Following up my earlier post, I commend to you an article by Gaston Asitaki, an African journalist based in Kinshasa, in the so-called Democractic Republic of Congo. (This is one of the countries Her Jeanness, the Governor-General and First Lady of Canada, visited on her farewell tour earlier this month.)
Mr. Asitaki says that the intense focus of US foreign aid on expanding family-planning programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo is "certifiably insane." The urgent need for the country's impoverished people is an adequate supply of ordinary medicine. Antibiotics, he says, save lives...not condoms.
Click here to read "We need penicillin, not condoms, in central Africa".
Showing posts with label condoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label condoms. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The solution to the problem of poverty: condoms for all!
No post has drawn more comments recently than "Covering Haiti with rubber".
Readers are taking issue with the math. (How many condoms does it take to fill 83,300 cu. ft. of warehouse space? Answer: A lot!) "Luna" wants to know the source of the quote from Canadian general Romeo Dallaire. (Answer: Ask LifeSite News.)
Seems to me those who quibble about the fine points of the story -- which has not been denied by the Red Cross, the Haitian government or anyone else -- are failing to see the forest for the trees. [What trees? Haiti was largely deforested even before the earthquake! ed.]
The point is that a lot of the "aid" which goes to Haiti and other impoverished or disaster-stricken third-world countries is in appropriate and arguably wasted. Sending condoms -- whether a thousand or a million -- to Haiti or Rwanda is not addressing the real needs of those poor countries' people.
Rather, sending aid is something rich white liberals do because they feel guilty...or because they have a hidden agenda, such as promoting birth control even if such goes against the culture and religion of the people.
Hey, if we can't whip evangelical Christianity on `em, at least we can stop `em from reproducing! Or we could kidnap those "unwanted children" whose birth could have been prevented if only the people had had enough condoms!
Readers are taking issue with the math. (How many condoms does it take to fill 83,300 cu. ft. of warehouse space? Answer: A lot!) "Luna" wants to know the source of the quote from Canadian general Romeo Dallaire. (Answer: Ask LifeSite News.)
Seems to me those who quibble about the fine points of the story -- which has not been denied by the Red Cross, the Haitian government or anyone else -- are failing to see the forest for the trees. [What trees? Haiti was largely deforested even before the earthquake! ed.]
The point is that a lot of the "aid" which goes to Haiti and other impoverished or disaster-stricken third-world countries is in appropriate and arguably wasted. Sending condoms -- whether a thousand or a million -- to Haiti or Rwanda is not addressing the real needs of those poor countries' people.
Rather, sending aid is something rich white liberals do because they feel guilty...or because they have a hidden agenda, such as promoting birth control even if such goes against the culture and religion of the people.
Hey, if we can't whip evangelical Christianity on `em, at least we can stop `em from reproducing! Or we could kidnap those "unwanted children" whose birth could have been prevented if only the people had had enough condoms!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Covering Haiti with rubber
LifeSite News reports that vital relief supplies destined for Haiti could not be offloaded because a storage facility was overloaded with a huge shipment of condoms. The condoms were estimated to occupy nearly 12,000 square feet in a 17,000 square foot warehouse. You couldn't make it up!
According to the report, the scenario of medical supply buildings in the developing world taken up mostly by condoms at the expense of true health care supplies is not new. When Canadian General Romeo Dallaire returned from Rwanda after the massacre there, he noted that military personnel referred to UN and other foreign aid as "covering the country with rubber."
Dallaire explained that tons of condoms and other contraceptives were being shipped to and distributed around the region in quantities far beyond what the population could use, and in place of much more needed food, medicine and other aid. Medical stores, he said, were filled with contraceptives and extremely short of any supplies to treat wounded Rwandans.
Earlier this week I asked an innocent question about Canadian Prime Minister Harper's visit to Haiti. What, I wondered, did Steve see that he didn't want to talk about, to the point where he refused to answer questions from the media who went along for the ride. Maybe now we have our answer. Even the P.M.'s blinkered vision couldn't miss a warehouse full of condoms!
According to the report, the scenario of medical supply buildings in the developing world taken up mostly by condoms at the expense of true health care supplies is not new. When Canadian General Romeo Dallaire returned from Rwanda after the massacre there, he noted that military personnel referred to UN and other foreign aid as "covering the country with rubber."
Dallaire explained that tons of condoms and other contraceptives were being shipped to and distributed around the region in quantities far beyond what the population could use, and in place of much more needed food, medicine and other aid. Medical stores, he said, were filled with contraceptives and extremely short of any supplies to treat wounded Rwandans.
Earlier this week I asked an innocent question about Canadian Prime Minister Harper's visit to Haiti. What, I wondered, did Steve see that he didn't want to talk about, to the point where he refused to answer questions from the media who went along for the ride. Maybe now we have our answer. Even the P.M.'s blinkered vision couldn't miss a warehouse full of condoms!
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