Horn Of Africa Appeal

[G_Mulligan]

Well according to the red nose day appeal that will buy 4 mosquito nets in local medical centres which will save hundreds of lives from malaria. The real answer is your £20 will do very little as will mine or chris' or anyone elses. The accumulation of everybody's £20 will however do a great deal.

The NHS gets billions upon billions of funding every year through taxes. Yet everyone complains that it is not good enough. We give a few million to an entire continent once a year or when there is a huge appeal like this one and everyone thinks well thats that sorted they should be ok from now on. The scale of the problem is so huge they can't get it across during a 2 minute advert, if they tried it would probaly be overwhelming and counter productive anyway. So they just show a few pictures of starving children to tug the heart strings and get some donations. That however is no reason not to donate what you can when you can year after year because they really truely do need it a lot more than we do.

 

[chris661]

If 1% of my donation gets to those who need it,it'll be worthwhile.Or i could sit here telling myself it won't change anything and save myself a few quid.

So if you donate fifty pounds and fifty pence gets there that's worthwhile?

 

[Doc]

I can't remember the last time my six year old son had to walk through a live minefield or through live cluster munitions to drink poisonous dirty shitty water from a mud wallow.

I can't remember the last time my son had to eat soil or dry, nutritionless grass just to stop the stomach cramps and hunger pains.

Would I pay twenty quid a year to prevent that?

I can remember the last time I held a dead African child, and the one before that, and the one before that.

Would I have paid twenty quid a year to prevent those?

 

[Mungoscorner]

If 1% of my donation gets to those who need it,it'll be worthwhile.Or i could sit here telling myself it won't change anything and save myself a few quid.

So if you donate fifty pounds and fifty pence gets there that's worthwhile?

Why are you questioning my reasons for donating money to a worthy charity ?
Does it bother you in some way ?
Having said all that,you cynics are keeping this thread on the front page,so keep posting.

 

[chris661]

are you questioning my reasons for donating money to a worthycharity ?
Does it bother you in some way ?
Having said all that,you cynics are keeping this thread on the front page,so keep posting.

No I am asking a genuine qeustion but still no one will answer.

 

[USER1999]

Not being cynical, but why is a child's life worth more than an adult? We are all people. All the same. Starving people are starving people. But some how it is different when children are involved. Why

Ditto for disasters. Two thousand people died today, two Brits were involved, one had a twisted ankle. What relevance is this?

 

[beggsy]

i do think its sad that people are dying in these countrys but do you think or ever think if things got that bad in our country that some of the countrys we give money to will be able to give us some back NO they wont so for that reason alone i will not give id rather give my money to the local candlelighters charity and other charitys closer to home if you think im bad so what everyone has an opinion and its my money to do as i please

 

[Golfmmad]

I do think it's sad that people are dying in these countries, but do you think or ever think if things got that bad in our country that some of the countries we give money to will be able to give us some back. NO, they wont, so for that reason alone i will not give. I'd rather give my money to the local candlelighters charity and other charities closer to home. If you think i'm bad so what, everyone has an opinion and it's my money to do as i please.

Fixed the punctuation for you beggsy, much easier to read, don't ya think?

Golfmmad.

 

[Leftie]

Chris. You forgot to "capitalise" the i and i'm.

 

[Golfmmad]

Just testing Roger.

Golfmmad.

 

[drawboy]

I can think of no other continent in the world that does not have the intellegence to feed it's people, please do not use the drought card.If we Europeans lived in such a climate we would have found a crop that can grow in that climate by now, Inuit/Eskimo live in freezing tempratures yet have still found a way to feed themselves in harsh environments, they do not ask for help for starving kids, Aboriginal people lived in the same harsh climate and have fed themselves as have other various desert tribes. Africa has learnt that like a lot of people in England it is far easier to hold out a hand and wait for it to be filled than to try to fill it themselves.I know I'll get stick for this post but that is how I feel right or wrong.

 

[beggsy]

I do think it's sad that people are dying in these countries, but do you think or ever think if things got that bad in our country that some of the countries we give money to will be able to give us some back. NO, they wont, so for that reason alone i will not give. I'd rather give my money to the local candlelighters charity and other charities closer to home. If you think i'm bad so what, everyone has an opinion and it's my money to do as i please.

great stuff

Fixed the punctuation for you beggsy, much easier to read, don't ya think?

Golfmmad.

 

[toonarmy]

I know I'll get stick for this post but that is how I feel right or wrong.

I only hope you do get stick for it as it is ignorant racist drivel. If that's how you feel, then fine - but it doesn't change it being claptrap of the highest order.

 

[chris661]

I know I'll get stick for this post but that is how I feel right or wrong.

I only hope you do get stick for it as it is ignorant racist drivel. If that's how you feel, then fine - but it doesn't change it being claptrap of the highest order.

In your opinion.

 

[toonarmy]

In your opinion.

Not in this case. Pretty much everything he said is without any factual evidence whatsoever; that is opinion. To disregard it as claptrap without any substantive evidence to support his case is not opinion, that is an assessment.

 

[chris661]

In your opinion.

Not in this case. Pretty much everything he said is without any factual evidence whatsoever; that is opinion. To disregard it as claptrap without any substantive evidence to support his case is not opinion, that is an assessment.

*sigh*

 

[Dodger]

I know I'll get stick for this post but that is how I feel right or wrong.

I only hope you do get stick for it as it is ignorant racist drivel. If that's how you feel, then fine - but it doesn't change it being claptrap of the highest order.

Interesting...which bit is racist....never mind the drivel,which bit is racist?

In your opinion of course...

 

[Mungoscorner]

I'm absolutely stunned by how callous some peoples comments are regarding this situation.
To suggest that a continent that has been raped by westerners (and now the Chinese) is somehow responsible for its problems is harsh in my opinion.
What next ?
Refuse to donate to help the heroes,and suggest that our brave men and women of the armed forces deserve all they get because they chose to be soldiers ?
Or maybe that the Irish that were forced to flee there homeland during the potato famine have nobody to blame but themselves,because they chose to grow potato's ?
A starving child is a starving child,and a starving adult is a starving adult.I couldn't give two hoots what colour,race or religion they are,if they need help,they need help,and if i have the means to give a few quid,then i will do so.

 

[Vincent]

So Chris661,
How much is a human's life worth? Child or adult? How much is YOUR life worth Chris661?
If you donated £20 and only 50p got through and that gave a child enough water to survive, or a drug to stop their diarrhoea, isn't that a good thing?

 

[Shaunmg]

I'm absolutely stunned by how callous some peoples comments are regarding this situation.
To suggest that a continent that has been raped by westerners (and now the Chinese) is somehow responsible for its problems is harsh in my opinion.
What next ?
Refuse to donate to help the heroes,and suggest that our brave men and women of the armed forces deserve all they get because they chose to be soldiers ?
Or maybe that the Irish that were forced to flee there homeland during the potato famine have nobody to blame but themselves,because they chose to grow potato's ?
A starving child is a starving child,and a starving adult is a starving adult.I couldn't give two hoots what colour,race or religion they are,if they need help,they need help,and if i have the means to give a few quid,then i will do so.

Your quite right Mungo some of the comments are callous, I could go further but don’t wish to offend people I don’t even know.

An interesting tongue in cheek analogy of yours, the Irish potato famine. I suppose we could blame the victims of the tsunami for choosing to live by the seaside as well.

I don’t entirely agree that the West is entirely blameless. Of course they didn’t cause the 2 year drought, but to raise the analogy of the Irish potato famine again; it wasn’t the potato crop failure itself, it was the gross mismanagement of the British government in their failure to manage and prevent the tragedy. Remember; Ireland was as much a part of Great Britain at the time as Yorkshire or Kent was. Britain was the richest country in the world and could have easily prevented the Irish famine. We have the same situation now; the West has the power to alleviate symptoms of the drought.

We don’t need much of an excuse to send our brave soldiers to their deaths and spend billions on bombing, all in the name of helping the civilian population. What about the horn of Africa civilians? We wouldn’t need to bomb them, just feed them. Charitable donations are commendable but not enough. The West needs to pull its finger out and help more. I would rather see my tax money spent feeding babies rather than bombing them