If you’ve seen the breathtaking and profound 1986 film The Mission, you know of the musical talents of the native people encountered by the colonizers and missionaries who came to South and Central America in the 1600s and 1700s.

NPR has an amazing story on the revival of baroque music in Bolivia, which I heard this morning on the way to work. As soon as the story started, I recognized a familiar tune from The Mission. Sure enough, the story revealed that this piece was one of many that have been restored from 17th-century manuscripts from Jesuit missions in Bolivia.

The Mission is a story of the tragic clash between the peaceful Guaraní natives, Portuguese colonizers, and Spanish Jesuit missionaries. The musical abilities of the Guaraní are pointed out as evidence that they are, in fact, human and worthy of respect.

Few situations in human history are as complex and conflicted as the situation between colonials and the people they colonized (both militarily and religiously). The Mission is a must-see for feeling the tensions and the beauty in this situation, and this NPR story is a great way to convince yourself to see it. The music is beautiful.

Rodney Olsen recently returned from a Compassion International trip to the Dominican Republic, and has a post about breaking the cycle of poverty. Rodney’s group was supposed to go to Haiti, but food riots there forced them back to Miami, where they regrouped to head to the Dominican Republic.

This morning I read on BoingBoing that, according to this NY Times article, the poorest of the poor in Haiti can no longer afford basic food staples, and are staving off hunger pangs by eating a mixture of mud, sugar, and oil:

In Haiti, where three-quarters of the population earns less than $2 a day and one in five children is chronically malnourished, the one business booming amid all the gloom is the selling of patties made of mud, oil and sugar, typically consumed only by the most destitute.

“It’s salty and it has butter and you don’t know you’re eating dirt,” said Olwich Louis Jeune, 24, who has taken to eating them more often in recent months. “It makes your stomach quiet down.” link

Sponsor a child through Compassion (search for Haiti in the country field)

More information about people resorting to geophagy (eating dirt) in Haiti

How could we not be outraged by such affronts to human dignity? When do we stop for a minute in our comfortable lives and refuse to ignore such suffering any longer? The NY Times article points out that hungry people tend to overthrow their governments, and food riots are increasingly common in a world of rapidly rising food prices.

But riots by those affected by these crises will not solve them. Allow me to quote from a speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the Vietnam War in 1967:

This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one’s tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I’m not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality. This Hindu-Muslim-Christian-Jewish-Buddhist belief about ultimate reality is beautifully summed up in the first epistle of Saint John: “Let us love one another (Yes), for love is God. (Yes) And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. . . . If we love one another, God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us.” Let us hope that this spirit will become the order of the day.
…
We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood-it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.” There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance or our neglect. link (emphasis added)

Indeed. So here is my challenge to my readers and fellow bloggers: As of today, there are 67 Haitian children in need of sponsorship on Compassion’s website. I think we can get that number down to zero within a week. It’s $32 a month, which is less than we spent on food and coffee at Zoka last time we went. Go to the Compassion child search page, and select Haiti from the dropdown menu, then pick a child to sponsor.

Then, blog about this and ask people to help. Thanks.

The United Way of King County has published an ethnographic study of homelessness (PDF) that shatters many of the myths and generalizations about homeless people.

From the introduction:

Fundraising for the Campaign to End Chronic Homelessness is at its halfway point, and the associated resources are now beginning to be deployed in the community. To ensure that we and our partners truly understand the shape and scale of the problem, and use our resources to the best possible effect, we commissioned this Ethnographic Assessment of Homeless Street Populations. It is Washington State’s first-ever effort to take a probing, anthropological look at the people and places of King County homelessness, and capture the diversity of the homeless experience.

Not everyone who is lingering on the street is homeless, and not everyone who is homeless is on the street. Drug and alcohol use is widespread, but hardly universal, and different ages of the homeless have different preferences in substances.

For some homeless people, life will turn around if there is a dependable roof overhead. For others, the challenge is deeper, and success will hinge on supportive services, including mentorship in regaining critical social skills.

All this and more emerges from this rich, textured, and challenging report. As we move forward in United Way of King County’s work to end homelessness, the report will guide our effort to be as comprehensive and effective as possible in our approach. link

Story in the Seattle P-I

Further down, the report notes:

Now, there are evidence-based practices for serving the chronic homeless population. Positive results have been found for models that incorporate Housing First principles, recovery first models, generic outreach, employment options, day centers, harm reduction, and motivational interviewing approaches to chemical dependency. Seattle has yet to develop a coordinated effort incorporating all of these components. However, as reported earlier, MID workers noted a clear difference on the street with the opening of the 1811 Eastlake Project (DESC) for chronic alcoholics and Real Change, which provides the opportunity to earn cash by selling papers. The innovations of Housing First principles have transformed the service philosophy toward this group in recent years. Equally transformative approaches are needed for other homeless streetbased
populations.

In other words, we may need to suspend some of our assumptions about what we should do and look at the research. Many people objected when 1811 was opened, as it lets alcoholics drink in their rooms, but it does get them off the street, giving them a greater chance of achieving sobriety and employment.

The “Chronic Homeless” category used in this report is a bit broad; it’s designed to encompass groups that aren’t adequately described by the other categories “Chronic Public Alcoholic,” “Mentally Ill and Mentally Ill Offender,” “Drug Addicted Offender.” I think the simply down-and-out are a bit overlooked, though I haven’t read the report in its entirety. What about those who have chronic, untreated health issues? Getting such issues fully treated is not easy for the homeless, and such issues can quickly lead to homelessness for those without insurance.

For those of you who know our homeless friend Paul, I’m saddened to report that he passed away about two weeks ago, after spending several weeks in a coma. While he did have some drug issues in his past, most of his issues were related to chronic health problems. We saw over and over that he’d get short-term treatment for his MRSA infections and then be released, so the infections would never go away. They eventually destroyed his kidneys, forcing him to go to dialysis four times a week. A number of other complications made the kidney failure worse, and ultimately contributed to his untimely death.

These are serious issues, and United Way’s $25 million campaign to end homelessness will be a necessary start in addressing them.

HU friends Brett & April Emerson are missionaries in Africa, and need a new truck.

In January, Brett, April, and Caden Emerson moved to Togo to join the mission team in Kara. Since then, they had been borrowing a truck and saving up for their own. A few months ago, they finally got it. A few weeks ago, they found a minor leak and gave it to a mechanic to fix. He fixed it, took it for a test drive, had a momentary lapse in judgement, started speeding, drove off a bridge, landed 40 feet away, completely totaling the Emerson’s brand new truck that took them 7 months to raise the money for. All I’m asking for is a dollar, but dollars add up pretty quickly. Let’s see what God can do…I don’t think it will take another 7 months for a new one. link to Facebook group

Brett explains on their blog:

We did not have comprehensive accident coverage because it costs about $10,000 per year, so we are going to have to salvage what we can and find the money for a new truck, around $40,000. The thought of fundraising again makes us sick to our stomachs, but it also gives us a chance to step aside and allow God to work, because there is NO WAY that we can do it on our own. We just don’t have the resources available to us. We know that God will provide, so stay tuned for a crazy and encouraging story about how He does it…

If you’d like to help, use the PayPal button in the sidebar here on RC or in the latest post on their blog.

I get emails from Josh Peck and celebrities all the time via the One Campaign. Most of the time, they’re asking me to write to some policymaker to request some anti-poverty action be taken.

Today, I got one that shared the results of a recent campaign - the effort to get Liberia’s debt canceled by the International Monetary Fund.

In short, it worked.

On October 26, ONE members sent emails to the International Monetary Fund asking them to make good on their promises and cancel Liberia’s debt. Each individual email might not seem like much, but all together we flooded IMF’s email system and it couldn’t handle them all.

And it worked. We did it. We put on the pressure, and they responded. But you don’t have to take my word for it.

Yesterday, Masood Ahmed, Director of the IMF’s External Relations, posted an open letter on the IMF’s website announcing that they finally took the step necessary to move forward. Some key excerpts:

I am pleased to inform you that on November 12, 2007, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has secured adequate pledges from member countries for the cost of the IMF’s debt relief to Liberia
…
We have received a large volume of emails on this topic, so this letter is being posted because it is impossible to respond to each message individually.
…
I take this opportunity to also thank all those who have expressed their concerns about Liberia’s debt situation. Their strong support to the cause of debt relief contributed to the broad donor support that made this financing possible. link

Liberia’s debt is being canceled as part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative (HIPC) from the International Monetary Fund. IMF explains:

How the HIPC Initiative works

To be considered for HIPC Initiative assistance, a country must: (1) be IDA-only and PRGF-eligible; (2) face an unsustainable debt burden, beyond traditionally available debt-relief mechanisms; (3) establish a track record of reform and sound policies through IMF- and IDA-supported programs; and (4) have developed a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) through a broad-based participatory process. Once a country has met or made sufficient progress in meeting these criteria, the Executive Boards of the IMF and IDA formally decide on its eligibility for debt relief, and the international community commits to reducing debt to the agreed sustainability threshold. This is called the decision point. Once a country reaches its decision point, it may immediately begin receiving interim relief on its debt service falling due. In order to receive the full and irrevocable reduction in debt available under the HIPC Initiative, however, the country must: (i) establish a further track record of good performance under IMF- and IDA-supported programs; (ii) implement satisfactorily key reforms agreed at the decision point, and (iii) adopt and implement the PRSP for at least one year. Once a country has met these criteria, it can reach its completion point, at which time lenders are expected to provide the full debt relief committed at decision point. link

It’s nice to hear that an email can make a difference. You can sign up to participate in things like this at one.org.

David Pogue of the New York Times got his hands on the “$100 laptop,” now known as the XO (which I recently blogged about when I found out they go on sale in the US in November), and has his review video up on YouTube.

Link to YouTube video

Among the awesomenesses:

• Mesh networking
• Six-hour battery life
• Designed to be hackable, with a system restore button
• Waterproof, dustproof, and shock-resistant

You have to see Pogue drop the XO on a rock, then pick it right back up and keep using it. Not a scratch.

Will this change the world? I think so.

My school had an assembly on Friday featuring Sister Schools, a local organization that takes clothing and school supplies to students in Africa. The presentation made it clear that there are plenty of schools around the world where the students do not get even one book each - in many schools, they don’t have any materials at all. Students learn by watching and listening, not by reading or doing. In many schools, the teachers paint illustrations from their books on the walls of the school so students can see.

As I commented to someone recently, schools in the US are still paying a fortune every year for information and paper (aka textbooks) when the former is now free and the latter is obsolete. An open platform like the XO could change everything.

XOGiving.org

Today we watched the short documentary film Invisible Children, which has an associated a nonprofit organization to help children in war-torn southern Uganda. These children are constantly at risk of being conscripted into militias, so they cannot sleep in their rural homes, and travel into cities each night to avoid abduction. Our friend Greg Kendall-Ball is going to Gulu, Uganda in January to shoot photos for Invisible Chilren, and is accepting donations to support his trip.

If you haven’t seen the film, you might not know that it was made by three American college students, who didn’t know what they were going to do when they arrived in Africa. Invisible Children happened, and now their organization provides education and mental health care to help re-integrate former child soldiers into society (and prevent further abductions).

After watching Invisible Children in church today, we discussed the film and what we can do. The film bothered me because it comes from a rather arrogant, youthful American perspective. The filmmakers went to Africa to “conquer” it and fix whatever problems they encountered. Can you get any more imperialistic?

That got me thinking about actual imperialism and colonialism, which are now considered bad and wrong. Are things really any better now, though? I’m not suggesting that we go back to colonialism, but that we really look at why some things are worse now than they were under colonialism. The quality of governance comes to mind.

Again, though, it is not our job to solve another continent’s problems. We can help, but African leadership will be the ultimate source of solution to Africa’s problems. Oprah’s leadership school for girls comes to mind as a way to make a difference while encouraging local leadership.

Another question involves the proliferation of nonprofit organizations. Is it really necessary for every American who visits Africa to come home and start their own nonprofit? Doesn’t this just introduce more administrative overhead, wasting money that could be funneled into existing organizations that already have their overhead covered?

I checked and Invisible Children’s overhead is 14.6%, compared to 13.5% for World Vision. Compassion International’s is higher, at 16.2%. So, while it’s a bit silly to duplicate administrative functions for each organization, at least IC is keeping their expenses at a reasonable level (which is why, for example, Greg is raising his own support).

On the other hand, the proliferation of charities does give people a more personal connection to the work being done in other countries. For example, it’s much easier for people in Searcy to feel a part of the mission of the Kibo Group than the work of WorldVision, simply because the Kibo Group is based in Searcy (my college town).

The main problem in all of this is hubris. I too am inspired by the ambitions of the One Campaign and other groups to end extreme poverty in our generation. But it’s imperialism all over again to think that we can simply march in and fix the world’s problems.

David closed our gathering today with a prayer, in which he asked that we not be paralyzed by the complexity and difficulty of these problems. Indeed. Thoughts?

The “$100 Laptop Project,” formally known as One Laptop Per Child, has long been the holy grail of educational technology for the developing world. Led by Nicholas Negroponte, the project aims to get a laptop into the hands of every child in the developing world.

As specs for these rugged machines became public - hand-crank power, self-networking wifi - people in the developed world started to drool at the $100 price tag; alas, you had to be a government and buy a million of them to qualify. Until now.

OLPC just announced that, starting November 12, you will be able to purchase one of the green machines for yourself for $399. This also pays for a 2nd laptop, to be given to a child in the developing world. The price is, obviously, not at the $100 mark yet, but they’re working on it.

This strategy is incalculably brilliant. We can have something we want (and hey, Americans want a lot of stuff) while paying for someone in the third world to have something they need. It’s not unlike my proposal for the 100% self-tax.

You can sign up for an email reminder now at xogiving.org, and buy two laptops this Christmas. Along with Kiva, this might be the way to give this holiday season.