Surviving Activism in the Philippines

Ampatuan
Massacre

Here is a simple way to increase life expectancy in the Philippines:

• Protect the Activists

That's it.  

For a start, incidents like the following will no longer happen.

• Mining activists won't be shot by greedy Canadian mining companies
  
• 43 Health activists won't be rounded up and be accused of terrorism in a blatant act of government posturing and scare tactics
  
• The deadliest ever massacre of journalists (34) will not be repeated
  
• People fighting to protect Filipinas from human trafficking will not be beaten to death

I could give countless more examples of stories like this.  

Since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office in 2001 hundreds (thousands?) of politicians, political activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or abducted since 2001 according to Human Rights Watch.  Arroyo's successor Beningno Aquino III is not doing much better.

Protecting the activists will not only increase their life expectancy, but also the countless other lives they will save.

If you get a chance to visit the human rights office in Manila, take a moment to reflect upon their martyr wall.  The wall contains hundreds of pictures of activists who have been killed or abducted.

Power to the peaceful.

Malaria Idea Boxing Bout

A wedding dress made
from malaria nets

What's the best way to distribute malaria nets?

Today, we have two heavy weight ideas weighing in.

In the blue corner, we have Mr. Let's Give Them Away.

Mr. Let's Give Them Away claims that malaria sufferers are usually stuck in a poverty trap.  They have less-than-no-income and struggle everyday just to find the basics of life. Giving them a mosquito net will decrease infant mortality rates, and give them more productive days to try and break free from the trap.

In the red corner, we have the mighty Mr. Let's Sell Subsidized Nets.

He too is full of good intentions.  He too wants to save lives.  He is not Mr. Evil Capitalist (who was ejected from the boxing arena).  He too has a good idea.  If we just give them the nets, then they will either a) sell them or b) use them as fishing nets.  Heck, some people will even turn them into wedding dresses!  Why not sell them to them instead?  This way, we won't upset the almighty Free Market and people will actually value the net.  You can just imagine their thought processes: "I bought this net.  It cost me a whole dollar!  I am going to make damn sure I am going to use it!"

Before these two mighty ideas go at it hammer-and-tongs, there going to talked to by the referee: Mr. Science.

Mr. Science instructs both boxers to not engage in ad hominen attacks, no ad ignorantiam arguments below the belt, and anyone engaging in a tautology will be instantly disqualified!

Mr. Science also points out a recent study by the IPA.

IPA gave nets many pregnant women in Kenya.  The price charged to the women ranged from free to highly subsidized.

They found that the price of net had no affect on how well the nets were being used.

They also did a cost effectiveness study and found that subsidized nets were a little more cost-effective than the free nets.

Mr. Science ensures he has both boxers' attention and says, "Here's the kicker boys.  The free distribution of nets leads to many more lives saved.  So if you value cost effectiveness, roll out the subsidized nets. If you value lives saved however, just give the damned things away".

In the end the boxing bout didn't actually go ahead.

Mr. Let's Sell Subsidized Nets purchased a mocha latte and grumbled about market forces with his buddies.

While Mr. Let's Give Them Away purchased a fair trade cappuccino and proceeded to work on just how he was going to give away the millions of mosquito nets he had.

Military Aid and Child Soldiers

Jeffrey (Not his real name)

About three years ago, I was doing an interview with a lady for Grassroots Uganda - an NGO I was setting up at the time.  Half way through the interview, a young man - all of seventeen years old - came up to me, gently shook my hand, shyly introduced himself, and then walked away.

That young man was Jeffrey.  I got to learn more about Jeffrey over the coming weeks.  Jeffrey had spent seven years as a child soldier with the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army).  You can read about Jeffrey's tale of hope and death in a blog article I wrote way back in 2007.

A lot of child soldiers who escape the clutches of their captives end up as armed bandits or in other violent occupations.  All the know is violence, so all they do is violence.

Not so Jeffrey.  Jeffrey was busting rocks in a quarry with a rented (!) hammer.  All he wanted was an education, which he is now getting thanks to a generous sponsor in the States.

In 2007, the U.S. governed passed the noble Child Soldier Prevention Act which was designed to limit U.S. military aid to governments who use child soldiers.  On October 25 2010, President Obama waived the bill in respect to Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Yemen.  All four of those governments are known for their use of child soldiers.

There is some rhetoric bouncing around the White House along the lines of "national interest" and "reassessing our posture towards the governments" that are suppose to justify their actions.

As Tim Shadbolt once said: It's all bullshit and jellybeans as fas as I can see.

The bottom line for me is that the States is providing military aid to groups who use child soldiers.  That's a despicable act.

I think the world would be better off if people like Jeffrey were in charge.

A Tribute to Women on International Women's Day

Kate Sheppard

100 years ago on March 8th 1911, women from around the world took to the streets to demand the right the vote, the right to equal wages, and the right to an education.

Great strides have been made in all of these areas by some courageous women.  A patriotic nod goes to Kate Sheppard who helped New Zealand become the first self governing country to give women the vote in 1893.

The race is not yet over and there are battles yet to be won.

As Oxfam recently pointed out, the world's ills disproportionally affect females:

• Women produce the majority of the world’s food but rarely own the land they farm.
  In Sub Saharan African women produce 80 per cent of the household food but they only own one per cent of the land.
  
• Every minute a woman with no medical care dies in pregnancy or childbirth.
  The amount of money spent in the erectile dysfunction market is four times greater than the amount spent on maternal and newborn health in poor countries.
  
• Women make up 80 per cent  of climate refugees - 20 million of the 26 million people estimated to have been displaced by climate change are women.
  
• Two-thirds of the children denied school are girls and 64 percent of the world’s illiterate adults are women

The majority of Meaningful Volunteer's programs target women in developing countries:  It is hard to be a rurally poor Ugandan man. It is even hard to be a rurally poor Ugandan women.

I am in constant amazement at the successes made by Meaningful Volunteer's female volunteers.  They've rolled out natural family planning methods to fifteen or so villages in the Philippines, taught for countless hours in classrooms around the developing world, and spearheaded fair trade projects.

This coming June we have a whole swagger of volunteers heading to Uganda to head up mosquito net programs, build a solar-powered school building, start a fair trade project, and teach those who have been denied an education.  At present we have three males (including myself) and nine females.  Women are awesome!  Females who strive for equality with men lack ambition.  Time to step up guys!

A final nod-of-the-head and tip-of-the-hat goes to the awesome female staff at Meaningful Volunteer: Eden, Mimi, Anne, and Megin.  You're all fantastic and I credit all of you for the success of Meaningful Volunteer.