Loans Give Life

I would like you to meet Akua Kusasi. She lives with her family in Offinso in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. She has requested a $550 loan in order to buy maize in bulk so she can expand her business enough to pay for educational opportunities for her children. I have responded to her request in part.
You see, a few years ago I heard about an organization called Kiva.org. Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending website, who's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. What that essentially means is that Kiva works with trusted micro-lenders all over the world to provide interest free loans to entrepreneurs who can demonstrate the trust to pay back those loans over time.
The unique part about this is that Kiva is not really providing these loans. I am. You are. We globally are. While she needed $550, I could only contribute to part of that. But some one from Canada is contributing a portion. Someone from France has thrown in some money as well. And there are more. Alone, we might not be able to help Ms. Kusasi but with our concerted effort, we can get her the money she needs to make a better life for herself and her family.
I never really talk about my giving or how much I give but was inspired by someone else to share this. You see, this is not just something we throw money at and hope somebody else fixes it. Here you are investing directly into somebody that is working to make a better life for themselves.
The thing about Kiva.org is that when the loan is paid back, you get your money back and can decide how you wish to use. I am not going to say how much I put in to Kiva but lets say I put the minimum $25 (which many people do and it is very effective, nothing wrong with that at all). When Ms. Kusasi pays back her loan and I get my part back, I can chose to withdraw that $25 and put it back in my pocket. But what myself, and many others do, is we count it as a donation. So once that money is put back in our account, we can take the next person and begin helping them with their small business loan. With a small investment, this is potentially a never ending cycle of giving where millions of lives can pulled from poverty.
I would greatly encourage you to at least give Kiva.org a shot. If you later decide you need the money back or it is not worth your capital, then you can withdraw and not lose out at all. But honestly look at it. While you have little to lose, the lives affected have everything to gain.

Interview with Alison Jones, Director of Advocacy at Resolve Uganda

Minutes after posting my last blog, I received and email from Resolve Uganda with an update (I am on their email list). I responded and invited them to read and comment on the post. They did and it has led to this interview. Please read and mull it over:

Alison, thank you so much for agreeing to do this interview. I threw out on Twitter that I would be getting the chance to talk to you and it generated a bit of good bit of buzz so I am excited.

Could you first introduce yourself and tell us what you do?

My name is Alison Jones (pictured above) and I'm one of the co-founders of Resolve Uganda, an organization that was created to protect children from being abducted and abused by a rebel army in Uganda by putting pressure on our leaders here to end the war.

I understand we are mainly talking about Uganda here, but it probably carries across into other countries too. Why the use of child soldiers? What does it accomplish?
That's a complicated question that depends largely on the country that we're talking about. While this problem is most critical in Africa, it's also occurring in Asia, Latin America and in parts of Europe and the Middle East. In the case of Uganda, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army(LRA) uses child soldiers because they had little to no support from the local population and this was the most expedient way to replenish and fill their ranks. Children make easy prey, and are also easier than adults to brainwash and indoctrinate. The LRA is a case of forcible abduction --- there are other conflicts where children choose (in as much as 11-year olds can make informed decisions) to fight, because they have no other options.

I know civil war was displaced many children in Uganda and groups like Invisible Children are trying to work in that aftermath. What is going on now with the Lord's Resistance Army?
While the war between the LRA and Ugandan government has always been commonly viewed as a civil war, there have always been regional components that complicated the situation. The LRA was used as a proxy fighting force by the Sudanese government in its fight against the South Sudanese, and the porous borders in the region allowed the LRA to move freely. The LRA and Ugandan government have been involved in peace negotiations for the past two years that brought relative stability to northern Uganda, but unfortunately this peace came at the expense of other security for other populations in the region. While the negotiations were happening, the LRA took the opportunity to move its bases to the Congo (next door to Uganda) and has recently started committing attacks there that are comparable to what they did in N. Uganda for so long -- abducting children, displacing communities, terrorizing families. This is now very much a regional crisis that the world is going to have to pay attention to and act on if children in Congo and Sudan are going to be spared the same brutal fate that so many children in N. Uganda endured.

I threw out on my last blog post that I did not see the point in legislation because the problem seems to be rebels who would not adhere to laws or proclamations. I would also argue that they would not be the ones affected by restrictions in aid. You disagreed. Could you tell me how it would help?
You make a good point that legislation aimed at rebel groups will be ineffective. But just as much as rebel armies use this tactic, so unfortunately do governments (Uganda included). Just yesterday, Congress passed the Child Soldiers Prevention Act that will limit military funding to governments that recruit and use child soldiers. This is a huge step. In the case of rebel armies, organizations like mine recognize that rebel armies will only abandon this tactic when they are forced to - aka when the conflict is ended. That's why we're doing everything we can to achieve peace for this region - it's the only way kids are going to be safe.

Why should the average person in the Western world care? How/does it affect us?
For anyone who has had the chance to listen to the story of a child soldier, whether in a news article, through a movie, or in person, there is a very human component to this. These are just little kids - and whether they live next door or across the ocean - they deserve to be protected. I wholeheartedly believe that this is an issue with no moral uncertainty - what's happening to these children is wrong, and it's no less wrong just because it's not happening right where we live. In addition to that belief though, there is the argument about failed states and what it will take to secure our world. We know that lack of education, extreme poverty, lack of any opportunity breed insecurity - and that this is where armed conflict thrives. I think 9/11 showed most Americans that we need to start paying attention to what's happening in other parts of the world - because our planet is a lot smaller than we think.

How do we get involved, is there anything else we can do besides writing to or representatives in congress?
In the case of the LRA, I would encourage people to join our campaign for peace at www.resolveuganda.org. We were founded on the belief that these kids will be safe only when our politicians care enough to protect them - and that we can make that happen. We organize events all throughout the year that put pressure on our leaders to act for peace. I know that the political process is intimidating to some people, and that writing a letter doesn't sound like the coolest thing to do, but I can promise you that it is the best thing you can do to help these children in the long run.

How does your work differ from that of Invisible Children, another prominent group working for peace in Uganda? Do you ever work together?
We do work quite closely with Invisible Children --- As they are working to raise awareness and directly assist children in northern Uganda, we're trying to translate that awareness into political pressure. For every person who sees their film, we want them to call their Member of Congress and ask them to do something. We very much value our collaboration and friendship with their organization and hopefully will have some joint events coming up.

Alison, thank you for your time and very thought provoking answers. This is not an advocacy specific blog but advocacy is an aspect I care deeply about. I would invite you to come back and keep us updated anytime.

For more information, please visit Resolve Uganda by clicking on the logo below:

Rooted Reality in 24: Redemption

Last night one of my favorite television shows returned for one night. "24" broadcast a 2-hour movie to set up the upcoming season. For those that have not tuned into the show, the premise has been that each season follows a counter terrorism agent named Jack Bauer through one significant day. So each episode is an hour long and there are 24 of them. Seasons have been spaced out so one season might actually take place 4 years later than the season before it. Because of the events that will be happening in this season, the show's creators thought it would be useful to provide us with two hour prequel to let us know how Jack ended up where he is going to be when the season starts in January

"24: Redemption" is set in the fictional African nation Sangala on the eve of a revolutionary coup. Jack is found at an American school that has taken in, what could be assumed as, orphaned children whose parents might have been killed in previous revolutions or counter-revolutions. Not too much unlike the work Invisible Children is trying to do in Uganda.

Which, brings me to the point of this entire blog (if you have been reading my writings, you knew this was not going to be all about a TV show). A lot of what occurred in and was the premise of "24: Redemption" is very much rooted in reality. I am not talking about Jack Bauer kicking ass and not caring enough to take names, that is what we have Chuck Norris for. I am talking about the conflict occurring in the troubled African country. The children on the show were being kidnapped and brainwashed into becoming child soldiers. If you are not aware, then let this be your wake up call. While many of us grew up with relatively little strife, 10-year old children in Uganda and other countries were forced to decide between killing their own parents and siblings or being killed themselves. No one should be faced with that decision especially not at 10. The brutal warlords can then guilt the children into thinking they will be forever unforgiven and their only hope in life is to fight for them or be turned in to the authorities. Other children "volunteer" as a chance to escape poverty or simply to avoid being killed by the militia. It is routinely estimated that there are between 250,000 and 300,000 soldiers under the age of 18 worldwide. I was actually a little disappointed that while Fox brought attention to what is going on, they only gave very brief mention in a commercial that provided the average viewer any indication what they watched is not only real but, minus Jack Bauer, occurs every day. And based on what happened, I imagine this will be largely ignored in January.

I really don't care how much I write here. I am never going to be able to do this topic justice. It is simply sickening to think that while a child should be enjoying days of accepted immaturity, learning new things, playing sports, etc. they are instead forced to be puppets in a war that is not theirs. Forced to kill their family, friends, neighbors, and strangers. I would really encourage you to poke around for more information on sites like this. It might not be occurring in your back yard, but visit a school during recess or look at your own children and imagine the kids who are "playing" war are actually equipped with Ak-47s. There is no laughing, no joy, no careless freedom. Only dead souless eyes who have been stripped of innocence.

I have looked at some of the work people are trying to do to prevent these atrocities. I don't see the good of any of their ideas because they are all based on the assumption the same lawless dogs that use the children would obey some sort of protocol or mandate. So what do we do? Is there anything we can do? Can we only deal with the aftermath?