The Triangle of Death

I recently read a speech by the Dalai Lama in which he suggested that most of the world's problems are caused by religious preciousness (my phrase not his). Today about 10 Million people are starving because of the protectionist agenda of a religious militant group who display a gollumesque preciousness that makes adherents seem as ugly as Tolkien's selfish creature.

An anti-foreign agenda that orders people to starve rather than seek assistance is not a mandate of Islam. I think that all my Muslim friends would denounce this as violently, if not more, than I do. We have the capacity to feed the hungry, heal the sick, transform our world, but whilst religious groups (Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu etc, all of whose sacred texts speak of love, compassion, care and acceptance) are more concerned with protecting their own precious agendas we will continue to see this kind of evil abuse which results usually in the suffering of the least powerful - whilst the 'fanatics' keep up their strength for the fight.

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MOGADISHU, July 22 (Reuters: Ibrahim Mohamed) - Islamist rebels in Somalia - who control the parts of the country where famine was declared this week - have said aid agencies they expelled from those areas last year cannot return, reversing a previous pledge.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants imposed a ban on food aid in 2010, which the U.N. and Washington say has worsened the crisis, before appearing to reverse it last week.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) was among several groups ordered out of rebel areas which are now preparing to return, describing the situation in Somalia as "extremely dire".

The United Nations told Reuters it had not heard about any new position from the rebels and planned to take last week's pledge at face value and push ahead with food shipments by air and sea.

Al Shabaab had promised to allow relief agencies with "no hidden agendas" greater access to their territory.

"The so-called aid agencies that were already banned and named are not part of the agencies we free to work in al Shabaab areas," al Shabab spokesman, Ali Mohamud Raghe, told a news conference late on Thursday in a rebel-held part of capital Mogadishu.

"They had problems with people and had a hidden agenda. We shall also expel any agency that causes problems for Muslim society," he added, urging hungry Somalis to stay in their homes and wait for the rain to come rather than going to foreign-run refugee camps.

Some 10 million people are affected by famine and drought in a region, dubbed the "triangle of death" by local media, that straddles Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia.

Investing in Hope and Happiness

I have been at World Vision Australia (WVA) now for 5 weeks, and it's been quite a learning curve! It felt as if even before I arrived my diary was full - orientation and introductory meetings, interrupted the few days I had with my team members before they all went on holidays and left me to manage the cluster. “Welcome and See you later...” he said trying to hide the smile and the desperation to get away.

So here I am: My time so far (other than the meetings) has been spent appraising and designing development projects:

• in Azerbaijan we’re going to work to reform education systems so that the business sector has faith in young people (with a focus on the disabled) who are trained in technical trades. And we are going to train and assist Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in diversified crop management and marketing.
• in Afghanistan we’re going to work with women to develop livelihood projects, (with a focus on Bee keeping) so that women and children will become self-supporting and hopeful for a future. And we’re going to work with communities to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS.
• in Pakistan we’re going to train teachers and assist rural communities to educate children, especially girls. And we’re going to train and employ midwifes so that the horrific under 5 mortality rate can be arrested
• in Georgia we’re going to work with the Ministry of Health to decrease the prevalence of HIV/AIDS as a result of migratory work patterns and gender mores, through training, awareness, counselling and testing.

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation that seeks to transform the lives of children and communities by tackling the causes of poverty. They do this in numerous ways. One of the many exciting ways is through VisionFund. So, if you’re looking for a different way to invest in Hope and Happiness check out the video clip (below).