Wednesday, June 29, 2005
On Female Circumcision (FGM)
Is Female Circumcision Right ?
I'm not going to give you an answer to that ; I had my share of bombardment from some Nigerian friends who i tried to reason with on this touchy issue....they definately wanted to throw me out of a moving car. I discussed this with a Brazilian & a Spaniard and regardless of the fact that they both dont come from communities that practice this tradition; their answers were rather compelling.
Should we let these communities carry on with these traditions as part of the way they live," as part of their culture" because of the fear of transforming them into our culture... I guess then the first question we have to make is if this tradition has always been there, or if it was brought to that particular group of people by some emancipated group that believed their traditions were more superior (especially referring to those attached to the ancient Muslim religion).
But even after answering this question then comes the next one, to what extend can anybody say what is right or wrong? ...The only true laws are the natural ones... the one that can not be interpreted or interrupted in any way but they just are... the "laws of life"? the ones about the community of life, diversity... those laws can not be questioned, there is no right or wrong about them, they just are. Any other laws, or traditions, have been made by human beings with the purpose of controlling and surrendering the world to them; Because all those laws and traditions have come from an interpretation that human beings have a role in the world...human beings cannot tamper with the laws of life.Circumcision is not in accordance with those natural laws, so those who follow that tradition are not the original humans but the "modern" humans. Because their culture has already been "corrupted" by the "modern humans", then we need to minimise the mistakes we made and try to abolish that tradition that can only hurt them...
But again, who are we to decide how others should live their lives?
Friday, June 17, 2005
Musicians Without Borders
Tough Problems - Simple Solutions
Yesterday evening, i went with a couple of friends to the UvA for a mini concert/presentation by the Vrouvolk (some women folk) who work for the NGO "Musicians Without Borders" see www.musicianswithoutborders.nl. Their purpose is to use the power of music to promote respect and tolerance among people and communities and to help create a peaceful, global society (something like using music for conflict resolution) Its roots were in the former ethnic conflicts between Serbs and Albanians. How blinding the world has become to such simple ways to deal with problems. Its Amazing what music can do .... as someone put it once.....if its taken human beings 5000 years to put wheels on their suitcases/luggage......are we really that intelligent?" Or as one of my favourite quotes from Calvin & Hobbes "The only sure way that intelligent life exists in outer space is the fact that none of it has tried to contact us"
Yesterday evening, i went with a couple of friends to the UvA for a mini concert/presentation by the Vrouvolk (some women folk) who work for the NGO "Musicians Without Borders" see www.musicianswithoutborders.nl. Their purpose is to use the power of music to promote respect and tolerance among people and communities and to help create a peaceful, global society (something like using music for conflict resolution) Its roots were in the former ethnic conflicts between Serbs and Albanians. How blinding the world has become to such simple ways to deal with problems. Its Amazing what music can do .... as someone put it once.....if its taken human beings 5000 years to put wheels on their suitcases/luggage......are we really that intelligent?" Or as one of my favourite quotes from Calvin & Hobbes "The only sure way that intelligent life exists in outer space is the fact that none of it has tried to contact us"
Monday, June 13, 2005
Debt Relief For Africa ?
The past week & weekend has been a mediabuzz of "Africa" & "Debt Relief" ; Alot of people have been asking me my opinion on this; but as always, my opinion is usually a cold and different one. I think only Maria agrees with me on this one, and maybe a couple of you who identify with the views of Daniel Quinn in his books "Ishmael" and "The Story of B"
My 2 cents.....
The whole Blair G8 presidency move to "make poverty history" is a sign that the issue is finally being looked at but its merely just a first and very small step. It sensitizes but does not solve the problem, its a quick fix......quick fixes dont work. The key is to work on the long term solutions like Ignorance (by ignorance i dont mean being educated but by those who are already educated to put to use what they have learnt positively). My arguments may seem fluffy and unrealistic, but just try to look at them for one minute in my way.....
1. Poverty lies in the eyes of the beholder ..... who said that having an education and being "civilised" is being wealthy. My experience in the Togolese border in my 2003 visit to Ghana & 2002 visit to India (somewhere near Jamshedpur) were the clearest answers to my question on whether "civilisation" was the way foward to the world. I got to live in the middle of nowhere with traditional communities whose sense of accomplishment and happiness came from the fact that they lived happily as a community; they worked together, shared the little food they had, welcomed foreigners like me with a smile and brought up their children to have good character. What more could you want ? Dr. Quinn says " The world only wants us to leave it alone" I totally agree and respect the so called "poor" in our societies ....the aborigins, the maasai, the red indians ...etc.... Wealth comes deep down from your heart and not from what the rest of the civilised world sees you as. Even the people plagued by genocide in Rwanda, dont animals fight amongst themselves? arent we part of the animal kingdom? Just try to think about it that way...... Man is a selfish being by nature, and you cant change that. Our civilised lifestyle is evolutionarily unstable and is thus in the process of eliminating itself in the perfectly ordinary way - we cannot alienate ourselves from nature. We are subject to the laws of life......looks like we forgot that.
2. Africa is the continent of the future ....
True.... Singapore & Malaysia are countries that moved from "3rd world" to "1st world" in a record 10 - 20 years ..... Egypt & Ethiopia etc were one of the worlds richest kingdoms....i think the whole development model thing is very specific to country and situation....my advice....stop worrying too much, Africa is the continent of the future.....we have the people and resources .....its only a matter of time that we need to "trim out" the negativities and "grow up" ......and as soon as we stop blaming everyone for our failure....we will start spending more time bettering ourselves......it takes quantam energy to reach the kind of "stability" we require as acontinent, we are big, we have too many resources, and we are far too diverse (over 1500 distinctly different cultures & 50+ countries....).....its going to take TIME.....Further, I feel generally impressed with the kind of crop developing from Africa for now....most of the youth....from business professionals to soccer players are all thinking in terms of moving Africa to the next level. Despite Africa becoming poorer contrary to other continents.....we still made an improvement in economic growth......We are evolving......evolutions are always messy..........our time is coming.......
3. Mikes view on Debt relief......
Why on earth are the rich countries "relieving" us from Debt?? Why dont they "Pay for the Debt??" Sounds like a vicious cycle here...I so totally agree with that statement......relieving the debt does not pay for the vacuum of debt that has been incurred meaning economically, they are simply just sweeping the dust under the carpet...Who will pay for the vaccum?
4. The world can only be changed by people with changed minds
The statement speaks for itself........you cannot change an individual, the individual is the only person who can change himself........when he does he enhances his circle of influence and the positive change spreads like a wave.......change takes time and energy........
‘The message for Africans (of my winning the Nobel Peace Prize) is that the solutions to our problems lie within us. The work we have been doing with the Green Belt Movement is a local response to a local problem’ "What is done for the people without involving them cannot be sustained - Professor Wangari Maathai
To be continued........
