Just Africa

Blog the Debt, From JubileeUSA

Like the rest of you reading this blog, I start everyday the same. I wake up check the forecast, brush my teeth, shower (I am so grateful for my hot water) and start my trek to work. Before I get on the metro Issac greets me with a smile and a newspaper - as I walk down the escalator I look at the front page, quickly digest the headlines, then stuff the paper in my purse and run to catch the train.

I walk past the Library of Congress and the US Capitol and over to Jubilee’s office. But lately the nicest thing has been happening during my routine: I walk into the church office to gather the mail and I am greeted with stacks of brown paper packages from across the country filled with postcards, hearts, and notes from thousands of people who in the mess and hustle that is life have chosen to take a moment and either sign their name or write messages about what’s on their heart as part of our campaign. They believe just as I do that their voice, words, and persistence play a role in creating momentum for things to change. What a beautiful campaign this has turned into; I read almost all of the hearts and have come across many powerful messages.

Last Tuesday upon reading this sentence from a number of lovely folks in Durham, North Carolina I felt particularly moved: “As an American citizen committed to ending global poverty, I urge you to expand debt cancellation to poor countries who need it…” I was so impressed with this sentence; I thought to myself this is a part of being an American citizen, recognizing the power that we have to create political will.  You know that’s the kind of attitude that makes a person proud to be a part of something.

I love getting mail from all of you, and I wish that there was enough time in the day to send each and every person a personal thank you letter.  To folks like Laura Jones in Decatur, GA who has sent in dozens of hearts. Or our friends at Saint Rose Academy (see above) who sent us our biggest heart yet!  To the young women of Delta Delta Delta at Indiana University and of course I must mention my alma matter Saint Michaels college in Vermont. Also Ms. Kelly’s fourth grade class from Germantown, MD and in Texas.  It’s so exciting and it makes me proud to be a part of such a committed and motivated group of activists. 

Many of your messages have featured Haiti’s need for immediate debt cancellation as the matter that weighs heaviest on your hearts. Out of all the places in the world, in my heart I feel such a calling to go to Haiti, and strongly remember my time in Florida with members of the Haitian community.   

We are going to deliver all post cards, messages, and hearts to the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.  To do this Jubilee has assembled a team of religious leaders from different faith back grounds. Folks like Bishop Schoenhals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, David Beckman President of Bread for the world, Inelda Gonzales President of the United Methodist Women, David Saperstein and many others. Click here to see the letter and signers. 

I know things are hard here, a couple weeks ago I was watching 60 Minutes with my roommates, and there was a segment on the DHL plant closing in Ohio. I spent a significant amount of time in OH in the fall and meet wonderful people, who talked to me about the changes Ohio has seen over the past few years, what it was like to grow up there, and to deal with that struggle. These are things that we all care about. When they were done with their stories they politely listened to me talk about Jubilee’s work and despite all that they were dealing with they had room in their hearts to help our brothers and sisters around the world. 

So I urge you if you’re reading this and have not sent in hearts, postcards, or taken action online to do so (and not just so I can continue to smile every morning) but because it’s the least we can do.

What if you just happened to be born into a different family, a different country, a place where your government spent more money on debt payments then on health care? A place where you had to choose between which child to send to school, or where countless children in your community have died because of diarrhea due to a lack of clean water?  We are talking about and working for people - human beings - not statistics or numbers or bars on a graphs, please help us make a little bit of difference and take action with our What's on Your Heart Campaign today.

In Peace and Solidarity,
Mercedes

By Mercedes Mack, Jubilee's National Field Organizer

*For more information, visit www.JubileeUSA.org or http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/debt.php

Like the rest of you reading this blog, I start everyday the same. I wake up check the forecast, brush my teeth, shower (I am so grateful for my hot water) and start my trek to work. Before I get on the metro Issac greets me with a smile and a newspaper - as I walk down the escalator I look at the front page, quickly digest the headlines, then stuff the paper in my purse and run to catch the train.

I walk past the Library of Congress and the US Capitol and over to Jubilee’s office. But lately the nicest thing has been happening during my routine: I walk into the church office to gather the mail and I am greeted with stacks of brown paper packages from across the country filled with postcards, hearts, and notes from thousands of people who in the mess and hustle that is life have chosen to take a moment and either sign their name or write messages about what’s on their heart as part of our campaign. They believe just as I do that their voice, words, and persistence play a role in creating momentum for things to change. What a beautiful campaign this has turned into; I read almost all of the hearts and have come across many powerful messages.

Last Tuesday upon reading this sentence from a number of lovely folks in Durham, North Carolina I felt particularly moved: “As an American citizen committed to ending global poverty, I urge you to expand debt cancellation to poor countries who need it…” I was so impressed with this sentence; I thought to myself this is a part of being an American citizen, recognizing the power that we have to create political will.  You know that’s the kind of attitude that makes a person proud to be a part of something.

I love getting mail from all of you, and I wish that there was enough time in the day to send each and every person a personal thank you letter.  To folks like Laura Jones in Decatur, GA who has sent in dozens of hearts. Or our friends at Saint Rose Academy (see above) who sent us our biggest heart yet!  To the young women of Delta Delta Delta at Indiana University and of course I must mention my alma matter Saint Michaels college in Vermont. Also Ms. Kelly’s fourth grade class from Germantown, MD and in Texas.  It’s so exciting and it makes me proud to be a part of such a committed and motivated group of activists. 

Many of your messages have featured Haiti’s need for immediate debt cancellation as the matter that weighs heaviest on your hearts. Out of all the places in the world, in my heart I feel such a calling to go to Haiti, and strongly remember my time in Florida with members of the Haitian community.   

We are going to deliver all post cards, messages, and hearts to the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.  To do this Jubilee has assembled a team of religious leaders from different faith back grounds. Folks like Bishop Schoenhals of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, David Beckman President of Bread for the world, Inelda Gonzales President of the United Methodist Women, David Saperstein and many others. Click here to see the letter and signers. 

I know things are hard here, a couple weeks ago I was watching 60 Minutes with my roommates, and there was a segment on the DHL plant closing in Ohio. I spent a significant amount of time in OH in the fall and meet wonderful people, who talked to me about the changes Ohio has seen over the past few years, what it was like to grow up there, and to deal with that struggle. These are things that we all care about. When they were done with their stories they politely listened to me talk about Jubilee’s work and despite all that they were dealing with they had room in their hearts to help our brothers and sisters around the world. 

So I urge you if you’re reading this and have not sent in hearts, postcards, or taken action online to do so (and not just so I can continue to smile every morning) but because it’s the least we can do.

What if you just happened to be born into a different family, a different country, a place where your government spent more money on debt payments then on health care? A place where you had to choose between which child to send to school, or where countless children in your community have died because of diarrhea due to a lack of clean water?  We are talking about and working for people - human beings - not statistics or numbers or bars on a graphs, please help us make a little bit of difference and take action with our What's on Your Heart Campaign today.

In Peace and Solidarity,
Mercedes

By Mercedes Mack, Jubilee's National Field Organizer

*For more information, visit www.JubileeUSA.org or http://www.africaaction.org/campaign_new/debt.php

Qaddafi: A United States of Africa? ...

 As Qaddafi garners support for his ambitious dream, I pose the question to you readers, where do you stand on this seemingly optimistic goal?

Great Lakes Quagmire...

Recently, General Laurent Nkunda was arrested by Rwandan forces in a shock move, after crossing the Rwandan border. Stability in the Eastern Congo especially in the provinces of North and South Kivu as well as Province Orientale, has long been circumspect, but will this move usher in a long-needed era of peace?

Currently, the rebel groups that have a presence in this area are the Democratic Forces of the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Rally for Unity and Democracy (RUD), Interahamwe, and former Rwandan soldiers. This ramshackle agglomeration of militias are political opportunists that have plagued civilians in the Great Lakes region for multiple reasons, whether resource related, self-determination, or grander schemes of conquest and liberation. Civilians have suffered at the hands of both rebel and government forces, through killings, rapes, displacement, and forced employment as child soldiers.

In a joint effort with the DRC military, Rwanda has deployed around 7,000 troops in the DRC. MONUC, the 17,000 strong UN Peacekeeping force, has also joined in the offensive and is providing logistics as well as rebel integration support.  This new offensive is supposed to flush them out of the region, to finally ensure that peace arrives. Other developments have seen Congolese, Ugandan, and Southern Sudanese troops in Operation “Lightning Thunder” attack the LRA in Garamba National Park. So it seems that military might is on full speed, to get rid of rebels once and for all, so that peace can come to the Great Lakes region.

Yet, I remain skeptical

History often repeats itself, and this looks like another worrying development for the citizens of this volatile region. Memories are still vivid from Africa’s “World War” and many hoped that the DRC would leave its history of conflict behind, but it seems like old wounds like to stay fresh. If this is a final push to bring about a new future for the DRC, or a continuation of violence, remains to be seen. 

Already, Major Kafa Bimanos who is a commander of the FDLR, said “they can come with their devil and with their superior power…the Rwandans who attack us will die”. In fact, the author Gerard Prunier has stated that this new joint Rwanda-Congolese force will not be able to defeat the militias. The militias can easily maneuver in the forests and regroup if scattered, similar to the tactics the LRA have used to resist the Ugandan army for over 20 years. If this war is protracted, what will be at cost are civilian lives, and one hopes that the right course of action is taken.

Will this military solution finally bring a semblance of peace to the Great Lakes Region? On paper it seems so, but not having an efficient diplomatic intervention could lead to problems rooted in the Rwandan genocide, rooted in economic grievances, and buried in unresolved separatist incentives which plagued Dag Hammerskoljd’s United Nations in the 1960’s to continue to persist. The question still remains, will peace ever come to this region?