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..mainly West Africa..

Just watching 'Newsround' with the kids. There's people in Chad, Niger, etc that are sieving the earth of anthills to reclaim grain that the ants have stored. I mean.. WTF!!?

Having been to Kenya and seen poverty and starvation in Nairobi and surrounding areas, the bit on Newsround just shocked the shit out of me.


Just thought i'd mention it

They've been going through the worst drought in that part of Africa for 60 years.

I'm sure their plight isn't helped by the growing emphasis in recent years in their agricultural system on, for example, French beans for export (have a look where yours have come from), crops for ethanol production, flowers for export as cut flowers, instead of feeding their own population. Add to this the effects of the restrictive practices of monopolistic outfits like Monsanto, preventing farmers from using harvested seed.

Natural disaster + toxic effects of globalisation = humanitarian disaster

Yeah people are people and kids are kids wherever they happen to be born - and some have an unbelievably bad lot in life.

I guess it's up to all of us to do our bit supporting humanitarian aid and to press governments to support overseas aid and remove trade policies that disadvantage some of these countries and their inhabitants.

Its too easy to forget that we live in such a civilised country
We are so lucky we dont live in Syria, N, E, W, S Africa, Tibet, China, N Veitnan ect ect
I put my small change in a tin and every coupla months give it to Red Cross, M.S.F., Oxfam or any other charity which is dealing with major shit
I dont miss the money and Im sure those guys can use it