Read at : Google Alert – images of the Africa Drought
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/oct/29/esha-chhabra-africa-needs-action-not-gimmicks/
Esha Chhabra: Africa needs action, not gimmicks
By Esha Chhabra
It’s a familiar sight. What can I do about it? It’s happened before. It’s going to keep on happening, it’s not going to stop because of my little contribution, plus, I have such a hectic schedule. I don’t have the time.
I can understand all of the above, except for the last one.
For the last two to three months, we’ve heard snippets about the crisis in the Horn of Africa, the drought in the region that’s led millions to flee their homes and farms in search of food. Thousands of children have passed away in the process. Images of mothers carrying their children, in a skeletal state, testing the limits of the human body, have stirred us and connected us to people enduring a life far removed from ours.
Currently, the solution is to get food to these people, provide them access to clean water, prevent disease from erupting, determine a way to deliver aid in a politically conflicted zone and address their health needs.
But, we don’t have time. It’s an afterthought.
Rather, we need gimmicky solutions to get our attention. The ONE organization run by Bono, U2′s lead singer, put together a video titled “The “F word,” filled with a starry cast of celebrities to get our attention. (The “F word” is famine, by the way).
UNICEF has partnered with Threadless, the Chicago-based online T-shirt company, to produce T-shirts, showcasing the different kinds of aid reaching these individuals — a mosquito for malaria protection, a worm for deworming tablets, a peanut for food aid (that often includes a peanut butter-like substance). Again, this is to get our attention.
While I appreciate all these efforts, I sometimes wonder why we need such gimmicky promotions to get our attention. Aren’t the harrowing images, the distraught stories of desperate families enough? Aren’t the reports from journalists enough to get us to stop, take a minute, read a story and act on it?
We’re surrounded by tablets, phones, computers and laptops — all carry these stories. But can we not take a minute to read something of human importance? Yes, the Horn of Africa story is affected by environmental concerns, unstable politics, bad economics and poor agriculture.
- vcstar.com
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