade. I suspect that there are resources, mineral or otherwise, that could form the basis for a real economy.

At what price development? At the price of no longer having to deal with mass starvation every time the weather cycle changes. In their acerbic way, "Kenton" and "Billy_bob are pointing to the same problem. Any country can have an emergency. A country that has emergencies every decade without fail has other underlying problems. Emergency aid alone is not enough. Aid must be a bridge to allow time for the necessary reforms.

"Under Ethiopia's land tenure system, the government owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; the system continues to hamper growth in the industrial sector as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral for loans. " CIA World Factbook

"Although it had reported the existence of a wide range of minerals throughout the country, the government had authorized little exploration." Library of Congress Country Study

They have natural gas. There is evidence of oil. They are actively mining gold, and other minerals are there. Decades of war was a turn-off for investment, as was its insane Marxist government during the eighties. But the war and the Marxists are past tense, so there must be other limits to investment in the economy. Maybe there is someone out there who has personal knowledge of the facts on the ground, who can comment.

25 posted on 05/22/2003 2:16:18 PM PDT by marron
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Chi-Town Lady
The poorer a population, the more children they have. It's a natural mechanism to assure survival of the population. The more affluent the population, the fewer the children. This is a well known phenomenon in social studies and anthropology.
26 posted on 05/22/2003 2:35:05 PM PDT by WVNan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: WVNan
"The poorer a population, the more children they have. It's a natural mechanism to assure survival of the population. The more affluent the population, the fewer the children. This is a well known phenomenon in social studies and anthropology."

Doesn't it make more sense to insure the survival of the population by making sure that those that are born are fed properly so that their live expectancy is more than 5 years?

27 posted on 05/22/2003 2:44:58 PM PDT by Chi-Town Lady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Mr. Silverback

Oh great. Does this mean that recording artists like Prince, Huey Lewis & The News, Tina Turner and Kenny Rogers are going to record some new B-sides to slap on an album that they will still be charging $17.98 for 20 years from now?

And the money will go to what? Propping up the dictatorship regime that oppresses these people? No thanks. I'll just get these tunes from Kazaa and I'll wish those poor Africans a happy Kwaanza. Hint: The system you got right now ain't working.

28 posted on 05/22/2003 2:45:10 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (California wine beats French wine in blind taste tests. Boycott French wine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76
Don't send any GM corn. It's not PC!
29 posted on 05/22/2003 3:27:10 PM PDT by UnklGene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: marron
Marxism strikes again. As Kim du Toit says, "Let Africa Sink." Sorry to be heartless; if Christians want to donate their hard-earned money subsidizing yet another installment of the sick human experiment that is Marxism played out in a country prone to periodic famines, I won't attempt to stop them. But I do wish Bush wouldn't comandeer America's taxes to be poured into the bottomless pit of global monetary redistribution. (And before the Bush bots jump on me, let me say hastily I love the man to death and shall vote for him next year. But I do have a wish list.)
30 posted on 05/22/2003 8:23:17 PM PDT by A_perfect_lady (Let them eat cake.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: marron
I admit I don't have much knowledge on why Ethiopia is as it is. From what I know it seems like they have had more than their share of problems. It is not easy for a country to just up and change its entire system.
31 posted on 05/22/2003 8:28:31 PM PDT by tru_degenerate (that which is hidden will eventually come to light)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: marron
In the absense of war in Ethiopia, what is happening there to cause this, this time around?

What else? That old reliable "dought"

32 posted on 05/22/2003 10:02:00 PM PDT by yankeedame ("Born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Chi-Town Lady
"If so many are starving, why does the population keep increasing? Ahh, but we aren't supposed to ask that, now, are we?"

My question too. I don't know about you but if I KNEW that if I had a child and that it would more than likely die of starvation or disease I wouldn't bring a child into the world. Maybe if they kept their population in check there'd be more food to go around.
=========================================

On the contrary, you'd bring lots of children into the world, in the hopes that at least a couple would servive and provide for you in your "old age" (say, 43 or 44)

33 posted on 05/22/2003 10:08:53 PM PDT by yankeedame ("Born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: marron
"The trick is to learn to harness Mother Nature, to learn to use your environment."

In the late forties, as part of Truman's Point Four program, my alma mater, Oklahoma State (then Oklahoma A&M) set up a faculty and student exchange program with Ethiopia (then ruled by Haile Selassie). Ethiopia set up an Ag school and extension service, which was initially staffed by Okie Staters, then Ethiopian graduates of Okie State. And, finally, Ethiopian graduates of what we came to know as Ethiopia A&M.

By the mid fifties, Ethiopia was feeding itself -- for the first time ever. By 1960, they had become a net food exporter.

Then, Marxism arrived. And the rest is famine...

34 posted on 05/22/2003 10:25:08 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: arthurus
"I wish Ethiopia could do something like that."

At one time, they did. See #34.

35 posted on 05/22/2003 10:27:35 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: yankeedame
"On the contrary, you'd bring lots of children into the world, in the hopes that at least a couple would servive and provide for you in your "old age" (say, 43 or 44)"

Only if I were a very selfish person.

36 posted on 05/23/2003 6:48:04 AM PDT by Chi-Town Lady
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: okie01
Now that is putting it plainly, What would it take to overcome the marxists? What happened to the school that was set up, what happened to the faculty and student exchange? If it stopped because it wasn't needed, it sounds like it would be beneficial to set up once again, provided the government, would agree, theirs not ours.
37 posted on 05/23/2003 7:05:15 AM PDT by wita (truthspeaks@freerepublic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: wita
"If it stopped because it wasn't needed, it sounds like it would be beneficial to set up once again, provided the government, would agree, theirs not ours."

It was stopped because there was a bloody revolution, Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 and Ethiopia was run by a brutal Communist dictator for the next 18 years.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, I believe Ethiopia has fallen into, well, anarchy. Before Ethiopia A&M, the extension service and the exchange program could be re-vitalized, there needs to be a stable government in Addis Ababa.

38 posted on 05/23/2003 6:16:37 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: okie01
Excellent point, I tend to view countries with the same rosy eyes I have for the one I live in. As repressive as I might think our govenment is or has the capability to be, there is no comparison to one where a rightless society exist from day to day. A condition we can hardly understand, much less experience as the rightless do.
39 posted on 05/24/2003 5:04:07 AM PDT by wita (truthspeaks@freerepublic.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-39 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson