I mentioned the book I was reading (The End of Poverty, by Jeffrey Sachs) in a previous post. Just a few quotes from the book I thought were worth sharing, and which may possibly interest you in reading it for yourself?! It has some really interesting and relevant points that I don’t think most people are aware of or understand.
Here are some thoughts and facts regarding foreign aid I found worth some thought....
“All of the incessant debate about development assistance, and whether the rich are doing enough to help the poor actually concerns less than 1 percent of rich-world income. The effort required of the rich is indeed so slight that to do less is to announce brazenly to a large part of the world, “You count for nothing.”
He speaks about the common argument given by Americans that foreign aid to Africa is money wasted, and we have nothing to show for it. Perhaps the problem is that our aid doesn’t amount to much?
“In 2002, the United States gave $3 per sub-Saharan African. Taking out the parts for U.S. consultants, food and other emergency aid, administrative costs, and debt relief, the aid per African came to a grand total of six cents.”
“The United States is spending thirty times more on the military than on foreign assistance in 2004, $450 billion compared with $15 billion.”
And most Americans are not informed about how much we are actually giving, and how much is really needed. I know that I was unaware...
“In a 2001 survey, the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland reported that Americans, on average, believed that foreign aid accounts for 20 percent of the federal budget, roughly twenty-four times the actual figure.”
And as a closing thought...
The forward of the book, written by Bono, makes a powerful statement that I find haunting and hard to ignore...and should cause us all to really grapple with these truths.
“We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child lives or dies- but will we be that generation? Will we in the West realize our potential or will we sleep in the comfort of our affluence with apathy and indifference murmuring softly in our ears? Fifteen thousand people dying needlessly every day from AIDS, TB, and malaria. Mothers, fathers, teachers, farmers, nurses, mechanics, children.
This is Africa’s crisis. That it’s not on the nightly news, that we do not treat this as an emergency- that’s our crisis.”
What does this mean for our lives... our lifestyle choices, how we spend money, what we do with our time, and our resources? How informed are we, or do we want to be? Do we really care about Africans and the rest of the third world as if they are our brothers and sisters, and if so, what are we doing about it?
I realize this is a loaded and controversial topic. But I believe it’s worth some serious thought.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
what is wrong with this picture?
answer(s):
a) the girl in the middle has an IV in her arm, with IV fluids running, but is not in any sort of medical facility...
b) the woman on the back is functioning as a human IV pole
c) the driver is texting!
d) he also has his eyes closed.. or is definitely not looking at the road
e) no one is wearing a helmet.....
oh wait....
Welcome to normal activity in Phnom Penh...
Amy, this blog is for you!
Friday, January 25, 2008
a shout out for another book...
I read the book "The Good News About Injustice: A Witness of Courage in a Hurting World" by Gary Haugen this past summer before I came to Cambodia. (Thanks Juice! ;) It really impacted me then, and I still am moved when I reflect on excerpts of it now. After spending awhile living in the midst of this poverty we often may talk about but don't really understand, I have a new viewpoint on what, as a follower of Christ, I am called to do to in the midst of the injustice going on around the world every day. It's easy to feel overwhelmed... and like the problem is so vast there isn't anything each of us can REALLY do about it...but that isn't the case! One of my favorite excerpts from the book reminds me a lot of my experiences here.
"We lift our eyes to the horizon and ask, What great work of justice might God perform through us, in our time, to the glory of Christ? How might God renew through us the witness for biblical justice in the world? What child...might yet stand and testify that the hand of a faithful God touched them and loved them through the obedience of Christians who refused to despair?"
There are actually some specific children that I think of when I read that quote. One is Jane, a little girl who has just come to stay at the Garden of Joy, the orphanage I spend time at here in Cambodia. Her little 8-year old life has seen mostly tragedy so far. Her father has been gone for years, her mother just died of AIDS. She says she doesn't miss them; her family was not really much of a family to her... she likely took care of them more than the other way around. She was dirty and disheveled when she arrived. She doesn't know basic colors or numbers... she has never been to school.
But now she has been given another chance. She lives with other children who understand her experiences. She just started school for the first time and loves it. She has a new family, and is now learning about the Father who has loved her since before she was born. I think she may feel like she has now gained much more than she lost. Her smile and hugs light up my day. I look at her beautiful face and the love that surrounds her and am encouraged when I think of her future...and the future of the other children around her.
.JPG)
Jane, on right
It isn't starting an orphanage or living abroad in the midst of poverty that is necessary to show we care for the world, however. There is something each of us can do. Check out the book for more thoughts...and let me know what you think.
"We lift our eyes to the horizon and ask, What great work of justice might God perform through us, in our time, to the glory of Christ? How might God renew through us the witness for biblical justice in the world? What child...might yet stand and testify that the hand of a faithful God touched them and loved them through the obedience of Christians who refused to despair?"
There are actually some specific children that I think of when I read that quote. One is Jane, a little girl who has just come to stay at the Garden of Joy, the orphanage I spend time at here in Cambodia. Her little 8-year old life has seen mostly tragedy so far. Her father has been gone for years, her mother just died of AIDS. She says she doesn't miss them; her family was not really much of a family to her... she likely took care of them more than the other way around. She was dirty and disheveled when she arrived. She doesn't know basic colors or numbers... she has never been to school.
But now she has been given another chance. She lives with other children who understand her experiences. She just started school for the first time and loves it. She has a new family, and is now learning about the Father who has loved her since before she was born. I think she may feel like she has now gained much more than she lost. Her smile and hugs light up my day. I look at her beautiful face and the love that surrounds her and am encouraged when I think of her future...and the future of the other children around her.
.JPG)
Jane, on right
It isn't starting an orphanage or living abroad in the midst of poverty that is necessary to show we care for the world, however. There is something each of us can do. Check out the book for more thoughts...and let me know what you think.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Staggering stats
I am reading the very interesting and disturbing book “The End of Poverty” by Jeffrey Sachs. (Thanks, Pip :)
Here are some stats I read today that I think everyone should know:
Malaria kills approximately 3 million people every year (about 90% in Africa).
10,000 Africans die of AIDS, TB, or malaria EVERY DAY.
About 3,000 people died on September 11 during the World Trade Center attack.
The US is spending approximately $5 billion every month on the war in Iraq.
The US gave just $1 billion to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in 2005.
(The MCA was a project Bush initiated in 2002 to increase additional foreign aid).
In 2004, the US gave about $15 billion in foreign aid, which is 0.14% of its GNP... (it had agreed to a pledge of 0.7%).
Not finished with the book yet. More thoughts to come....
Here are some stats I read today that I think everyone should know:
Malaria kills approximately 3 million people every year (about 90% in Africa).
10,000 Africans die of AIDS, TB, or malaria EVERY DAY.
About 3,000 people died on September 11 during the World Trade Center attack.
The US is spending approximately $5 billion every month on the war in Iraq.
The US gave just $1 billion to the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) in 2005.
(The MCA was a project Bush initiated in 2002 to increase additional foreign aid).
In 2004, the US gave about $15 billion in foreign aid, which is 0.14% of its GNP... (it had agreed to a pledge of 0.7%).
Not finished with the book yet. More thoughts to come....
Friday, January 18, 2008
Toamadaa
I may get confused.
Is it normal to breathe pollution, or breathe fresh air?
To go running and dodge traffic, or to run alone in the woods?
To get coffee and be surrounded by suburban high school students, college students on their laptops, and businessmen on their blackberries... or to look out over the busy streets where dirty children play, half naked, with their friends?
To hear everyone else’s cell phone conversations in public places and become annoyed at the inappropriateness of it, or to hear conversations on cell phones that you long to understand?
To wear a seat belt in the car, or to ride on the back of a motorbike with no helmet?
Shopping for clothes at the mall with shiny clean stone floors, chandeliers, and the smell of the Clinique counter, or the market... where you avoid stepping on old food, a misplaced brick, or another person. Where the prices are much cheaper, but it’s hot, and it doesn’t smell like the Clinique counter.
To buy organic produce because it’s healthy... or spend twenty five cents for some vegetables from the market?
To take a shower 4 times during the day because of the sweat that covers your shirt and drips down your face. Or because it is just so hot and you don’t know how else to cool off... or to shower once in the morning, and spend the rest of the day in climate controlled comfort where your makeup doesn’t run down your face?
Applying makeup four times a day is definitely not worth it .
Is the neighbors pet supposed to be a rooster? Maybe the rooster is not really a pet.
Dinner with a friend on a mat on the floor? Cooking in a kitchen outside?
Or a dishwasher, with the TV on in the background and the fireplace warming the room?
Doing my own laundry, complete with Downy and dryer sheets, soft towels and fresh sheets...or having someone else wash for me, and hang my clothes out to dry in the sun and the dust?
Having at least one interaction every day where not all words are understood... or always having an understanding of every word a stranger will speak?
To be surrounded by American friends with much in common?
Or be surrounded with friends from around the world with much in common?
Toamadaa?
I’m still not sure.
Is it normal to breathe pollution, or breathe fresh air?
To go running and dodge traffic, or to run alone in the woods?
To get coffee and be surrounded by suburban high school students, college students on their laptops, and businessmen on their blackberries... or to look out over the busy streets where dirty children play, half naked, with their friends?
To hear everyone else’s cell phone conversations in public places and become annoyed at the inappropriateness of it, or to hear conversations on cell phones that you long to understand?
To wear a seat belt in the car, or to ride on the back of a motorbike with no helmet?
Shopping for clothes at the mall with shiny clean stone floors, chandeliers, and the smell of the Clinique counter, or the market... where you avoid stepping on old food, a misplaced brick, or another person. Where the prices are much cheaper, but it’s hot, and it doesn’t smell like the Clinique counter.
To buy organic produce because it’s healthy... or spend twenty five cents for some vegetables from the market?
To take a shower 4 times during the day because of the sweat that covers your shirt and drips down your face. Or because it is just so hot and you don’t know how else to cool off... or to shower once in the morning, and spend the rest of the day in climate controlled comfort where your makeup doesn’t run down your face?
Applying makeup four times a day is definitely not worth it .
Is the neighbors pet supposed to be a rooster? Maybe the rooster is not really a pet.
Dinner with a friend on a mat on the floor? Cooking in a kitchen outside?
Or a dishwasher, with the TV on in the background and the fireplace warming the room?
Doing my own laundry, complete with Downy and dryer sheets, soft towels and fresh sheets...or having someone else wash for me, and hang my clothes out to dry in the sun and the dust?
Having at least one interaction every day where not all words are understood... or always having an understanding of every word a stranger will speak?
To be surrounded by American friends with much in common?
Or be surrounded with friends from around the world with much in common?
Toamadaa?
I’m still not sure.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
hangin at the servo
Apparently “servo” is what Australians call a service station...
also known as a gas station.
Anyway, this is really beside the point.
If I were currently living in the states, one would be able to find me at a Starbucks hanging out at least a few times a week. It’s a great place to chat with friends, read, journal, meet someone for coffee and a chance to catch up; not to mention great coffee, great people watching, and a great ambiance. I can still picture the pink and orange mountains out the window of the Starbucks on Swan Road in Tucson at sunset, or the rain hitting the windows and gray sky over Portland in the spring. It makes me want to be there sipping an iced chai right now!
Well, instead I find myself in Cambodia. Here we don’t go to Starbucks to hang out, but I think I have found the equivalent. Or at least close. This week I have been to (and dare I say hung out at?!) the servo at least three times that I can think of, and it’s only Thursday! There is the Total on the corner of the Russian road...and two different locations of Coffee Plus located in the Caltex stations, where friendly Khmer women make great coffee and always have a smile.
When I got here the idea to even buy coffee or think of sitting down in one of these servos was bizarre to me. Never mind that they were air conditioned, clean, organized, and had multicolored glass lamps, friendly people, and great people watching outside the huge glass windows. I just didn’t understand why one would choose to sit at one of these tables next to the shelves of magazines and foreign sweets and choose to relax for awhile. Or go to one intentionally with a friend, just to talk?
So when a friend from the states arrived here a few days ago and wondered aloud, “ so what do you do here for fun?!” I had to laugh the next day when I found myself hanging out at the servo. Where else can you relax in the cool air, chat about your highs and lows of the day, and eat that Magnum ice cream bar you just bought before it melts?
also known as a gas station.
Anyway, this is really beside the point.
If I were currently living in the states, one would be able to find me at a Starbucks hanging out at least a few times a week. It’s a great place to chat with friends, read, journal, meet someone for coffee and a chance to catch up; not to mention great coffee, great people watching, and a great ambiance. I can still picture the pink and orange mountains out the window of the Starbucks on Swan Road in Tucson at sunset, or the rain hitting the windows and gray sky over Portland in the spring. It makes me want to be there sipping an iced chai right now!
Well, instead I find myself in Cambodia. Here we don’t go to Starbucks to hang out, but I think I have found the equivalent. Or at least close. This week I have been to (and dare I say hung out at?!) the servo at least three times that I can think of, and it’s only Thursday! There is the Total on the corner of the Russian road...and two different locations of Coffee Plus located in the Caltex stations, where friendly Khmer women make great coffee and always have a smile.
When I got here the idea to even buy coffee or think of sitting down in one of these servos was bizarre to me. Never mind that they were air conditioned, clean, organized, and had multicolored glass lamps, friendly people, and great people watching outside the huge glass windows. I just didn’t understand why one would choose to sit at one of these tables next to the shelves of magazines and foreign sweets and choose to relax for awhile. Or go to one intentionally with a friend, just to talk?
So when a friend from the states arrived here a few days ago and wondered aloud, “ so what do you do here for fun?!” I had to laugh the next day when I found myself hanging out at the servo. Where else can you relax in the cool air, chat about your highs and lows of the day, and eat that Magnum ice cream bar you just bought before it melts?
Monday, January 7, 2008
show me how
Yesterday I read a verse in psalm 119 that I have no doubt read many times before. Yet it still spoke something of mysterious encouragement to me in a way I don’t fully understand but am still thinking about.
It says:
“I will pursue Your commands
for you expand my understanding.”
Psalm 119:32, NLT
And in another favorite version, The Message, it states:
“I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;
God, don’t let me down!
I’ll run the course you lay out for me
If you’ll just show me how.”
I am attempting to process these past months in Cambodia. I am trying to think about what I have learned and what I am still learning, what returning home looks like, and the purposes of my service here. As I do, I am immensely encouraged by this verse. I am reminded that I can continue to run forward- after eternal things- no matter what part of the world I am living in. And it makes me so excited to do so! When I throw off my own weaknesses and limitations and allow the Lord to “expand my understanding,” and “show me how” I feel giddy thinking about what is possible. I am excited to see what following the Lord to Cambodia for these past months will mean for the future.
Lord
Allow me to keep running on the course you have laid out for me.
Expand my understanding of what that means,
and show me how to run!
Amen
It says:
“I will pursue Your commands
for you expand my understanding.”
Psalm 119:32, NLT
And in another favorite version, The Message, it states:
“I grasp and cling to whatever you tell me;
God, don’t let me down!
I’ll run the course you lay out for me
If you’ll just show me how.”
I am attempting to process these past months in Cambodia. I am trying to think about what I have learned and what I am still learning, what returning home looks like, and the purposes of my service here. As I do, I am immensely encouraged by this verse. I am reminded that I can continue to run forward- after eternal things- no matter what part of the world I am living in. And it makes me so excited to do so! When I throw off my own weaknesses and limitations and allow the Lord to “expand my understanding,” and “show me how” I feel giddy thinking about what is possible. I am excited to see what following the Lord to Cambodia for these past months will mean for the future.
Lord
Allow me to keep running on the course you have laid out for me.
Expand my understanding of what that means,
and show me how to run!
Amen
Friday, January 4, 2008
adventures on Christmas day
On Christmas this year I found myself sick for the first time since I’ve been in Cambodia. I wasn’t disappointed in the fact that it was Christmas day, but more disappointed because of the plans that I had to miss.
For the week or so before Christmas, my friend Pip and I had been scheming about what we could do to serve some of the poor in Phnom Penh. Maybe a week earlier while I ran, I was noticing the street sweepers and began to pray for them. I know they may be grateful to have a job, but to me it seemed very futile. Each day, dressed in their green uniforms and head scarves to protect them from the sun and heat, they sweep their designated areas of the street. And again the next day, and the next... I wanted to do something to honor them and say thank you, but wasn’t sure what.
As we talked about what we could do, Pip mentioned the street sweepers. I was so excited and told her about my thoughts and observations the previous day. We quickly came up with a plan. We would put some money in an envelope, write a message about the true meaning of Christmas on it (today we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came to heal and to save) and give them an ice cold Coke. We would chat with them and offer our thanks for what they do. I couldn’t wait.
So on Christmas afternoon I was unable to go, but by this time we had also recruited another friend to join us. You can read about their adventure on Pip’s blog.
http://somesaypip.blogspot.com/2008/01/christmas-day.html
Praise God for how He calls on us to bless and care for each other...and proceeds to bless us in the process.
For the week or so before Christmas, my friend Pip and I had been scheming about what we could do to serve some of the poor in Phnom Penh. Maybe a week earlier while I ran, I was noticing the street sweepers and began to pray for them. I know they may be grateful to have a job, but to me it seemed very futile. Each day, dressed in their green uniforms and head scarves to protect them from the sun and heat, they sweep their designated areas of the street. And again the next day, and the next... I wanted to do something to honor them and say thank you, but wasn’t sure what.
As we talked about what we could do, Pip mentioned the street sweepers. I was so excited and told her about my thoughts and observations the previous day. We quickly came up with a plan. We would put some money in an envelope, write a message about the true meaning of Christmas on it (today we celebrate the birth of Jesus, who came to heal and to save) and give them an ice cold Coke. We would chat with them and offer our thanks for what they do. I couldn’t wait.
So on Christmas afternoon I was unable to go, but by this time we had also recruited another friend to join us. You can read about their adventure on Pip’s blog.
http://somesaypip.blogspot.com/2008/01/christmas-day.html
Praise God for how He calls on us to bless and care for each other...and proceeds to bless us in the process.
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
holiday in Thailand!
If a picture is worth a thousand words, no need to explain why I haven't blogged in awhile!
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