Thanks so much for those of you who have commented my posts! I really appreciate it and value your opinion. I have taken into account some of the changes you have suggested and found them very helpful. One of the comments that you guys left brought up an extremely good point! Especially in issues such as this one, it is important to consider the different views of the people (specifically Somali people, Ethiopian people, and even Americans). In one of my previous posts I shared one American's point of view on the topic. He stated that in his opinion, Ethiopia should not have gotten involved with Somalia because he feared that Somalia would become Ethiopia's Iraq. Now, I would really just like to focus a little on the perspectives of the Somali people and the Ethiopian people; I'm leaving the American perspective up to you. Comment my blog and let me know how you feel about the situation!
As for Ethiopia's people, I think it is most important to recognize what's actually going on in Ethiopia. Remember that this country is involved with Somalia, trying to help them put back a government. Now let's take a look at Ethiopia. I found an article in today's news headlines talking about the dangerous conditions that Ethiopians are facing. At this time the country is in a drought that is supposedly not being taken seriously. 4.6 million people are officially counted as starving in Ethiopia, but the article says that some agencies fear the real number could be around 8 million people (20% of Ethiopians). However, Ethiopia seems to be a country of many that is not openly accepting help because they hate the idea that they would need it (even though they clearly do). And Prime Minister Meles Zenawi continues to say that the situation is manageable at this time, though it seems that physical observations of the situation do not agree. My point for telling you this is that basically, a country greatly in need of help is "helping" (in a way) another country that is greatly in need of help. This doesn't seem very reasonable, and so I'm guessing that people from both countries aren't liking what's going on. The civilians, as in any other war, are being put in danger and often killed for no reason.
Honestly, what this comes down to is a question of how we can help as outsiders to the situation. How can we help? I'll be researching and will let you know as soon as possible. And please, if you are aware of any active programs for this cause, let me know.
Source:
Plaut, Martin. "Ethiopian need 'under-estimated'" BBC news. 12 Oct. 2008. 12 Oct. 2008 http://http//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7665826.stm.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment