The Children The World Forgot....

[starsgoblue]

This makes me sad.

Uganda Heads List of World's Forgotten Tragedies
World - Reuters
By Evelyn Leopold

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The kidnapping and torture of children by a Uganda religious sect was high on the list of a new United Nations appeal on Thursday for the world's forgotten tragedies.

The appeal seeks $1.7 billion for 14 crisis areas that have not captured headlines, 11 of them in Africa. Among the worst is for northern Uganda, which has 1.6 million homeless people, more than in Sudan's Darfur region.

Of the 723 specific projects, the appeal asks for $158 million for northern Uganda.

Angelina Atyam whose daughter Charlotte, now 20, escaped from the Lord's Resistance Army after eight years of captivity as a sex slave. She returned home recently with two daughters.
"Others have died in wars, others died due to diseases, and of course many of them died due to sexual abuse," Atyam, head of a parents group, told a news conference.

Uganda believes the so-called Lord's Resistance Army, whose only agenda is to overthrow the Kampala government, can be wiped out militarily. Every evening 44,000 children and adults move into towns and return to camps and villages in the morning, fearing abductions and war.

But Atyam said there had to be some kind of reconciliation as many of the LRA fighters were or had been kidnapped children, forced to take up guns and commit brutalities. The LRA is based in Sudan, which originally gave them weapons, but no one has been able to find their camps.

Among areas to benefit from the annual U.N. appeal are Russia's Chechnya (news - web sites) province. In Africa, sites include Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia (news - web sites) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (news - web sites).



The U.N. relief coordinator, Jan Egeland, said there would be a separate appeal for Darfur, Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), no longer considered neglected tragedies. He said Sierra Leone and Angola have been taken off the list since last year because of progress in resolving conflicts.
The campaign, launched in cooperation with 104 other aid agencies, has been significantly scaled back from last year, when $3.4 billion was sought for 21 hot spots but only $1.86 billion was received.
"This year there is a sharper and more focused appeal for a smaller number of countries," Egeland told Reuters. "Assistance should be given according to need rather than popularity or logistic considerations."

 

[Jamila]

The positive news about this story, stars, is the the LRA is now asking for the government of Uganda to negotiate a ceasefire with them.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44072&SelectRegion=East_Africa&SelectCountry=UGANDA

Who knows what will become of this but the sad thing is that it always seems to be women and their children who pay the highest prices in any conflict - no matter where it is in the world.

And that just doesn't seem right to me.

THE GOAL IS SOUL....

 

[nbcrusader]

Makes you wonder why the UN isn't doing more.

 

[Se7en]

i think this just goes to show that first world nations don't give a shit about struggling countries unless there is something to gain economically. look at rwanda. almost a million people were butchered there and no one in the western world looked twice. it's sad.

 

[sharky]

nbc -- the United States owes ALOT of money to the UN in back dues and you can't do anything without money. There are too many tragedies that need to be handled and they just don't have the resources. Look no further than Sudan. As much as this sounds tragic, Sudan needs to be taken care of first. I still don't understand why we, as the United States, are sitting back and doing nothing. Don't get me started on Sudan.

 

[Jamila]

thank you, Se7en and sharky -

 

[BluRmGrl]

I was going to try & write an encouraging diatribe about following Bono's example of never giving up & believing that we can help those who have been forgotten, but these stories just rip my heart out and I don't have the faith to try and be encouraging right now.

 

[starsgoblue]

I was going to try & write an encouraging diatribe about following Bono's example of never giving up & believing that we can help those who have been forgotten, but these stories just rip my heart out and I don't have the faith to try and be encouraging right now.

No, Blu, no! These stories DO tear at the heart and the conscience but these people have no voice....WE need to be thier voices. Don't ever ever ever give up!

 

[starsgoblue]

i think this just goes to show that first world nations don't give a shit about struggling countries unless there is something to gain economically. look at rwanda. almost a million people were butchered there and no one in the western world looked twice. it's sad.

Most people I know don't even have a clue...they're too busy worrying bout getting their new Coach purse or whatever else is serving thier own material interests . The govts seem to be a sad reflection of those selfish drives too...

 

[Jamila]

thank you, stars, for encouraging BluRmGrl. It is the right thing to do.

And you are right - those of us in the developed world who really care about those millions of people around the world that live in utter poverty through no fault of their own have a RESPONSIBILITY to do whatever we can, wherever and whenever we can to SPEAK THEIR PAIN and to SPEAK THEIR HOPE.

We must become their voices until they are strong enough to find their own.

And hopefully, as more and more of us become actively involved in this process, we will encourage more people of goodwill to become involved in the struggle against extreme poverty and injustice in the world.

Let me just end by using Bono's own words:

"Africa is an extraordinary place. An extraordinary shining place. Beautiful continent full of these royal people, incredible people, as well as this awfulness that they're in. There's so much to believe in Africa. And the thing that gets to me is they really believe we can help them.

AND WE CAN HELP THEM IF WE REALLY WANT TO. "

The question is: do we really want to?

BluRmGrl, don't give up. Find your voice for the poor and don't let no one turn you around.

Millions of people's futures depend on us - this is no joke.

LOVE IS BIGGER THAN US.....

 

[starsgoblue]

We must become their voices until they are strong enough to find their own.

Let me just end by using Bono's own words:

"Africa is an extraordinary place. An extraordinary shining place. Beautiful continent full of these royal people, incredible people, as well as this awfulness that they're in. There's so much to believe in Africa. And the thing that gets to me is they really believe we can help them.

Great that you used that quote Jamila. I actually wrote this as a response to reading Bono's quote the other day....what can I say he's my muse.


Mother Africa-
Your prodigal children have left you,
Left you clawing at the gaping wound in your heart
And shrouded in ripples of blue.

Insides gnaw at your conscience,
For your thoughts are all you have to keep
When there is no audience.
And watery eyes betray the heartbreak,
For your regal face refuses to reveal its ache.

Hands in the dirt,
As dry as your bones.
Willing the wind to breath its life into you
And carry you along.


My voice might not be the best, and it might not even be the loudest but damn it, I am using it- at least I have one!

This is something that we can really do, if we decide that we want to...

 

[BluRmGrl]

Thanks for the encouragement ladies!! I didn't mean to insinuate that I've lost my faith that we can help.... I just hit a little rough spot about my individual effectiveness, you know?

Often times when I learn about the nightmares these poor, beautiful people live in I think my own guilt about being so personally fortunate weighs on me more than anything else...the injustice of it all, no to sound too corny. It just tears at my soul & I have to walk away from it for a liitle while to regroup. Does that make any sense?

 

[Jamila]

BluRmGrl, it does make sense - I have been there too.

I am a little older than some folks here - I have been an activist for Africa since I was in college in the early 1980's.

The more I came to know people from the Motherland (Africa) and to call them "friends", the more I felt the same feelings that Bono expresses in this quote.

Africa's people are royal people - they are the first people to walk on the face of our earth. And Africa's people are incredible people - they have endured SO MUCH UNNECESSARY HARDSHIP throughout modern history and yet retain their graciousness and warmth towards others.

What I discovered was that people from the Continent overwhelmingly don't want us to feel guilty about the benefits that life has given us. Guiltiness is a stagnating emotion - it oftens keeps you from going forward and doing good things.

What we need to do is to FOCUS ON AFRICA'S NEEDS and by doing this, we will put our guilty feelings on the backburner and concentrate our energies on what we can do to bring about POSITIVE CHANGES for Africa's people.

I hope this makes sense - if not, I will try to clarify my words. But I want to encourage such big and beautiful hearts and minds like yours and stars to continue to walk down an African path.

You won't be disappointed. Like Bono, Bob Geldof and thousands of others from all around the world (myself included), Africa will change your heart and soul for the better.

THE GOAL IS SOUL....

 

[Katey]

I don't for a minute feel guilty about what I have. I also am fully aware I prolly don't deserve all I've been given. But I will use all I can to even it out and use what I have been given to make a difference, that doesn't make me any different then anyone else it just makes me.. me. I feel very passionate about the emergency in Afirica and I might come across wrong or strong some times but only I know what those intentions are they will never leave my heart an I will fight for this emergency until there is no need to fight and I make no apologies for that no matter what others say you simply can't dull that part of me. I know exactly where my heart and soul is on this

 

[BostonAnne]

Makes you wonder why the UN isn't doing more.

Would you deny for others
What you demand for yourself?

I can't help but think of the lyrics to "Crumbs" as a challenge to rethink assisting the third world as justice and not charity.

nbc, I think the problem is that there are too many passive people in the western world. If more people voice an outrage that the UN should be doing more then it will happen.