Aid agencies and Africa

 There are so many ignorant people in this world that when you mention Africa, most think it’s a country, not a continent with 54 independent countries. 

Like on every continent, you will find a few countries at war causing thousands of its citizens to become refugees. Other countries on each continent have corrupt leaders, so the country is in dire straits and a few face other problems which severely affect thousands of its citizens.

So, Africa is not the only continent where you will find people living in severe poverty, which is what the western media always portrays.

You really can’t blame the media totally though, as for decades, Aid agencies like UNICEF, Red Cross etc, in their quest to get funds, have used the most terrible pictures of human suffering to paint a picture of Africa.

I have been to sections of 4 countries in Africa so far, and yes there is poverty and suffering, but you can find such images anywhere, including the rich USA.

What traveling to Africa has made me realize however, is how damaging the campaigns the Aid agencies have been using, are the entire continent.

 For it is their images of suffering which the media often portrays as the norm.

On the other hand, rarely do you see mention of how technically advanced and progressive countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa etc, are.

And did you know that in numerous regions throughout Africa, money is now virtually useless, as everyone at every level only use their phones for all  financial transactions?

They are way ahead of the west in this technology!

How many people know that Africa is home to the world’s oldest university?

Yes, there are pockets in Africa where without the help of Aid agencies, life would be intolerable for thousands of people but we also need to recognize that many so-called Aid agencies are just money making entities for greedy companies, countries and individuals anyway!

My beef is that rarely do you see the natural beauty of places on the continent being portrayed or hear news about how educationally/technologically developed some places are, 

And over the decades, some writers have even tried to move Egypt out of Africa, to maintain the propaganda about the non achievement/development of black people.

While I won’t go as far as saying all Aid agencies are working hand in hand with white supremacies to paint a picture of Africa as the Dark Continent or even made up of shit house countries, there has to be a better way of helping those who need it without maligning the entire continent!😡

What about the boys?

 According to a Gleaner report on December 6, 2022, “During the sitting of the Senate last Friday, Opposition Senator Damion Crawford called for the age of consent to be raised from 16 to 18 years old in light of a high number of teen girls leaving school after becoming pregnant.

 The age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is old enough to legally consent to participate in sexual activities.

 During Crawford’s contribution to the State of the Nation Debate, he cited statistics from a World Bank-UNICEF report which outlined that 49 per cent of school-age girls reported being unable to complete their high-school education because of pregnancy.”

 This is indeed troubling and if it takes raising the age of consent to deal with the mis-education of our girls, then I am all for it.

 Yes, young people will experiment with sex at all ages. This reality is older than you and I.

However, if the age of consent is designed to protect vulnerable, immature young girls from being taken advantage of, especially by ole-back pedophiles, I have no quarrel with increasing the age.

 There is a real problem here though, that affects young boys adversely.

This is where teenagers are in a relationship and the boy is only a year or two older than his girlfriend.

When they have sex, it is easy for the boy to become a victim of an intransigent law and earn a conviction for having sex with a minor. For example, if the boy is 17 years old and the girl under sixteen!

He deemed to have committed Statutory Rape!

You see how this is troublesome and unfair, for technically he would be having sex with a minor.

 I have heard of many cases like this where the girl’s parent/parents do not like her boyfriend and demand his conviction!

 So, if we want to make the current debate sensible and relevant, dealing with the age of consent by itself without taking steps to protect young, vulnerable boys as well, is grossly unfair.

 

 

Maligning Jamaican Mothers

No child can be born without the input of a male, but too many Jamaican men are being allowed to get away without providing any financial support for the children they father.

I have seen a video making the rounds in which Oral Tracey of TVJ, an obvious misogynist, is maligning women based on bogus statistics which have led him to claim that Jamaican women give the most jackets in the world. (paternity fraud).

Using false data, he goes as far as to claim that Jamaican women are even more prone to lying about their progeny than men, who are notorious for denying that the many children they bear are indeed theirs, so not supporting them!

Employing man bites dog journalism, (things only make news when they are the exception, not the rule) he points to the fact that 70% of the men who dispute paternity are correct when tests are done. What he fails to tell us though is, what percentage of fathers go this expensive route to dispute paternity? In other words, if the population of fathers in the country is a hundred and only ten men dispute paternity, by what stretch of the imagination can that tell you anything?

I resented the entire tone of his maligning commentary which seemed designed to do nothing but denigrate Jamaican mothers en bloc.

Yes, there are too many cases of paternity fraud in Jamaica, and that cannot be at all accepted. I dare say too, that where men have been supporting children because of deception, the person who committed the fraud, ought to be penalized and action allowed to recover the funds.

But children should never be left to starve while adults’ squabble or drag out things for years on end through our snail-paced courts!

Indeed, if serious steps were taken to ensure that fathers support their children, you would see the cases of paternity fraud drop to nil. For in many cases, it is to save children from literally starving, why some women inexcusably saddle other men with the cost of supporting children they did not father.

According to UNICEF, some 45% of Jamaican households are headed by single women, but what no statistics reveal, is what percentage of men who fathered children who live in those households, do not make any contribution to the financial welfare of their children!

 I suspect the percentage would be in the nineties.

In the interim, most Jamaican women put the welfare of their children over themselves, more often than not. How regularly do you hear or read unlikely success stories where the story-teller heaps praises on the mom for the great sacrifices she made to enable his/her success? How often do you hear such tributes to Jamaican fathers?

I personally know of cases where women have nothing to eat, but will do without food themselves, while they move heaven and earth to ensure that their children do not go hungry.

Are you aware too that many fathers will happily support their children as long as the mother has sex with him, but the moment she moves on, he victimizes his own children by withdrawing financial support?

That attitude is far more widespread than we care to acknowledge, and crosses all class lines. It is both the women and children that suffer in such situations, since at times, the women will even have to hold their noses and give in, for if they don’t it is the children that suffer most.

On the 10^th November 2021, I sat up when I heard a Radio Jamaica report that MP Heroy Clarke from St. James, had proposed in parliament that DNA tests be used to determine the true paternity of every child at birth.

His reasoning was that it would help cut down on murders. I assume he was referring to when this is the consequence some women suffer, when men discover they were supporting a child that is not theirs.

This is quite pathetic reasoning, but the idea is good for other reasons.

To begin with it would make the bringing of pedophiles to justice much easier.

For, do we really know the extent to which uncles, step fathers, and even fathers got underage girls pregnant in our country and just walk away? If the child’s DNA is on file, wouldn’t it be much easier for the police to do the job of finding the rapists, getting their DNA and arresting them?

In the present situation, while everyone knows who got the child pregnant, the uninterested police just claim they can’t do anything without evidence.

I dare say too that if every baby born was tested to determine who the father is, it would cut down on jackets too. For before any law is passed, it is necessary to have public education done and only a mad woman would commit paternity fraud when the day the child is born, all would be exposed!

I go further to suggest that attached to the step suggested by Clarke, the legislation be the legal authority to immediately garnish the earnings of the father, where necessary. This would eliminate the totally unacceptable, expensive and frustrating process that women have to go through in the long, tardy court system, while the children perish.

So far, Mr. Clarke’s suggestion has been met with many negative responses, especially by men. Yes, it will be expensive, but it has to be financed by the state.  Sure, it cannot be accepted simply as suggested, but it should be thoroughly debated and the best solutions found.

The state had no problem finding billions to deal with the covid epidemic, which is just passing crisis while the long standing one of male irresponsibility which has been at the root of so many problems in our society, has never been seriously addressed!

Having children growing up in financially deprived circumstances because fathers will not honor their responsibilities, is proving to be far more expensive and long lasting, than any public health virus that the society will ever have to face.

And if not paternity tests to bring them in without a lot of time wasting and frustration, what suggestions do the naysayers have to deal with this chronic problem with which this society has been grappling with since slavery was abolished?

I fear though that in a parliament dominated by men, it could die a quick, silent death. That is unless the women in parliament take up the issue and mobilize the rest of the society in the interest of so many thousands of our children and vulnerable young women who remain voiceless victims.

https://youtu.be/rqa4N2N8MHo

The task ahead

 For those who think things are bad now in Jamaica now, in my book, the real tragedy lies ahead when the lack of foreign exchange earnings start to be felt. Naturally, without foreign exchange, imports on which we depend so much, are going to get super-expensive.  

So far, it is the poor and small business people who have been bearing the brunt of the severe economic measures put in place to try to keep that terrible virus under control. But soon, they will cause stress on thousands more.

In retrospect, it was bad that  Jamaica followed the western world and locked down the economy. I am not blaming the government, for so little was known about the virus in the initial stages, that we did not know where to turn. 

Taiwan however took a chance and won. They, with 25 million people, did not lock down but stringently monitored those who were positive and tracked who they came in contact with. By inflicting severe punishments on those who were quarantined, they inconvenienced around 1/4 million of their population for the benefit of the other 24.5 million. And guess what, their economy remained open and  robust and only 10 people died! Sweden tried that the model but their success was not as outstanding. 

Where Jamaica fell down was in locking down the place for too long and being very lax in their enforcement of the rules that cut the spread of the virus. But what's new? Jamaica's problem with crime, justice, social issues and everything else for that matter, has always been, that we fall down in the area of enforcement. Look at how we are quick to prosecute the poor and dispossed, but the rich and well-heeled can break all the rules and have all the covid-spreading parties while the authorities look the other way. You notice too how Bolt has been singled out though? Poor fellow, with all his money and world-wide fame, he just can't make it into the Jamaican uptown circles! 

But I am not going there today. 

What really perturbs me is the fact of those who had little or no savings are now on the verge of starvation, due to the lockdown, which some would happily resurrect!. And I am sure, as savings vanish, many thouands more may soon join that group. For according to the World Bank, as a result of this virus, remittances around the world will fall by 20% this year. 

Already, a recent study conducted by UNICEF and the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CAPRI) found that eight in every 10 households suffered income losses. On average, families lost 46 per cent of income, while lower-income households suffered a 49 per cent loss.This has caused a significiant number to have to get by on one , two or no meals per day. 

The well heeled who would keep the country locked down, need to spend a few seconds letting that sink in. Remember too, that more than 130,000 families across the island are already registered with PATH.

Even so, the Capri study found that some 10% did not think they could send their children back to school. How concerning must that be for all of us?

Also, what about the psychological illnesses and possible suicides that will occur from depression and hopelessness?

That is just the tip of our iceberg, for we have yet to see the impact of the fallout in tourism. And incidentially, while some people would like to blame tourists for the increase in covid cases in the island, that is not at all true. For it has been the yardies (living here and abroad) who have been ignoring the quarantine rules and preventative measures.

With the exuberance from the election, things appear to be going pretty well now, but are we really prepared to face the serious  challenges ahead?

I fear not, for according to an article in the Daily Gleaner of Septmber 11, 2020 ; "As Jamaica continues to lose millions of dollars to destinations such as Cancun and Riviera Maya, Mexico, some of the country’s top-producing travel agents have accused the Government of rejecting tourists. The agents, part of the Jamaica Travel Specialist group that boasts more than 8,000 members, vented their frustration on social media Thursday morning, warning that they would not send their clients here until the travel authorisation is done away with. The test is no big deal, so the authorisation process is what the determining factor is here. I can’t support a tourism industry that is doing everything they can to delay tourism. It’s pretty clear they are not wanting tourists,” Hannah Cote wrote online on Thursday morning.

Since August, two months after the island reopened its doors for tourism, complaints have not ceased. People who book both flights and accommodation have expressed difficulties getting landing approval here. Families have been separated as the system rejects some members and accepts others."

Can the country and those on the fringes really endure such a lackadasical approach to the economic well-being of the country much longer?