Devastating Famine In Niger. Millions are going to die! Please read!!!

[swirlundergrounder]

July 26, 2005 — Last year, when the United Nations started raising concern about famine in the central African nation of Niger, it predicted devastation if nothing was done.

Despite those warnings, millions in Niger are now facing devastating food shortages due to drought, followed by heavy rains that flooded the nation's farmland. Aid workers in Niger accused donors of failing to respond early to calls for help that began in November. Others accuse President Tandja Mamadou of not acting quickly enough for fear of embarrassing his government. What is the world doing to help?

Tonight "Nightline" shows a stunning report from Niger by the BBC's Hillary Anderson, and Ted Koppel will discuss the issue with Mark Malloch Brown of the U.N. Development Program. He played a key role in the swift response to the tsunami in the Indian Ocean eight months ago. Can the same help be brought to the starving children of Niger?

If you are interested in learning more about making a contribution, please visit the following sites.

OXFAM:

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/

http://www.oxfamamerica.org

UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD PROGRAMMES:

http://www.wfp.org/how_to_help/donat...;sub_section=5

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

http://www.aah-usa.org/programs/niger.html

UNICEF:

https://www.unicefusa.org/site/apps/ka/sd/donor.asp?

Please note: These links are provided to help users learn how to help Niger famine victims, but ABC News does not endorse specific charities. Please review them yourself to decide whether to contribute.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...tory?id=980433

[becha]

Thanks for the info.. my wife and I saw a speciall on TV about this and were basically brought to tears...

We wanted to find out what we could do to help so your post is greatly appreciated.

[swirlundergrounder]

Originally Posted by becha

Thanks for the info.. my wife and I saw a speciall on TV about this and were basically brought to tears...

We wanted to find out what we could do to help so your post is greatly appreciated.

Oh no problem. I think that we Americans are not informed enough about what's going on in the world today. I didn't know this was going on for as long as it was. I mean I didn't know it was this bad until recently.

Spread the news and give a little bit. If everyone in America gave even a few dollars it would make such a big difference.

we're even trying to find a way to sponser a child over there in Africa but we can't find an agency that is no-christian affiliated. Nothing against christians but a lot of the money that they recieve go's back into their own church according to some of the financial statements of these groups that are posted on the Internet. Some of these groups even take 85% of your donation and puts it back into thier church while only 15% of it go's towards the charity so you have to be careful about who to give your money to...

[JMT]

Originally Posted by .......otnisaJ

[quote author=becha link=board=6;threadid=18610;start=0#msg221594 date=1123212939]Spread the news and give a little bit. If everyone in America gave even a few dollars it would make such a big difference.

what guarantees are there any money will make it to the people who need it over there? the UN is as as corrupt as any organization there is.

i watched this show last week where Doctors without Borders leaders said the first Live Aid concert set the famine back at least a decade bc they threw money at the wrong people.[/quote]

[swirlundergrounder]

Originally Posted by JMT

[quote author=.......otnisaJ yrreT link=board=6;threadid=18610;start=0#msg221599 date=1123213744]
[quote author=becha link=board=6;threadid=18610;start=0#msg221594 date=1123212939]Spread the news and give a little bit. If everyone in America gave even a few dollars it would make such a big difference.

what guarantees are there any money will make it to the people who need it over there? the UN is as as corrupt as any organization there is.

i watched this show last week where Doctors without Borders leaders said the first Live Aid concert set the famine back at least a decade bc they threw money at the wrong people.[/quote]
[/quote]Yeah you're right. Unfortunetly some of the money gets into corrupt hands. But trying to do something is better than just sitting around and not doing anything hoping that someone else will instead of you.....

[LeVeL]

I for one see it as a neverending problem, the people of Niger corrupt their own people and even if we try to help by giving money it still doesn't end.

Over the years the US has been helping by having the U.N. Aid the people but its not making any difference anyway, this is just a problem we cant stop from far. This blame goes to Niger for fucking their own people up and for the rest of the African nations that do the same.

I just dont see no pity anymore...you can put commercials at 3 am in the mornings saying to sponsor a kid and bla...bla...and you know what I will change the channel. When I was a kid I remember once seeing a commercial which made me very sad...I bothered by parents about sponsoring a kid but that didn't make a difference because just sponsoring 1 person is not going to make a difference when you have the other millions still hungry.

People will Die and our lives will go on, I just see it as a cycle of life, I guess and there is nothing we can do. :-\

Just like you see stray dog in the street skinny because he cant find shit to eat which gets captured by the dog catcher and then killed, yet there are dogs owned that live a long and healthy life which is fed good food.

[swirlundergrounder]

Originally Posted by LeVeL'

..I bothered by parents about sponsoring a kid but that didn't make a difference because just sponsoring 1 person is not going to make a difference when you have the other millions still hungry.

But you never know. Saving that one life is a difference. It's a human life and that one human life can make a big difference in the world. Who knows? Maybe that life you save may have the cure for aids or could be some sort of genius like this one girl I saw a story about on Dateline (or was it 60 Minutes). Someone had sponsered this girl who was doomed for certain death. She had no livikng parents or relatives. Turns out this young girl was a genius and she is now going to college here on the East Coast somewhere I think in the New England area. It was very nice story to see. Now that girl is going to school to be a doctor and you know what she's going to do once she gets out of school here? She's going to go back to Africa where she came from and she's going to start her own practice to help her people out.

You got to realize that the things that we take for granted like getting an education, that the children over there would take full advantage of going to school and learning. They sing songs about going to school and learning. But the kids are so poor that they don't have schools or they have to do some kind of work to or try to find food for their families and themselves.

I think a lot of people feel the way you do Level. Feeling that the problem is an on going cycle and that people are going to die regardless. yes that's true. We don't owe anyone anything. we as nation don't have an obliogation to help anyone out. But why should we stand by and do nothing? Why should we take the stance that we can't at least try to fix this problem? Why should we let people, human beings like me and you with the same hopes as we have (on different levels though) suffer and endure the pain that they do.

You're right. We can't save the world. We can't end hunger. we can't end war. But we can make a difference in a life.

I guess having a child of my own has really made this a more sensative issue for me. By the luck of the draw, her soul was born in a body that lives in a part of the world that's somewhat sheilded from this and she will have the security of having everything that she will ever need and want. And then I look into her eyes and I think to myself, what if her little spirit was born into a body that lived in a part of the world with such horrible conditions?

You see it's the kids and the children who are the real victims of this famine, this ongoing corruption and the rest of the world turning their backs on them.

I don't have a lot of money but I do live a very comfortable and happy life and I'm greatful for the things that I have. So every once in a while I like to give some of that back to someone else who may be in desperate need.

[JMT]

there are millions of kids you can help in this country. go be a big brother or big sister to a kid.

[jbit]

This issue is one that will never end.

No amount of aid will stop famine in Africa. Even if you could feed every person right now they will still keep reproducing beyond their ability to support themselves.
It sounds harsh, but its mother nature taking its course.

[swirlundergrounder]

Originally Posted by JMT

there are millions of kids you can help in this country. go be a big brother or big sister to a kid.

Dude... the level of needs of a kid here in this country are nowhere near the level of the needs for a child in a starving nation in Africa.

Go be a big brother to a latch-key kid here in this country that has at least some food to eat and roof over their heads? Or help an emaciated, skin and bones kid that sleeps on dirt in Africa with no food or clean water to drink?

I think that my efforts will go to the later...