Well, actually, he gave me a bee hive—he wanted to give me a goat but they were sold out! Neither of the creatures actually comes to me, the “recipient”; rather, it is a program of World Vision that allows people to give life-saving or –improving basic necessities to people in need.
My gift will provide “a family in Somalia or Jerusalem/Gaza/West Bank with a beehive, safety equipment and training so they can produce a source of essential vitamins for their children and generate vital income” www.worldvision.com.au/smiles. As my husband wrote to me, “we have enough ‘stuff’ already. I think that this is a gift that will keep on giving to people who need it. Was going to buy a goat but they've sold out.” As my mother pointed out, it’s probably just as well that it wasn’t a goat—you have to feed a goat; bees feed themselves. Also, it’s hard to steal bees.
But I’m as happy with this gift as I imagine a wife in the developing world would be with an actual goat! I checked the website and World Vision is indeed sold out of goats (for families in the Sudan), donkeys for women in Ethiopia, and sports equipment for children in Papua New Guinea. Still available, however, are school kits for children in Azerbaijan, greening/tree-plantings in many African, South American and SE Asian countries, and Clean and Flush systems to improve hygiene in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you’re of the “teach a person to fish” philosophy, however, there are other ways to contribute to the development of that developing world: Andrew Leonard of Salon today celebrates the repayment (in full) of a micro-loan and feels so enriched by the experience he’s decided to “roll it over and double up on [his] bet”, starting “the How the World Works Christmas tradition.”
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/12/21/a_very_merry_kiva_christmas/index.html
Although this is all a very “rich white liberal” thing to do—a process about which I’m very critical and cynical—still, it’s one of the few ways that those of us in the first world can contribute to improving the quality of life for the 2/3 of the world who live on less than $2 a day. I sponsor a child in Kenya, I go out of my way to buy Fair Trade goods, I research consumer products to make sure they’re not created by child labor in sweatshops. I don’t shop at WalMart, I don’t buy Nestle, Exxon or Teva, I buy as locally as possible, and I support all manner of pressure on elected officials as well as corporate entities from Bono, Bob Geldof, Oprah, Care2, Angelina Jolie, and every other well-meaning First World liberal trying to alleviate the guilt and actually do some good, for the long term.
I do, however, tend to feel more impassioned about non-human animals; much of my interest in improving the conditions of humans in the developing world comes from my understanding that if the conditions of humans are improved, deforestation and destruction of habitat for the many endangered animals—Mountain Gorillas, Bengal tigers, clouded leopards, jaguars, lemurs, elephants, and dozens, maybe hundreds of others—will be reduced. Humans I reckon play at least some role in much of their own misery. Non-human animals do nothing but act in the way that nature—or circumstances brought about by the interference in nature—forces them to. Such circumstances have also, of course, affected indigenous peoples all over the world; I am quite prepared to recognize the impossible positions of the !Kung of the Kalahari, the Maasai, the Inuit, the Papau New Guineans, the Amazonian tribes, all of whose deep connection to nature places them between protecting the natural world of which they are part, and surviving in the face of the onslaught of Western “civilization”. Some of the actions they have taken have been heroic indeed. If I had money to donate, I’d give it to http://www.survival-international.org/home, which advocates for the rights of indigenous people to simply live the way they’ve lived for 1000s of years.
But right now my sympathies are with the whales and my passions with Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd http://www.seashepherd.org/migaloo/index.html. I read and have sent as a gift and recommended to everyone The Whale Warriors, the story of Sea Shepherd’s 2005 tracking of the Japanese whaling fleet, that illegally hunted and killed more than 800 minke whales and nearly 50 fin whales in the Antarctic whale sanctuary. When I lived on the East Coast of Australia, every spring (that’s September through November Down Under) I was thrilled to see the whale migration south to the summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic. Pods of several whales, pairs of mothers and calves, sometimes two or three pals, or the occasional loner, swam by, visible along the horizon as they spouted and breeched. The whale-watching industry of Australia has successfully created a sense of stewardship by almost all Australians (except, of course, the recently deposed Howard government) and the fury with which Aussies greet the Japanese determination to continue to hunt 1000+ whales per year for “research” purposes has become virulent: FUCK OFF JAPAN... LEAVE OUR WHALES ALONE!!!! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7251222651&ref=nf
With their announcement this year that they would add 50 humpback whales to the quota—and refusal even to guarantee the safety of Migaloo, the rare albino humpback that is Australia’s darling—Japan has crossed the line. Even the BUSH ADMINISTRATION has sternly warned Japan that this activity will not be tolerated. New Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed that he will send Naval scouts to document the illegal whaling “take action before the International Court of Justice and the Tribunal for Law of the Sea, using the Whaling Convention and the Endangered Species Convention” —hunting whales, especially in a sanctuary, is, after all, ILLEGAL.
Watson, however, isn’t holding his breath; neither is Sea Shepherd holding back on enforcing the law themselves, as best they can. According to the organisation’s latest press release:
“Sea Shepherd does not understand how Australia can enforce fishing regulations against Toothfish poachers from Uruguay yet cannot intervene against the slaughter of the whales in these same water, waters that are clearly marked on the nautical charts as part of the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone.
“Our response to Australia's announcement of their 'plan' to protect the whales is to drop the camera and pick up your guns and enforce the bloody laws, mate.”
My gift will provide “a family in Somalia or Jerusalem/Gaza/West Bank with a beehive, safety equipment and training so they can produce a source of essential vitamins for their children and generate vital income” www.worldvision.com.au/smiles. As my husband wrote to me, “we have enough ‘stuff’ already. I think that this is a gift that will keep on giving to people who need it. Was going to buy a goat but they've sold out.” As my mother pointed out, it’s probably just as well that it wasn’t a goat—you have to feed a goat; bees feed themselves. Also, it’s hard to steal bees.
But I’m as happy with this gift as I imagine a wife in the developing world would be with an actual goat! I checked the website and World Vision is indeed sold out of goats (for families in the Sudan), donkeys for women in Ethiopia, and sports equipment for children in Papua New Guinea. Still available, however, are school kits for children in Azerbaijan, greening/tree-plantings in many African, South American and SE Asian countries, and Clean and Flush systems to improve hygiene in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
If you’re of the “teach a person to fish” philosophy, however, there are other ways to contribute to the development of that developing world: Andrew Leonard of Salon today celebrates the repayment (in full) of a micro-loan and feels so enriched by the experience he’s decided to “roll it over and double up on [his] bet”, starting “the How the World Works Christmas tradition.”
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/12/21/a_very_merry_kiva_christmas/index.html
Although this is all a very “rich white liberal” thing to do—a process about which I’m very critical and cynical—still, it’s one of the few ways that those of us in the first world can contribute to improving the quality of life for the 2/3 of the world who live on less than $2 a day. I sponsor a child in Kenya, I go out of my way to buy Fair Trade goods, I research consumer products to make sure they’re not created by child labor in sweatshops. I don’t shop at WalMart, I don’t buy Nestle, Exxon or Teva, I buy as locally as possible, and I support all manner of pressure on elected officials as well as corporate entities from Bono, Bob Geldof, Oprah, Care2, Angelina Jolie, and every other well-meaning First World liberal trying to alleviate the guilt and actually do some good, for the long term.
I do, however, tend to feel more impassioned about non-human animals; much of my interest in improving the conditions of humans in the developing world comes from my understanding that if the conditions of humans are improved, deforestation and destruction of habitat for the many endangered animals—Mountain Gorillas, Bengal tigers, clouded leopards, jaguars, lemurs, elephants, and dozens, maybe hundreds of others—will be reduced. Humans I reckon play at least some role in much of their own misery. Non-human animals do nothing but act in the way that nature—or circumstances brought about by the interference in nature—forces them to. Such circumstances have also, of course, affected indigenous peoples all over the world; I am quite prepared to recognize the impossible positions of the !Kung of the Kalahari, the Maasai, the Inuit, the Papau New Guineans, the Amazonian tribes, all of whose deep connection to nature places them between protecting the natural world of which they are part, and surviving in the face of the onslaught of Western “civilization”. Some of the actions they have taken have been heroic indeed. If I had money to donate, I’d give it to http://www.survival-international.org/home, which advocates for the rights of indigenous people to simply live the way they’ve lived for 1000s of years.
But right now my sympathies are with the whales and my passions with Paul Watson and Sea Shepherd http://www.seashepherd.org/migaloo/index.html. I read and have sent as a gift and recommended to everyone The Whale Warriors, the story of Sea Shepherd’s 2005 tracking of the Japanese whaling fleet, that illegally hunted and killed more than 800 minke whales and nearly 50 fin whales in the Antarctic whale sanctuary. When I lived on the East Coast of Australia, every spring (that’s September through November Down Under) I was thrilled to see the whale migration south to the summer feeding grounds in the Antarctic. Pods of several whales, pairs of mothers and calves, sometimes two or three pals, or the occasional loner, swam by, visible along the horizon as they spouted and breeched. The whale-watching industry of Australia has successfully created a sense of stewardship by almost all Australians (except, of course, the recently deposed Howard government) and the fury with which Aussies greet the Japanese determination to continue to hunt 1000+ whales per year for “research” purposes has become virulent: FUCK OFF JAPAN... LEAVE OUR WHALES ALONE!!!! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7251222651&ref=nf
With their announcement this year that they would add 50 humpback whales to the quota—and refusal even to guarantee the safety of Migaloo, the rare albino humpback that is Australia’s darling—Japan has crossed the line. Even the BUSH ADMINISTRATION has sternly warned Japan that this activity will not be tolerated. New Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed that he will send Naval scouts to document the illegal whaling “take action before the International Court of Justice and the Tribunal for Law of the Sea, using the Whaling Convention and the Endangered Species Convention” —hunting whales, especially in a sanctuary, is, after all, ILLEGAL.
Watson, however, isn’t holding his breath; neither is Sea Shepherd holding back on enforcing the law themselves, as best they can. According to the organisation’s latest press release:
“Sea Shepherd does not understand how Australia can enforce fishing regulations against Toothfish poachers from Uruguay yet cannot intervene against the slaughter of the whales in these same water, waters that are clearly marked on the nautical charts as part of the Australian Economic Exclusion Zone.
“Our response to Australia's announcement of their 'plan' to protect the whales is to drop the camera and pick up your guns and enforce the bloody laws, mate.”
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