Does the world care about Somalia? I am not sure the world knows the truth about Somalia, which makes it hard to care. A better question might be, Does the humanitarian aid community, the ones that we believe can actually do something, care about Somalia? The answer is complicated. There are those who do, and those who don't. For those who do, care is complicated immensely by the large presence of Al-Shabaab, a Muslim extremist group that puts its ideals before its people, and therefore makes it extremely frustrating and dangerous, if not impossible, to offer aid inside the country.
Six months ago, in July of 2011, famine was declared in many parts of Somalia, specifically the southern part of the country, and several of the regions around it, including parts of Kenya and Ethiopia. At that time, almost 3 million people in Somalia alone were at risk of starvation. Around 30,000 people had already died. While the famine itself is a huge tragedy, reminiscent of the 1984 Ethiopian famine that saw almost half a million people succumb to starvation, it was made worse by the fact that there were indications and forebodings of this famine a year in advance that were seemingly ignored by the aid organizations that are active in Somalia and the major donor governments that fund them. There is a mechanism in place in East Africa called the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, or FEWSNET, that uses satellite and remote sensors to track rainfall and vegetation and make predictions about harvests and food security. Predictions were made and alarms sounded when the rains failed in August of 2010, then again in October of that year, and then yet again in the spring of 2011. East Africa entered into its worst drought in 60 years. Yet the aid world was not paying close enough attention. Even the UN had announced in August 2010 that the rate of malnutrition in Somalia was rising, and was at that point above the threshold that would prompt an emergency response. There was no emergency response at that time, though, and the rates continued to rise until an astounding 36% of the population was suffering from malnutrition in August of 2011.
To be fair, the prospect of intervention in Somalia, whether humanitarian or military, is not appealing to anyone. The country is the definition of a failed state. Since 1991, when its dictator of 23 years, Siad Barre, was ousted from power, the country has essentially existed with no strong central government. In the north, Somaliland declared itself independent after the 1991 overthrow, and the region of Puntland declared itself an autonomous Somali state in 1998. In the central and southern parts of the country, warlords and clan leaders have governed, or to use a more appropriate phrase, terrorized , their various regions.The country is awash with weapons, generously supplied by both the United States and the Soviet Union in their bids for the allegiance of the Horn of Africa during the Cold War, and by Ethiopia, in support of the rebels who overthrew Siad Barre. At the main market in the capital of Mogadishu, there are weapons available for purchase in open-air stalls.
Most Americans know Somalia as a place where our troops were embarrassed in the debacle known as Blackhawk Down in 1993, when two American helicopters were gunned down and 18 US Marines were killed. What most people do not know about that fateful day is that around 1,000 Somali civilians were killed by helicopters who came to try to rescue the downed Marines and sprayed gunfire on the crowds gathered. Ironically, Blackhawk Down was part of a larger operation entitled Operation Restore Hope, which the US had entered into with the UN to try to restore order to Somalia and alleviate the suffering from yet another famine at that time. After that international and infamous failure of US troops, the United States
decided on a much different approach to violent conflicts in Africa, summed up by Bill Clinton's nicely coined line"African solutions to African problems." Journalist Richard Dowden writes that the memory of Somalia made America allergic to intervention in Africa. This has, at times, been a good thing, but also at times this stance has been deadly, as in 1994 in Rwanda when the US pressured the UN not to increase its' involvement or mandate. After Blackhawk Down, Somalia was largely left to flounder for the next fifteen years.
A weak state is prime breeding ground for extremist elements to arise. This is precisely what has happened in Somalia over the last 5 years. Al-Shabaab arose as the youth wing of a now-defunct movement called the Islamic Courts. In the beginning, they enjoyed widespread support among the local people of the southern regions of Somalia they were based in because they provided stability. The people found religion, even if it was a more extreme brand of Islam than they were used to, to be the glue that united them to rise up and fight against the greedy warlords that had terrorized them for over a decade. When the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was finally established in Mogadishu in 2006, propped up by Ethiopia and African Union troops and bankrolled by the United States, Al-Shabaab took them on as enemy number one. For the past five years, Al-Shabaab has been gaining strength in their battle against the TFG, establishing direct ties to al-Qaeda and other powerful and wealthy terrorist organizations. They have also been gaining control over most of the southern half of Somalia, and parts of Mogadishu, the capital. One of the ways that Al-Shabaab finances their exploits is to demand money from charities that want to operate and distribute aid to the southern region of Somalia. According to reports from the BBC, they have a humanitarian coordination office which charges a registration fee of anywhere from $4, 000 to $10,000 for any charity that wishes to set up shop in southern Somalia. They also charge project fees, so that they receive 20 % of the overall cost of projects such as digging a borehole for clean water or setting up a feeding center.
This way of doing business with Al-Shabaab ensures that almost no US aid organizations operate in Somalia. In 2008, the United States labeled Al-Shabaab a terrorist organization, which means that aiding or abetting it, even through humanitarian aid, is a serious crime. By early 2010, the US was withholding about $50 million dollars worth of aid from southern Somalia because it was Al-Shabaab territory. The US also required its aid workers that are present there to refuse to pay the tolls that Al-Shabaab asked for. This action had the desired effect of weakening Al-Shabaab since they were now receiving no benefit from the aid provided from Somalia's biggest and wealthiest donor. They withdrew from the capital of Mogadishu in August of 2011 and retreated back to the southern regions that they clearly hold control over. But the stringent policies of the US might also have unwittingly had a hand in making this famine that has taken hold of East Africa far worse in these same regions. The areas that are hardest hit by the famine and where the most people are at risk of starvation are the areas of Somalia that are controlled by Al-Shabaab.
It is clearly a no-win situation for the United States and many other countries and aid organizations in providing humanitarian aid. If they do acquiesce to Al-Shabaab's demands, much of the aid provided will inevitably be siphoned off by the group and used to finance its terror. If they do not provide aid, thousands more people will die before the famine lets up. At this moment, many aid organizations are not being given the chance. When the famine was at its peak in July and August of 2011, Al-Shabaab lifted its own restrictions on international aid agencies that it imposed because it felt they were bringing in Western ideas and religion. But as the drought has let up and the famine has decreased in severity, they are again making it very difficult for aid organizations to reach people . In November,Al-Shabaab shut down the offices of UNICEF and Concern as well as 14 other international charities.The group said that the agencies were exaggerating the scope of the problem in Somalia just to raise money. In the first few weeks of 2012, the International Red Cross suspended its aid operations to the worst hit areas of southern Somalia because its convoys were being blocked. Medecins sans Frontieres, or MSF, closed down two of its clinics in Mogadishu because they said it had become too dangerous for them to be effective. It is estimated that there are still a quarter of a million Somalis that are on the brink of starvation, and there are now only a handful of aid organizations able to gain any access to the southern regions of the country held by Al-Shabaab.
Some of the reports that you hear of aid organizations' work in Somalia is deceiving because they are describing the work they do in the whole country. There is hardly any effectiveness now in the areas that need it most. In that sense, Al-Shabaab may be weakening itself further, because if they limit aid , they also cut off one of their sources of financing. There are signs of weakening, as Kenyan forces and African Union forces are pursuing Al-Shabaab now, becoming braver and branching out from Mogadishu and penetrating further into the south from both sides. With more military intervention, though, comes the possibility of just another form of terror for the ordinary Somali civilians who have learned that it's not safe to trust anyone who claims to be acting in their interests. There is an African proverb that says when elephants fight, the grass suffers. In this story, the Somalian people are the grass, their very survival being trampled on by groups wanting to either display their military prowess or to spread their religious beliefs.
Millions of Somalis since last summer have fled from the south to Mogadishu so that they could receive help.Food, water, and survival is their main concern. In the course of the exodus, many families have buried loved ones along the way. Grieving loss even as they are moving forward towards hope. Or hope as they know it. One wonders what it will take for these families, humans, Somalis, to find rest.
Reyna with the kids in Fiamah, Monrovia, Liberia
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, January 13, 2012
Occupy Nigeria
If all goes as planned for the protesters in Nigeria, the whole world will be paying attention to their struggle soon. On Sunday to be exact. Saturday at midnight is the deadline that the nation's largest oil workers union, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association,or PENGASSAN, has set for an agreement to be reached with the federal government on the fuel subsidy that was abruptly removed by President Goodluck Jonathan on New Years Day. If an agreement is not reached by then, oil workers will go on strike, effectively shutting down production of oil and gas in the country. This will in turn raise the price of oil, which, you guessed it, means another reason for gas prices to go higher. Maybe then attention will be drawn to the Nigerian crisis.
I say it's about time for the world to be made aware of the injustices suffered by the Nigerian people in what is the world's 8th largest exporter of oil. If you are talking about nation-states that are ruled by oil, Nigeria should be a main topic in that conversation. 80% of the government's revenue comes from oil sales. The most populous country in Africa, with an estimated 160 million people,is home to many multinational oil corporations, Shell being the largest, with Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco playing smaller roles. These corporations, Shell in particular, have exported the wealth of Nigeria's natural resources for years and rapaciously desecrated the Niger Delta in the southeast of the country to do so. Remember the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast in April of 2010? At that time, BBC News released an article that went largely unnoticed that brought to light the fact that oil spills the size of the BP spill that sparked international outrage had been occurring yearly in the Niger Delta for 40 years. An estimated 13 million barrels of oil have spilled into the Delta, destroying the environmental vitality of the Delta region, not to mention greatly endangering the well-being and safety of the 31 million people who call the Delta region of Nigeria home.
There was once a man who became the voice of the people, specifically the Ogoni minority, to protest against the injustices perpetrated by Shell in that part of Nigeria,and he was eventually arrested and executed by the military government in power at the time. Ken Saro-Wiwa was the leader of a group called MOSOP, which stands for Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, that led a non-violent campaign to protest environmental degradation of the Ogoni lands and rivers by Shell. He, along with 8 other leaders of MOSOP, who collectively came to be known as the Ogoni Nine, were tried, convicted, and then eventually executed under the military government of General Sani Abacha in November of 1995, sending a chilling message to the Nigerian people that you don't mess with an industry that is filling the government's coffers, regardless of its human and environmental rights abuses. Their deaths sparked international outrage and led to Nigeria's exclusion from the Commonwealth of Nations for 3 years. Yet the world, and definitely the countries that are the recipients of Nigeria's oil exports, the United States being one of them, seemed to forget the fact that Saro-Wiwa and his movement spoke for millions of people who were suffering at the hands of these corporations. And so the spills and the violence continued, as did the profits for the government.
How does all this relate to what the people in Nigeria are protesting about now? Well the chief complaint of the people, the jumping-off point for these protests, is the removal of the fuel subsidy by their President on New Years Day. With the fuel subsidy, the average Nigerian was paying N65, or 65 naira per litre for fuel, which is used for not just transportation but also cooking and generators in areas where electricity is scarce. This translates to about $1.66 a gallon in US terms. That sounds like an amazing deal to us, but you have to remember that the majority of Nigerians live on less than $2 a day.Most Nigerians felt that this was the only tangible benefit they received from living in one of the world's largest oil producing countries.Understand that almost all of the oil that is extracted by multinational companies is refined and sold somewhere else. A negligible amount is actually reserved for Nigerians, and the domestic refineries that do exist in the country are either inoperable or in grave disrepair. So the oil that Nigerians use is imported from other countries, yet was subsidized and therefore price-regulated by the government until January 1 of this year. When the fuel subsidy was removed without warning, the price of fuel immediately doubled to N120 a litre, or the equivalent of $3.52 a gallon here in the U.S. For someone who struggles to provide for their family on $2 a day, this is a very sudden and steep change to make in their necessary spending. President Jonathan claims that the $8 billion that the government will save by removal of the subsidy will be used to develop infrastructure in the country and support education and health care programs. The problem with that is that most Nigerians do not believe him. The government has a long track record of corruption, waste, and outright stealing from the people, and his tenure so far has proved to be no different. The Nigerian political blog Omojuwa took a critical look at the 2012 federal budget and pointed out such wasteful and unnecessary elements as: N 7.2 billion, or N20 million per day, is allotted for the overhead of the State House, the workplace for the President and Vice President. Their local travel budget is 2 million naira per day, and their international travel budget is 3 million naira per day. N265 million is budgeted to buy new computers for the President's office, N295 million for new furniture, and N 1.8 billion to "maintain existing furniture, office, and residential headquarters." Keep in mind that the average Nigerian lives on about N 330 a day.
This is the second central complaint of the unions and protesters who have now organized themselves as the Occupy Nigeria movement. They feel that this Jonathan-led government is continuing with the trend of wasteful and extravagant spending on itself, and forsaking equal and fair distribution of the government's resources to average Nigerian citizens. Goodluck Jonathan came to power because of the death of the President Umaru Yar'Adua in May 2010, under whom he served as Vice President. He was popularly selected in April of 2011, just 9 short months ago, in a controversial election complete with accusations of rigging and resulting violence in the mainly Muslim northern part of the country. Many people,though, especially residents of the Delta region where Jonathan hails from and the bedrock of the country's crude oil supply, hoped that he would be an agent of change and believed his campaign promises to tackle corruption and stand up to the oil companies. Yet, as Isaac Osuoka, an activist from the Niger Delta region, pointed out in an interview with a Nigerian journalist recently, they have have been gravely disappointed. When the Shell company had another huge oil spill this past summer, Jonathan and his government looked the other way. Even those within his system that used to work for environmental rights seem to have been infected with the poison of corruption and are willing to gloss over the aggregious acts of the multinational oil companies as long as the government is getting their revenue. Osuoka says that "People in the Niger Delta now realize that Jonathan is a waste of time." If the Occupy Nigeria movement is any indication, that seems to be the general consensus of the country. Their demands are clear. Apart from the very specific demand of a return of the fuel subsidy and regulation of the price at N65, they are also asking for the government to reduce its salaries by 70%. They want definitive change in the modus operandi, and if this president will not bring that change, they will not hesitate to seek another one. Given Nigeria's tumultuous history, that could be a very disastrous choice. One can only hope that President Jonathan will begin to listen to the people and their desire for change. Until he does, and acts in the best interests of the people of Nigeria, and not the government and the oil companies,there will be no way forward.
I say it's about time for the world to be made aware of the injustices suffered by the Nigerian people in what is the world's 8th largest exporter of oil. If you are talking about nation-states that are ruled by oil, Nigeria should be a main topic in that conversation. 80% of the government's revenue comes from oil sales. The most populous country in Africa, with an estimated 160 million people,is home to many multinational oil corporations, Shell being the largest, with Mobil, Chevron, and Texaco playing smaller roles. These corporations, Shell in particular, have exported the wealth of Nigeria's natural resources for years and rapaciously desecrated the Niger Delta in the southeast of the country to do so. Remember the BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast in April of 2010? At that time, BBC News released an article that went largely unnoticed that brought to light the fact that oil spills the size of the BP spill that sparked international outrage had been occurring yearly in the Niger Delta for 40 years. An estimated 13 million barrels of oil have spilled into the Delta, destroying the environmental vitality of the Delta region, not to mention greatly endangering the well-being and safety of the 31 million people who call the Delta region of Nigeria home.
There was once a man who became the voice of the people, specifically the Ogoni minority, to protest against the injustices perpetrated by Shell in that part of Nigeria,and he was eventually arrested and executed by the military government in power at the time. Ken Saro-Wiwa was the leader of a group called MOSOP, which stands for Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, that led a non-violent campaign to protest environmental degradation of the Ogoni lands and rivers by Shell. He, along with 8 other leaders of MOSOP, who collectively came to be known as the Ogoni Nine, were tried, convicted, and then eventually executed under the military government of General Sani Abacha in November of 1995, sending a chilling message to the Nigerian people that you don't mess with an industry that is filling the government's coffers, regardless of its human and environmental rights abuses. Their deaths sparked international outrage and led to Nigeria's exclusion from the Commonwealth of Nations for 3 years. Yet the world, and definitely the countries that are the recipients of Nigeria's oil exports, the United States being one of them, seemed to forget the fact that Saro-Wiwa and his movement spoke for millions of people who were suffering at the hands of these corporations. And so the spills and the violence continued, as did the profits for the government.
How does all this relate to what the people in Nigeria are protesting about now? Well the chief complaint of the people, the jumping-off point for these protests, is the removal of the fuel subsidy by their President on New Years Day. With the fuel subsidy, the average Nigerian was paying N65, or 65 naira per litre for fuel, which is used for not just transportation but also cooking and generators in areas where electricity is scarce. This translates to about $1.66 a gallon in US terms. That sounds like an amazing deal to us, but you have to remember that the majority of Nigerians live on less than $2 a day.Most Nigerians felt that this was the only tangible benefit they received from living in one of the world's largest oil producing countries.Understand that almost all of the oil that is extracted by multinational companies is refined and sold somewhere else. A negligible amount is actually reserved for Nigerians, and the domestic refineries that do exist in the country are either inoperable or in grave disrepair. So the oil that Nigerians use is imported from other countries, yet was subsidized and therefore price-regulated by the government until January 1 of this year. When the fuel subsidy was removed without warning, the price of fuel immediately doubled to N120 a litre, or the equivalent of $3.52 a gallon here in the U.S. For someone who struggles to provide for their family on $2 a day, this is a very sudden and steep change to make in their necessary spending. President Jonathan claims that the $8 billion that the government will save by removal of the subsidy will be used to develop infrastructure in the country and support education and health care programs. The problem with that is that most Nigerians do not believe him. The government has a long track record of corruption, waste, and outright stealing from the people, and his tenure so far has proved to be no different. The Nigerian political blog Omojuwa took a critical look at the 2012 federal budget and pointed out such wasteful and unnecessary elements as: N 7.2 billion, or N20 million per day, is allotted for the overhead of the State House, the workplace for the President and Vice President. Their local travel budget is 2 million naira per day, and their international travel budget is 3 million naira per day. N265 million is budgeted to buy new computers for the President's office, N295 million for new furniture, and N 1.8 billion to "maintain existing furniture, office, and residential headquarters." Keep in mind that the average Nigerian lives on about N 330 a day.
This is the second central complaint of the unions and protesters who have now organized themselves as the Occupy Nigeria movement. They feel that this Jonathan-led government is continuing with the trend of wasteful and extravagant spending on itself, and forsaking equal and fair distribution of the government's resources to average Nigerian citizens. Goodluck Jonathan came to power because of the death of the President Umaru Yar'Adua in May 2010, under whom he served as Vice President. He was popularly selected in April of 2011, just 9 short months ago, in a controversial election complete with accusations of rigging and resulting violence in the mainly Muslim northern part of the country. Many people,though, especially residents of the Delta region where Jonathan hails from and the bedrock of the country's crude oil supply, hoped that he would be an agent of change and believed his campaign promises to tackle corruption and stand up to the oil companies. Yet, as Isaac Osuoka, an activist from the Niger Delta region, pointed out in an interview with a Nigerian journalist recently, they have have been gravely disappointed. When the Shell company had another huge oil spill this past summer, Jonathan and his government looked the other way. Even those within his system that used to work for environmental rights seem to have been infected with the poison of corruption and are willing to gloss over the aggregious acts of the multinational oil companies as long as the government is getting their revenue. Osuoka says that "People in the Niger Delta now realize that Jonathan is a waste of time." If the Occupy Nigeria movement is any indication, that seems to be the general consensus of the country. Their demands are clear. Apart from the very specific demand of a return of the fuel subsidy and regulation of the price at N65, they are also asking for the government to reduce its salaries by 70%. They want definitive change in the modus operandi, and if this president will not bring that change, they will not hesitate to seek another one. Given Nigeria's tumultuous history, that could be a very disastrous choice. One can only hope that President Jonathan will begin to listen to the people and their desire for change. Until he does, and acts in the best interests of the people of Nigeria, and not the government and the oil companies,there will be no way forward.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
A Small Act...Has a Huge Effect!
Recently I was privileged to attend a showing of the documentary A Small Act( at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival here in Chicago with some friends. This documentary focuses on the journey of one man, Chris Mburu, as he seeks to give sponsorship and hope to needy and bright students in the villages of Kenya. Chris himself was sponsored for years as a student by a Jewish refugee living in Sweden, Hilde Back. Hilde's sponsorship was a small sacrifice for her-she just sent a check for $15 monthly to an organization sponsoring students in Kenya. But for Chris, he felt as if Hilde was an angel who was giving him an opportunity he might never have had otherwise.
Chris made the most of that opportunity, going on to university and then eventually on to Harvard. He began working in a high-profile position for the UN as a human-rights lawyer. He had a huge passion, though, to give the brightest of Kenya's young students a chance at secondary school and an opportunity to improve their situation in life and that of their families. Kenya is one of the few African countries that has free compulsory primary education. Secondary education, though, remains a privilege for only those fortunate families who can afford to send their child to school. In the documentary, you follow the progress of the foundation as they seek to select students to help and you follow the journeys of 3 students in particular as they explain their dreams of being able to continue in school and improve their lives.
What stuck with me about this documentary was what is at stake for these children in continuing to get an education, especially for the young girls. It reminded me very much of the plight of the students in Liberia that have captured my heart. For the young girls, if they are not given the chance to continue in secondary school, the chances of them getting pregnant and starting their families in their early teens increase considerably. The dreams that these children have for their future will likely be replaced by the harsh realities of poverty, taking care of family members by working at a young age, raising their children and continuing that cycle of living on less than a dollar a day. Opportunities for education help break this cycle, and if done in the right way, the schools can also serve as community centers that can help empower the whole family so that the children can stay in school and the family can still provide for themselves. Education also combats ignorance and powerlessness in a society, and when the young people are empowered through knowledge and opportunity, they will not be prey to the ideologies of warlords and corrupt politicians. This is one reason why the current president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, often speaks about education as the key to rebuilding their society and ensuring that history does not repeat itself.
The other thing that struck me is how such a small act can change a child's and a family's life forever. For Americans, $25 a month might be what we spend on a weeknight dinner out, or in buying a new outfit for ourselves. If we instead spend that $25 a month on supporting a student so they can continue to receive their education, we will never miss it but that $25 will change their life. Maybe I should say that again. We will never miss it, but it will change their life!
As most of you know, Doors of Hope Educational Foundation was formed with the hope of giving this type of sponsorship to needy children in Liberia. In Liberia, there is no free education. Schools are largely run by churches, which presents a unique opportunity for reaching children, their families, and by extension the whole community with the Gospel and love of Jesus. We have the privilege of partnering with two Christian organizations through sponsorship. One is Cornerstone Academy, a small Christian school in the neighborhood of Fiamah in the capital city of Monrovia. This school was started by Pastor Prosper Nopolu and his wife Martha because they were burdened by the number of kids they saw in their community who were selling things in the market or working at such a young age to help support their families. He began going door to door and telling the parents, "We are opening a school and your child can come for free. We just want them to be in school and learning." The school currently has about 35 students at the close of its second year of operation. They had 55 students at one point, but many left because the school just couldn't support them. There are 4 teachers along with the headmaster Pastor Prosper, and the teachers are supposed to receive a salary of $20 or $30 USD a month, which amounts to a little less than a dollar a day. This is a travesty, especially considering that they work just as hard, if not harder, as teachers here in the States. They make up all their own lessons, as they have no curriculum and no textbooks. Well, they WILL have textbooks and some teacher training materials for the next school year because Humboldt Community Christian School here in Chicago graciously donated a ton of books and supplies!!!
I met another pastor in Monrovia, though, who along with being a pastor, student at seminary, and overseer of a school, was working a part-time job at a factory(which is extremely difficult to find) just so that he could pay the teachers who labored at the school. This is the situation at Cornerstone as well. The resources are just very scarce, and so it is just a daily labor of love and sacrifice. Doors of Hope is starting small with 15 students we are seeking to sponsor, and also providing sponsorship for the 4 teachers. I am posting the pics of the kids here that need sponsors, but they are also on the Doors of Hope Facebook page and you can read more info there as well. My goal is to get all of these students and teachers sponsored by August 1st! This will make such a huge impact on this school and their ability to reach out to the community!! Please consider if you would be able to make this commitment and then DO IT!!
The other organization Doors of Hope is partnering with is Journeys Against Violence, which is a rehabilitation program for ex-child soldiers run by my spiritual brother Joshua Blayhi. Joshua has his own amazing story of how God transformed him from a tribal priest and rebel warlord who was responsible for the deaths of many innocent people to a sold-out servant of Christ who is now taking these young men who used to fight for him in and teaching them about Christ and also giving them the skills to rebuild their lives and get back into society. Kind of sounds like Paul, huh?? There are currently 12 young men, ex-fighters, who live at the JAV compound outside the capital city of Monrovia. These young men, in their late teens and early 20's, have mostly been rejected by their families and abandoned by society for the terrible things they have done. But Joshua knows better than most that God is able to redeem them and turn their lives into something useful and beautiful for His glory. When I spoke with these men, they all expressed a desire to me to finish school. With sponsorship, these young men would have their daily needs of food, clothing, transportation met and also this would provide for a teacher to come to them and provide them with alternative educational training. Again, $25 a month is a small amount to us, but to them it creates opportunities for a whole new world. Please consider if you would be able to make this commitment, to sponsor one of these 12 young men. Be aware, though, that this means entering into a relationship with this young man, encouraging him, mentoring him through letters, and it should not be taken lightly because these young men desperately need people they can depend on and look up to. Again, I would like to see all 12 of these young men fully sponsored by August 1st!! Until I have arranged sponsorship for all these guys, I cannot give their individual names and stories just because it is very important that some not be favored over others. But WHEN they are all sponsored, then you will have the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with them that will be life-changing for both of you!!
You can check out the details of sponsoring more specifically on the Doors of Hope Facebook page and our website which is almost ready!! When you make the decision to sponsor, contact me, Ruth Rivera, and I will send you all the details and info you need. Thank you for considering this and for being a huge part (through small acts) of extending God's love to our brothers and sisters in Liberia!!
Chris made the most of that opportunity, going on to university and then eventually on to Harvard. He began working in a high-profile position for the UN as a human-rights lawyer. He had a huge passion, though, to give the brightest of Kenya's young students a chance at secondary school and an opportunity to improve their situation in life and that of their families. Kenya is one of the few African countries that has free compulsory primary education. Secondary education, though, remains a privilege for only those fortunate families who can afford to send their child to school. In the documentary, you follow the progress of the foundation as they seek to select students to help and you follow the journeys of 3 students in particular as they explain their dreams of being able to continue in school and improve their lives.
What stuck with me about this documentary was what is at stake for these children in continuing to get an education, especially for the young girls. It reminded me very much of the plight of the students in Liberia that have captured my heart. For the young girls, if they are not given the chance to continue in secondary school, the chances of them getting pregnant and starting their families in their early teens increase considerably. The dreams that these children have for their future will likely be replaced by the harsh realities of poverty, taking care of family members by working at a young age, raising their children and continuing that cycle of living on less than a dollar a day. Opportunities for education help break this cycle, and if done in the right way, the schools can also serve as community centers that can help empower the whole family so that the children can stay in school and the family can still provide for themselves. Education also combats ignorance and powerlessness in a society, and when the young people are empowered through knowledge and opportunity, they will not be prey to the ideologies of warlords and corrupt politicians. This is one reason why the current president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, often speaks about education as the key to rebuilding their society and ensuring that history does not repeat itself.
The other thing that struck me is how such a small act can change a child's and a family's life forever. For Americans, $25 a month might be what we spend on a weeknight dinner out, or in buying a new outfit for ourselves. If we instead spend that $25 a month on supporting a student so they can continue to receive their education, we will never miss it but that $25 will change their life. Maybe I should say that again. We will never miss it, but it will change their life!
As most of you know, Doors of Hope Educational Foundation was formed with the hope of giving this type of sponsorship to needy children in Liberia. In Liberia, there is no free education. Schools are largely run by churches, which presents a unique opportunity for reaching children, their families, and by extension the whole community with the Gospel and love of Jesus. We have the privilege of partnering with two Christian organizations through sponsorship. One is Cornerstone Academy, a small Christian school in the neighborhood of Fiamah in the capital city of Monrovia. This school was started by Pastor Prosper Nopolu and his wife Martha because they were burdened by the number of kids they saw in their community who were selling things in the market or working at such a young age to help support their families. He began going door to door and telling the parents, "We are opening a school and your child can come for free. We just want them to be in school and learning." The school currently has about 35 students at the close of its second year of operation. They had 55 students at one point, but many left because the school just couldn't support them. There are 4 teachers along with the headmaster Pastor Prosper, and the teachers are supposed to receive a salary of $20 or $30 USD a month, which amounts to a little less than a dollar a day. This is a travesty, especially considering that they work just as hard, if not harder, as teachers here in the States. They make up all their own lessons, as they have no curriculum and no textbooks. Well, they WILL have textbooks and some teacher training materials for the next school year because Humboldt Community Christian School here in Chicago graciously donated a ton of books and supplies!!!
I met another pastor in Monrovia, though, who along with being a pastor, student at seminary, and overseer of a school, was working a part-time job at a factory(which is extremely difficult to find) just so that he could pay the teachers who labored at the school. This is the situation at Cornerstone as well. The resources are just very scarce, and so it is just a daily labor of love and sacrifice. Doors of Hope is starting small with 15 students we are seeking to sponsor, and also providing sponsorship for the 4 teachers. I am posting the pics of the kids here that need sponsors, but they are also on the Doors of Hope Facebook page and you can read more info there as well. My goal is to get all of these students and teachers sponsored by August 1st! This will make such a huge impact on this school and their ability to reach out to the community!! Please consider if you would be able to make this commitment and then DO IT!!
The other organization Doors of Hope is partnering with is Journeys Against Violence, which is a rehabilitation program for ex-child soldiers run by my spiritual brother Joshua Blayhi. Joshua has his own amazing story of how God transformed him from a tribal priest and rebel warlord who was responsible for the deaths of many innocent people to a sold-out servant of Christ who is now taking these young men who used to fight for him in and teaching them about Christ and also giving them the skills to rebuild their lives and get back into society. Kind of sounds like Paul, huh?? There are currently 12 young men, ex-fighters, who live at the JAV compound outside the capital city of Monrovia. These young men, in their late teens and early 20's, have mostly been rejected by their families and abandoned by society for the terrible things they have done. But Joshua knows better than most that God is able to redeem them and turn their lives into something useful and beautiful for His glory. When I spoke with these men, they all expressed a desire to me to finish school. With sponsorship, these young men would have their daily needs of food, clothing, transportation met and also this would provide for a teacher to come to them and provide them with alternative educational training. Again, $25 a month is a small amount to us, but to them it creates opportunities for a whole new world. Please consider if you would be able to make this commitment, to sponsor one of these 12 young men. Be aware, though, that this means entering into a relationship with this young man, encouraging him, mentoring him through letters, and it should not be taken lightly because these young men desperately need people they can depend on and look up to. Again, I would like to see all 12 of these young men fully sponsored by August 1st!! Until I have arranged sponsorship for all these guys, I cannot give their individual names and stories just because it is very important that some not be favored over others. But WHEN they are all sponsored, then you will have the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with them that will be life-changing for both of you!!
You can check out the details of sponsoring more specifically on the Doors of Hope Facebook page and our website which is almost ready!! When you make the decision to sponsor, contact me, Ruth Rivera, and I will send you all the details and info you need. Thank you for considering this and for being a huge part (through small acts) of extending God's love to our brothers and sisters in Liberia!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Will you be one of the 250 people to give $20 to establish Doors of Hope in Africa?
3 weeks away from my upcoming trip to Liberia and I am super excited to get there and to get working on setting up this sponsorship program for the youth and former child soldiers at Cornerstone Academy and Journeys Against Violence. Our organization is still in need of $5, 000 to meet our goal of $10,000 to establish this work. When I look at that number, sometimes, for a moment, I am tempted to despair. But then I remember that God, my God, owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He is the Creator and Sustainer of everything and everyone in this precious world. So what is $5,000 to Him?
I also think of my brothers and sisters in Liberia who have persevered through so many obstacles and against so many insurmountable odds, and I think that the least I can do is work my butt off here to support them as they rebuild their country. With that in mind, I am asking for 250 partners over these next two weeks. 250 people who will be willing to invest $20 in this work of sponsoring education.
Many people have already given and I am so thankful for that and I have been so encouraged. Some have been good friends of mine, some have been people who I am barely acquainted with yet they have caught on to this vision.
So if you invest in this work, what exactly are you investing in? I am glad you asked:) Doors of Hope, the NGO that I am establishing in Liberia, has the mission of empowering youth and former child soldiers through education. We are partnering specifically with 2 groups in Monrovia, Liberia. One is a school, Cornerstone Academy, which provides free education to the poorest of the poor, the street sellers and children of disabled parents. Most of the children's parents are disabled because of injuries sustained in the war. Cornerstone currently has 55 students, grades K-5th, although the ages range from 4 to 22. The school is free, but operates on little resources and is unable to pay its staff or provide any books or school supplies for the students. Starting our sponsorship program there will ensure that the children are able to stay in school and that the quality of their education improves. One of the things I plan to do when I go in March is to help with the construction of a portable library and Doors of Hope has already collected a ton of books here to start stocking it.
The other organization is Journeys Against Violence, which is essentially a rehab program for former child soldiers run by a former rebel general who had a spiritual transformation and is now passionate about seeing these young men get their lives back and be productive members of society again. We are hoping to hire a teacher to come to the compound where these 12 young men live and provide them with lessons 3 nights a week. This type of alternative education is the best place to start for these guys since most schools do not want them at this point. In the future, Doors of Hope will sponsor these young men as they complete their education.
If you know anything about Liberia, you know that the needs are great. I spoke with someone recently who had lived and worked there for awhile, and he said that Liberia makes Haiti look like a resort. While a little crass, he is not far from the truth. The needs are great, but the people there are so determined to pick up the pieces and move on to better things. It is this determination that I feed off of and that drives me in the work I am trying to do here.
So, 2 weeks, 250 people, $20 each. I believe that people will step up and help Doors of Hope meet our goal. I look forward to going to Liberia in March with the funds in hand to get these projects going . I will keep a running tally of this fundraising blitz on Facebook, Twitter, etc. so people know how close we are getting to the goal. Please if you read this and you care, invest $20 and then send this to your friends, family, help get the word out to as many people as possible. Let me know first what your pledge is so that I can update the tally, and then you can donate in several ways:through Paypal (to ruthriv66@hotmail.com) or you can send a check or cash to Ruth Rivera, Doors of Hope Foundation, 2026 N. Mozart Street, Chicago, IL 60647.
Much love and blessings to you all!
I also think of my brothers and sisters in Liberia who have persevered through so many obstacles and against so many insurmountable odds, and I think that the least I can do is work my butt off here to support them as they rebuild their country. With that in mind, I am asking for 250 partners over these next two weeks. 250 people who will be willing to invest $20 in this work of sponsoring education.
Many people have already given and I am so thankful for that and I have been so encouraged. Some have been good friends of mine, some have been people who I am barely acquainted with yet they have caught on to this vision.
So if you invest in this work, what exactly are you investing in? I am glad you asked:) Doors of Hope, the NGO that I am establishing in Liberia, has the mission of empowering youth and former child soldiers through education. We are partnering specifically with 2 groups in Monrovia, Liberia. One is a school, Cornerstone Academy, which provides free education to the poorest of the poor, the street sellers and children of disabled parents. Most of the children's parents are disabled because of injuries sustained in the war. Cornerstone currently has 55 students, grades K-5th, although the ages range from 4 to 22. The school is free, but operates on little resources and is unable to pay its staff or provide any books or school supplies for the students. Starting our sponsorship program there will ensure that the children are able to stay in school and that the quality of their education improves. One of the things I plan to do when I go in March is to help with the construction of a portable library and Doors of Hope has already collected a ton of books here to start stocking it.
The other organization is Journeys Against Violence, which is essentially a rehab program for former child soldiers run by a former rebel general who had a spiritual transformation and is now passionate about seeing these young men get their lives back and be productive members of society again. We are hoping to hire a teacher to come to the compound where these 12 young men live and provide them with lessons 3 nights a week. This type of alternative education is the best place to start for these guys since most schools do not want them at this point. In the future, Doors of Hope will sponsor these young men as they complete their education.
If you know anything about Liberia, you know that the needs are great. I spoke with someone recently who had lived and worked there for awhile, and he said that Liberia makes Haiti look like a resort. While a little crass, he is not far from the truth. The needs are great, but the people there are so determined to pick up the pieces and move on to better things. It is this determination that I feed off of and that drives me in the work I am trying to do here.
So, 2 weeks, 250 people, $20 each. I believe that people will step up and help Doors of Hope meet our goal. I look forward to going to Liberia in March with the funds in hand to get these projects going . I will keep a running tally of this fundraising blitz on Facebook, Twitter, etc. so people know how close we are getting to the goal. Please if you read this and you care, invest $20 and then send this to your friends, family, help get the word out to as many people as possible. Let me know first what your pledge is so that I can update the tally, and then you can donate in several ways:through Paypal (to ruthriv66@hotmail.com) or you can send a check or cash to Ruth Rivera, Doors of Hope Foundation, 2026 N. Mozart Street, Chicago, IL 60647.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Gloriously Ruined and Seriously Disturbed
Hello, my name is Ruth Rivera and I am gloriously ruined and seriously disturbed. It is a great feeling. You should try it sometime. Let me explain.
Over the past year, I have taken two trips to Liberia, West Africa. If you are not familiar with Liberia, it is currently the 3rd poorest country in the world with most of its citizens living on a dollar a day. The country is rebuilding a stable society after fourteen years of civil war ripped the fabric of that country to pieces. For me, my visits to this beautiful land have put flesh to all my ideas of justice and empowering the poor. All of these things were nice ideals for me before, now I see they are my life's work and the calling of anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ.
For several weeks after coming back from Liberia, I struggled to resume normal life in American society. I felt guilty, I felt angry, I felt many things. But then I came across a statement by Kay Warren, wife of pastor Rick Warren and an advocate for AIDS patients across the globe, that described exactly how I felt: gloriously ruined and seriously disturbed. Yep, that's me. I realize that I do not want to go back to my oblivious comfort zone of Starbucks and jewelry parties. I want the faces and stories of my brothers and sisters in Liberia ever before me because they remind me that this world is so much bigger than me and so much bigger than America. And so I move on, feeling out of place more than I used to, feeling misunderstood alot, but that is OK with me, because I have seen things and met people whose stories I cannot forget. I don't want to forget. I want to share them with the world so that others might break out of their comfort zones and seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the poor.
As most of my friends know, I am establishing a non-profit organization here in the States called the Doors of Hope Educational Foundation that will partner with two groups in Liberia to sponsor the education of youth and former child soldiers. This vision was birthed out of my conversations with former child soldiers who told me that they are cast out by society and the help of these giant aid organizations rarely reaches them or provides education for them or their children.I have established great relationships with a pastor who runs a school there and with Joshua Blayhi who works tirelessly to rehabilitate former child soldiers and create new opportunities for them. I was privileged to meet these men and knew that I would do whatever possible to support their efforts and partner with them. And so I press on.
Here comes the disturbing and uncomfortable part for my readers. All of this work requires money, money which is not readily available when you live in a country with 85% unemployment and make less than a dollar a day to feed your family of five. My brothers and sisters there are doing everything in their power to lift themselves and their people up from the ashes of poverty and the ravages of war, but we here in America can support them so much by giving of our abundant resources. You might be laughing right now and think, HA! I do not have abundant resources. I know that these are trying financial times in America. They are for my family as well. But I am going to share an inconvenient truth with you. No matter how little you have, I seriously doubt that any of you live on $30 a month. No matter how little you have, you are greatly blessed with resources that are not even available to our brothers and sisters in Liberia or in much of the majority world. We are truly a privileged people. My friend in Liberia lives in a two room house that she shares with her brother and sister. That house sits in a row of apartments with one community bathroom at the end and one communal kitchen in the back. My friend goes to the market in town most days and sells secondhand clothes and shoes to supplement her brother's $20 a month salary as a pastor of a small congregation. I have no idea how they pay their monthly rent of $45 each month, but I do know that they only eat twice, sometimes only once, a day. Yet every time I call her, she says she is doing fine and she blesses God. Her gratefulness, joy, and faith truly convict me. How dare I complain about minor inconveniences in my life like they don't serve my favorite type of scone at Starbucks anymore or Facebook changed their format once again. Seriously people????
So I have been seeking to raise $10,000 before another planned trip back to Liberia in March to get this foundation off the ground and to help Cornerstone Academy in Liberia. I have boxes and boxes of textbooks and school supplies waiting to be shipped to Cornerstone. I am wanting to complete the incorporation process and sign all the papers in Liberia that will make us an official NGO there. I know 55 precious children who desperately need to complete their education to provide better opportunities for themselves and their families. I know 12 young men who are living at a compound on the edge of town where they are undergoing job training and psychosocial counseling. They all have dreams of finishing school so they will be respected and have better opportunities. $10,000 may seem like a large goal, and with 6 weeks left, I am far from reaching it. But I am very optimistic about it. I know that people will catch hold of this vision and do what they can to support it. To reach our goal, we still need $6,000. If 60 people would give $100, that goal would be met. If 100 people would give $60, that goal would be met. If 300 people would give $20, that goal would be met. I really believe in the power of doing small things with great love. I really believe that many people giving what they can can create the means to effect huge changes in a school in Liberia which will then affect the community and society as a whole. Please take a moment to consider how you can support your brothers and sisters in Liberia. You can donate through paypal to ruthriv66@hotmail.com or you can send it to my address which is 2026 N. Mozart Street, Chicago, IL 60647. Just mark that this donation is for Doors of Hope.
I truly appreciate all the support that has already been shown for this effort. This has been and will continue to be an interesting journey. Some people have questioned me or my methods, and that is fine with me. Some people have astonished me with their apathy towards their brothers and sisters around the globe. I don't say that to shame anyone, I just have been truly puzzled by it. I know that what I am doing is for the Kingdom and is fulfilling Christ's call to do justly and to love mercy. It is hard to transmit the plight of someone in a foreign country and make it real to people here who might not be aware, but I trust that God will move in people's hearts where I can not. And so I press on. I am seriously disturbed and gloriously ruined. It is a great feeling. You should try it sometime.
Over the past year, I have taken two trips to Liberia, West Africa. If you are not familiar with Liberia, it is currently the 3rd poorest country in the world with most of its citizens living on a dollar a day. The country is rebuilding a stable society after fourteen years of civil war ripped the fabric of that country to pieces. For me, my visits to this beautiful land have put flesh to all my ideas of justice and empowering the poor. All of these things were nice ideals for me before, now I see they are my life's work and the calling of anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ.
For several weeks after coming back from Liberia, I struggled to resume normal life in American society. I felt guilty, I felt angry, I felt many things. But then I came across a statement by Kay Warren, wife of pastor Rick Warren and an advocate for AIDS patients across the globe, that described exactly how I felt: gloriously ruined and seriously disturbed. Yep, that's me. I realize that I do not want to go back to my oblivious comfort zone of Starbucks and jewelry parties. I want the faces and stories of my brothers and sisters in Liberia ever before me because they remind me that this world is so much bigger than me and so much bigger than America. And so I move on, feeling out of place more than I used to, feeling misunderstood alot, but that is OK with me, because I have seen things and met people whose stories I cannot forget. I don't want to forget. I want to share them with the world so that others might break out of their comfort zones and seek to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the poor.
As most of my friends know, I am establishing a non-profit organization here in the States called the Doors of Hope Educational Foundation that will partner with two groups in Liberia to sponsor the education of youth and former child soldiers. This vision was birthed out of my conversations with former child soldiers who told me that they are cast out by society and the help of these giant aid organizations rarely reaches them or provides education for them or their children.I have established great relationships with a pastor who runs a school there and with Joshua Blayhi who works tirelessly to rehabilitate former child soldiers and create new opportunities for them. I was privileged to meet these men and knew that I would do whatever possible to support their efforts and partner with them. And so I press on.
Here comes the disturbing and uncomfortable part for my readers. All of this work requires money, money which is not readily available when you live in a country with 85% unemployment and make less than a dollar a day to feed your family of five. My brothers and sisters there are doing everything in their power to lift themselves and their people up from the ashes of poverty and the ravages of war, but we here in America can support them so much by giving of our abundant resources. You might be laughing right now and think, HA! I do not have abundant resources. I know that these are trying financial times in America. They are for my family as well. But I am going to share an inconvenient truth with you. No matter how little you have, I seriously doubt that any of you live on $30 a month. No matter how little you have, you are greatly blessed with resources that are not even available to our brothers and sisters in Liberia or in much of the majority world. We are truly a privileged people. My friend in Liberia lives in a two room house that she shares with her brother and sister. That house sits in a row of apartments with one community bathroom at the end and one communal kitchen in the back. My friend goes to the market in town most days and sells secondhand clothes and shoes to supplement her brother's $20 a month salary as a pastor of a small congregation. I have no idea how they pay their monthly rent of $45 each month, but I do know that they only eat twice, sometimes only once, a day. Yet every time I call her, she says she is doing fine and she blesses God. Her gratefulness, joy, and faith truly convict me. How dare I complain about minor inconveniences in my life like they don't serve my favorite type of scone at Starbucks anymore or Facebook changed their format once again. Seriously people????
So I have been seeking to raise $10,000 before another planned trip back to Liberia in March to get this foundation off the ground and to help Cornerstone Academy in Liberia. I have boxes and boxes of textbooks and school supplies waiting to be shipped to Cornerstone. I am wanting to complete the incorporation process and sign all the papers in Liberia that will make us an official NGO there. I know 55 precious children who desperately need to complete their education to provide better opportunities for themselves and their families. I know 12 young men who are living at a compound on the edge of town where they are undergoing job training and psychosocial counseling. They all have dreams of finishing school so they will be respected and have better opportunities. $10,000 may seem like a large goal, and with 6 weeks left, I am far from reaching it. But I am very optimistic about it. I know that people will catch hold of this vision and do what they can to support it. To reach our goal, we still need $6,000. If 60 people would give $100, that goal would be met. If 100 people would give $60, that goal would be met. If 300 people would give $20, that goal would be met. I really believe in the power of doing small things with great love. I really believe that many people giving what they can can create the means to effect huge changes in a school in Liberia which will then affect the community and society as a whole. Please take a moment to consider how you can support your brothers and sisters in Liberia. You can donate through paypal to ruthriv66@hotmail.com or you can send it to my address which is 2026 N. Mozart Street, Chicago, IL 60647. Just mark that this donation is for Doors of Hope.
I truly appreciate all the support that has already been shown for this effort. This has been and will continue to be an interesting journey. Some people have questioned me or my methods, and that is fine with me. Some people have astonished me with their apathy towards their brothers and sisters around the globe. I don't say that to shame anyone, I just have been truly puzzled by it. I know that what I am doing is for the Kingdom and is fulfilling Christ's call to do justly and to love mercy. It is hard to transmit the plight of someone in a foreign country and make it real to people here who might not be aware, but I trust that God will move in people's hearts where I can not. And so I press on. I am seriously disturbed and gloriously ruined. It is a great feeling. You should try it sometime.
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