Liberal Arts Graduates teaching Cameroonian farmers how to farm?

An Op-Ed piece in yesterday’s NY Times by the former country director of Cameroon brings into question the usefulness of sending recent college graduates overseas to help people that probably don’t need any of their help.

Robert Strauss writes:

In Cameroon, we had many volunteers sent to serve in the agriculture program whose only experience was puttering around in their mom and dad’s backyard during high school. I wrote to our headquarters in Washington to ask if anyone had considered how an American farmer would feel if a fresh-out-of-college Cameroonian with a liberal arts degree who had occasionally visited Grandma’s cassava plot were sent to Iowa to consult on pig-raising techniques learned in a three-month crash course. I’m pretty sure the American farmer would see it as a publicity stunt and a bunch of hooey, but I never heard back from headquarters.

Can Plumpy Nut end World Hunger?

Plumpy Nut is a peanut butter, powder milk past that is saving Niger children from dying of malnutrition. I heard about it on this evening’s 60 Minutes.

Here’s a report on PN from UNICEF:

Water to wine in Africa - no miracle

I caught the tail end of a piece on NPR about a place in Africa with a dilemma that brings up some interesting points about the growing pains of development. I can’t remember the program I heard it on and I can’t remember the place. So, if anybody knows about this shoot me a link.

Anyhow, the mayor of this city is in a real bad situation. His city is incredibly poor and the wine industry is one of the few industries in town. One problem – the area has an extreme water shortage. His people are going thirsty while most of the water is being used to make wine.

In this city, converting water to wine isn’t a miracle; it’s a curse.

The mayor hopes that the inflow of money from the wine industry might improve his city’s impoverished condition. But, thirst is immediate. The wine industry might eventually change the city for the better tomorrow, bringing with it the proper infrastructure to supply water for everyone, but what about the thirsty people today?

Should these people have to sacrifice for the promise of a brighter future? Can the industry provide that future?

I’m just posing questions. I don’t have a clue. As I wrote in the comment thread on 8/24, “I don’t think it’s fair to say that all industry is good. Just as it’s not fair to say all social movements for the workers are good.”

The USA Exports T-shirts?

In fact we do. But not brand new ones.

40% of the world’s used clothing exports originate in the USA. This is why if you’re in Romania, you could see a faded Deloit Dragons Little League shirt on which the letters have fallen off to reveal unfaded shadows of them, being worn by a wrinkled grandma.

This is also why in Africa the Buffalo Bills are one of the greatest NFL Dynasties of all-time.

Read Far away, Super Bowl’s Losers Will Be Champs

Ron Artest died for our sins

The Sacramento Kings Ron Artest is in Africa doing things and feeling good about it. In his own words (from espn.com):

“I am doing many positive things this summer. … Me, Maurice Evans, Theo Ratliff and Etan Thomas are holding HIV babies and walking around in the slums where kids have no running water or electricity and no shoes on their feet, feeding rice and beans to kids.”

Sounds like Ron might be onto something here. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we all walked around the slums holding HIV babies? Really, wouldn’t it?

Ron’s cause might give my own NGO a run for its money and maybe even Kyle’s.