Exactly how much money do we continue to pour into Africa so that it can finally "develop"?

Question

First came the add about sending sanitary pads so the girl could go to school. This morning, I got an e-mail from Pampers written by their spokeswoman, Salma Hayek, which stated that buying certain Pamper's products will help the children in "developing countries".

I love children but I think it's high time we start taking care of the children in America and stop wasting money on countries that get the money and keep it and it never gets to the people who need it. American children need better schools, better health care, better daycare, and better opportunities for good jobs.

I firmly believe that charity begins at home especially in these tough economic times when people are losing their jobs and homes.

Answer 1

How much money before Africa can develop? Even if someone gives a figure...it will be like chasing after a train.As for not donating to charity, if we wait till we become millionaires,then multimillionaires, we will never begin...so it's the same with U.S.

Answer 2

The first problem is that you, like so many americans, don't seem to realize that Africa is a continent, not a country.  Like any continent, it is made up of many different countries with unique languages, cultures and states of economic development.  So while some countries are very poor or just aren't at the same advanced state we think is proper, many others are, actually very rich and just as advanced as ours.  

The second problem, is that you have no understanding of how humanitarian aid agencies work in that part of the world.  The money that is given is not given directly to the country, it is used to purchase goods that are taken to the particular area they are dealing with.  Since this money is used for goods and is rarely used to help the people there to establish new ways of doing things so that they can take care of themselves, yeah, they keep needing more.  To make it a little more plain, they keep giving them fish, but not teaching them how to fish for themselves.

The third problem, is that you don't understand that the people getting the aid aren't usually countries, they're tribes that have been driven off of their lands and away from how they've traditonally supported themselves and their society; either by stronger tribes or by European settlement.  They are driven away from their cattle or farms onto desolate land where they can't grow anything and don't have the means or knowledge to begin a new type of industry to help themselves make it in the world.  Think about it; you're a farmer, you're family has farmed for millenia and your village was always able to get along just fine by different people doing what their familes had always done and helping each other along.  You knew about cities and that the world was doing all kinds of things centuries beyond you, but you kept with your way of life because it was your way of life.  Now, your way of life has been taken from you, and because you still have the tribal mindset and don't know anything about doing anything different, you have no frame of refference to help you adapt to the way the rest of the world works.  Until someone takes the time to help more of these displaced tribes adapt to the 21st century so that they can become self sufficient again, they are going to continue to need aid from someone.

To answer your point about needing help in America, yes we do.  Helping other countries is not what's keeping us from helping those that are here, though, it's waste of our available assets and aid programs that penalize families as soon as they start to get a little bit over the poverty line by removing all aid immediately, instead of giving them the chance to advance a little first and weaning them off instead.  There isn't enough space here to go into all of that, but I work in the system and I can talk to you more about it individually, if you like.

Answer 3

Aid money is NOT wasted. And the money DOES get to people who need it.

*No one* is saying "let's fund schools in Africa instead of schools in the USA." Although it could be argued that they are saying, "Let's have a war in Iraq and give money to Halliburton instead of funding schools in the USA", but I digress...

The USA, per capita, invests less in developing countries that most European countries and all Scandinavian countries -- so they gain more and more influence globally while the USA's continues to lesson.  And that affects the USA adversely economically.

Investing in Africa means investing in the USA and providing better security for our country. Building up Africa and other developing countries means creating markets for American goods. China knows this, and that's why they are pouring more and more money into developing countries, including Africa -- they are creating a market for their products, while the USA whines about wanting more isolationist practices.

It's not about just money anymore. It's about Africans getting the knowledge and access they need to take care of themselves and their own problems. That takes money to fund the programs necessary to achieve that, but it also takes an approach that gives Africans themselves control over their lives and situation. There *are* development successes. Look at Ghana. Look at Liberia. Look at Ethiopia -- where it was in the 1980s vs. where it is now. Even Kenya, which is having political problems, is still an economic success story.

Most of the things that cause poverty in Africa are things that the average people themselves there have no control over: economic exploitation (of the people and African resources), lack of/denial of education, prejudice, huge influx of arms from the West and others, the West, including the USA, getting rid of democratically-elected governments and supporting dictators who are more friendly to the West, and on and on. Our country has contributed to this mess, and therefore has an obligation to help.

If you are so concerned about kids in the USA, let's hear about your favorite charities to serve such, how much time you volunteer for them and how often you donate to such, or what advocacy efforts you are engaged in to encourage government to fully fund schools and social services needed by the poor in the USA.