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Horn Of Africa Appeal

Sorry to say but I'm becoming somewhat apathetic to the African charity situation. I dontated to Band Aid, Blue Peter's appeal and Red Nose over the years. Every Red Nose we seem to raise millions and yet nothing ever changes. Granted it seems that some "charity" organisations seem to be not far short of self indulging bureaucratic cash cows too bogged down in PR and red tape to actually make a difference. I'm sure there are many organistations that are trying to help and maybe even making a difference at a local level but the issue is national and international and nothing in these arenas has made a difference.

I'd rather give what I can to charities in the UK that I have some connection with and so Cancer UK and Macmillan tend to get my cash as cancer is an evil disease that has already taken my dad and is trying to take my my (except she's a real stubborn cow and won't give in!!!!). I accept that even these may not be ideal and may not filter as much funding out into the work that needs to be done as it should but at least I have some hope that the money it does receive may help make a breakthrough in treating this insidious disease
 
No more money to African charities from me. I've given and given and given but nothing changes.
I just feel now that they need to evolve and sort out their own problems without any outside interference.


I now donate only to charities that mean something to me personally...The Ayrshire Hospice, PDSA and SSPCA
 
sorry to say it but i wont donate anything to any other foreign country at all charity starts at home in my eyes yes i will help out local ones to me but thats it and we wonder why the country is in the state it is in yet we will gladly give
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I fully agree
 
I signed up to monthly donations to British red cross after being doorstepped by an attractive New Zealander in a short skirt. Few weeks later there was a radio program on BBC talking about this process of raising money. It takes 1 year of donations to pay off the cost of getting you to sign up!

Like the general tone of the above though I have donated a fair amount to charity for causes such as this yet nothing changes. Don't get me started on India! My thoughts would be quite extreme though. To see so many children caught up in this mess is heartbreaking. I'd be sending contraceptive implants along with the water and food.

I now stick to local charities. Being a mental health nurse with experience working in the area, Alzheimer's Society is very close to my heart. I get to see how some of the money is used first hand and the difference it makes.
 
I find the images of the young children suffering really awful. After all, it's not their fault. However, their parents may well of been kids that were saved in some previous disaster. When will they learn? Stop having 20 kids.

It's not just charitable money either, but millions of overseas aid from the government. How much can be poured into what is essentially uninhabitable land.

As much as the images sadden me, I'm afraid that I just switch off to the whole African issue.
 
Sorry to say but I'm becoming somewhat apathetic to the African charity situation. I dontated to Band Aid, Blue Peter's appeal and Red Nose over the years. Every Red Nose we seem to raise millions and yet nothing ever changes. Granted it seems that some "charity" organisations seem to be not far short of self indulging bureaucratic cash cows too bogged down in PR and red tape to actually make a difference. I'm sure there are many organistations that are trying to help and maybe even making a difference at a local level but the issue is national and international and nothing in these arenas has made a difference.

I'd rather give what I can to charities in the UK that I have some connection with and so Cancer UK and Macmillan tend to get my cash as cancer is an evil disease that has already taken my dad and is trying to take my my (except she's a real stubborn cow and won't give in!!!!). I accept that even these may not be ideal and may not filter as much funding out into the work that needs to be done as it should but at least I have some hope that the money it does receive may help make a breakthrough in treating this insidious disease
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Homer it doesn't happen very often but i agree with you here,i'm fed seeing appeal for Africa this appeal for Africa that ,its about time this country took a step back and looked at its own house.

I was at funeral on friday of a friend who died of cancer wasn't very good watching someone waste away like he did in a matter of months i think i'd rather put my money there or to ward 5 of the sick kids in Glasgow for the work the do on heart patients there after my sons 2nd heart op,great work but little support.
 
Homer it doesn't happen very often but i agree with you here,i'm fed seeing appeal for Africa this appeal for Africa that ,its about time this country took a step back and looked at its own house.
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Since when did the continent of Africa become a country? Will people in the West ever stop thinking of all African countries as being the same? It's the equivalent of considering Europe as one country.

It saddens me that people think that 'Africa' (or in this case, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya) only have themselves to blame, nothing ever changes, billions poured in etc.

Between the USA, USSR, Britain, France, Belgium and Germany there is not an ounce of credibility or absolution with regards to the majority of African states. I suggest people look at the history and politics of external involvement/interference in Africa before they start deciding it's not worthy of any help.

I'm not saying that African countries are blameless for some of the predicaments and handling of funds, but I think it is a bit callous to dismiss this as 'what's the point', especially under the guise of 'charity begins at home'.

If you have any doubts, why not give money to Sight Savers? They restore the eyesight of cataract victims via a mobile service performing quick operations at low cost that enable someone to carry on working and therefore provide for their families. Direct results with major effects.

The comments around 'stop having so many kids' is crass. High infant mortality rates alone necessitate breeding, let alone lower life averages. Unfortunately in many parts of Africa, there isn't the option of sitting on your arse all day at a computer pretending to do work but playing on the internet all day. For many, physical toil is the only means of survival and the more hands available, the more you can achieve. Besides, is it only alright for multiple children in the big Catholic families or the many 3 and 4 children families in the UK?
 
Homer it doesn't happen very often but i agree with you here,i'm fed seeing appeal for Africa this appeal for Africa that ,its about time this country took a step back and looked at its own house.
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Since when did the continent of Africa become a country? Will people in the West ever stop thinking of all African countries as being the same? It's the equivalent of considering Europe as one country.

It saddens me that people think that 'Africa' (or in this case, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya) only have themselves to blame, nothing ever changes, billions poured in etc.

Between the USA, USSR, Britain, France, Belgium and Germany there is not an ounce of credibility or absolution with regards to the majority of African states. I suggest people look at the history and politics of external involvement/interference in Africa before they start deciding it's not worthy of any help.

I'm not saying that African countries are blameless for some of the predicaments and handling of funds, but I think it is a bit callous to dismiss this as 'what's the point', especially under the guise of 'charity begins at home'.

If you have any doubts, why not give money to Sight Savers? They restore the eyesight of cataract victims via a mobile service performing quick operations at low cost that enable someone to carry on working and therefore provide for their families. Direct results with major effects.

The comments around 'stop having so many kids' is crass. High infant mortality rates alone necessitate breeding, let alone lower life averages. Unfortunately in many parts of Africa, there isn't the option of sitting on your arse all day at a computer pretending to do work but playing on the internet all day. For many, physical toil is the only means of survival and the more hands available, the more you can achieve. Besides, is it only alright for multiple children in the big Catholic families or the many 3 and 4 children families in the UK?
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You obviously didn't read it correct i didn't state that Africa was a country did i ? no i said this country should sort its own mess out first. Why should we give them any money when this country is a total shambles,high unemployment,country full of junkies,eastern europeans who claim benefits for children who ain't here but send it back,the NHS is a shambles i live near a very large teaching hospital but i have to drive to Glasgow to see a cardiologist for my son as they cant afford to have it in Dundee.
 
Homer it doesn't happen very often but i agree with you here,i'm fed seeing appeal for Africa this appeal for Africa that ,its about time this country took a step back and looked at its own house.
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Since when did the continent of Africa become a country? Will people in the West ever stop thinking of all African countries as being the same? It's the equivalent of considering Europe as one country.

It saddens me that people think that 'Africa' (or in this case, Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya) only have themselves to blame, nothing ever changes, billions poured in etc.

Between the USA, USSR, Britain, France, Belgium and Germany there is not an ounce of credibility or absolution with regards to the majority of African states. I suggest people look at the history and politics of external involvement/interference in Africa before they start deciding it's not worthy of any help.

I'm not saying that African countries are blameless for some of the predicaments and handling of funds, but I think it is a bit callous to dismiss this as 'what's the point', especially under the guise of 'charity begins at home'.

If you have any doubts, why not give money to Sight Savers? They restore the eyesight of cataract victims via a mobile service performing quick operations at low cost that enable someone to carry on working and therefore provide for their families. Direct results with major effects.

The comments around 'stop having so many kids' is crass. High infant mortality rates alone necessitate breeding, let alone lower life averages. Unfortunately in many parts of Africa, there isn't the option of sitting on your arse all day at a computer pretending to do work but playing on the internet all day. For many, physical toil is the only means of survival and the more hands available, the more you can achieve. Besides, is it only alright for multiple children in the big Catholic families or the many 3 and 4 children families in the UK?
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You obviously didn't read it correct i didn't state that Africa was a country did i ? no i said this country should sort its own mess out first. Why should we give them any money when this country is a total shambles,high unemployment,country full of junkies,eastern europeans who claim benefits for children who ain't here but send it back,the NHS is a shambles i live near a very large teaching hospital but i have to drive to Glasgow to see a cardiologist for my son as they cant afford to have it in Dundee.
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Fully agree, there are enough problems in this country that require sorting before we invest the time, effort and cash in continually helping out other countries
 
Yes I agree withe Toon too, well said.

Much of the Wests wealth has been gained by the exploitation of Africa, From the slave trade of the past to present day unfair trade.


I find the “charity begins at home” and “where the money going” attitudes, naive and offensive. For god sake babies are dying
 
Yes I agree withe Toon too, well said.

Much of the Wests wealth has been gained by the exploitation of Africa, From the slave trade of the past to present day unfair trade.


I find the “charity begins at home” and “where the money going” attitudes, naive and offensive. For god sake babies are dying
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Do babies not die in the "western" world.
 
Yes I agree withe Toon too, well said.

Much of the Wests wealth has been gained by the exploitation of Africa, From the slave trade of the past to present day unfair trade.


I find the “charity begins at home” and “where the money going” attitudes, naive and offensive. For god sake babies are dying
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Do babies not die in the "western" world.
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Correct Chris, i've nearly lost my oldest son twice thru a lack of a cardio department in Dundee,so i couldn't give a hoot about continuely giving money to African countries.
 
Correct Chris, i've nearly lost my oldest son twice thru a lack of a cardio department in Dundee,so i couldn't give a hoot about continuely giving money to African countries.
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First I better say please do not take this the wrong way I am not having a go I am just putting across a different point of view.

If your son has a serious heart problem then you have my sympathy but you may well have the option of moving closer to a hospital. You may have looked into this and decided you could not find a decent job or an affordable house or needed familly close by. Whatever the reason I am sure you had more options to weigh up than these poor people in africa who have never heard of cardio departments, for them hospitals do not exist. They don't have access to anything but the most basic of health care if they are very lucky. Basically if their children get sick or born with an organ deffect they die.

Every time I see these appeals I thank luck or fate or whatever decided I should be born and raised in an affluent country with excellent health care that means I do not have to spend all day worrying if there will be another.

Most will probably shout me down and say charity starts at home and all that rotten rubbish but all I can say is give what ever you can afford then give a bit more and then double it and I bet you can still last until your next pay day.
 
You obviously didn't read it correct i didn't state that Africa was a country did i ? no i said this country should sort its own mess out first. Why should we give them any money when this country is a total shambles,high unemployment,country full of junkies,eastern europeans who claim benefits for children who ain't here but send it back,the NHS is a shambles i live near a very large teaching hospital but i have to drive to Glasgow to see a cardiologist for my son as they cant afford to have it in Dundee.
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Apologies for misreading you on the country front. However, others in this thread have given that impression (about Africa being a country) and by your post I was already seriously miffed!

That said, the rest of your reply is like something from the pages of the letters section of the Daily Mail. As someone else has said, having to drive to another hospital is hardly the same as either having to walk scores of miles to get to any facility at all or simply having nowhere to go. The idea of owning a car is in itself a pipe dream for most on that continent.
 
We are all aware of the fact there are no hospitals nor infrastructure in Africa, we are also aware that there bloody well should be after all the money Europe has put into the various countries. Can you really help a country where it's own people rip their own off, they live in palaces in suptuous luxury whilst their own starve and die in the dust. Tell me what good does your £20 .00 actually do?
 
Tell me what good does your £20 .00 actually do?
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Which no one will answer, all people trot out is their are babies perishing. Now don't get me wrong it is tragic what is happening but, really, what difference will my twenty quid make?
 
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