[Sudan - 07-27-09] Thirty-six child soldiers who once served with an armed rebel movement in Sudan’s Darfur region have been voluntarily demobilized and given assistance so they can return to school and their communities, the United Nations reported today.



The joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) has provided logistical support to the Darfur Child Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) programme and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which are spearheading the demobilization initiative.

By the end of the week another 17 child soldiers are expected to be released and demobilized and help with reintegration into their communities. As many as 2,000 children have been identified as eventually participating.

The programme is taking place in Tora, a village located about 60 kilometres from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.

The first batch of 36 – who served with the Freewill faction of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), often to defend their villages – received backpacks containing school and educational supplies, as well as sports equipment, as part of their reintegration packages.

The Sudanese Government has also set up a three-year special education programme to help with reintegration.

Source: UN News Service

[Canmore, AB 05-30-09] Generosity is a wonderful act. I have experienced, many times, the benefits of a generous person. There is a wonderful feeling that comes when someone gives to you without strings attached or maybe a few small ones. It is even more incredible when you are the one who is generous and the joy you can experience when you see the receiver eyes light up with surprise and thankfulness. On the other hand justice, as far as my experience is concerned, is a little more difficult to achieve or experience. Justice requires sacrifice, wisdom and a willingness to tough it out long term to make things right when there is wrong that is usually accompanied with hurt and brokenness.

As a father I find that I gravitate toward being generous or a better word could be lenient and that is not necessarily a good thing. When my children get out of hand into a rapidly degenerative discussion that results in fisticuffs and potentially blood I can take the shortcut of shouting it down, asking them to forgive each other and then let them get back to Wii or the trampoline whilst I get back to my facebook fix or pint on the patio… or I could actually engage in a conversation that will take time, wisdom and interaction, bringing solutions rather than avoiding the root issues.


Dambisa Moyo, Zambian economist speaks out against aid as the solution.

So when I came across the article Why Aid to Africa Must Stop in the National Post today, thanks to Mark Petersen’s blog, the thoughts I had recently about generosity and justice were confirmed. We cannot haphazardly throw money at the global poverty problems hoping that they will disappear. Generous aid is not a solution, it is at best a short-term fix that can only complement a more comprehensive strategy. Justice takes a horribly wrong situation and makes it right. Solutions such as helping those in poverty find a way to climb out through sustainable financial success is a much better path towards making things right. I have friends who are involved in NGOs and businesses that are helping our poor sisters and brothers become successful entrepreneurs and employees breaking the cycle of misery and poverty. That is justice! …and it really makes sense.

The following is from the National Post interview with Dambisa Moyo:


Why aid to Africa must stop

Adrian Humphreys, National Post Published: Saturday, May 30, 2009

Born and raised in Zambia but educated at Oxford and Harvard, Dambisa Moyo was an uncommon face as a black woman in the world of high finance. Now with the publication of her book Dead Aid, she has become an uncommon voice, a strong and eloquent advocate of stopping financial aid to Africa as the best way to help the troubled continent. It is an idea contradicting rock star campaigners, Western politicians and grassroots wisdom all at once. As she makes her way to Canada for a highly anticipated debate on Monday with Stephen Lewis and others at the Munk Debate on Foreign Aid, she spoke with the National Post about her ideas and the hazards of opposing the aid orthodoxy.

—

Q What’s so bad about rich nations sharing their wealth with poor nations to help them cope with their struggles?

A No country on Earth has ever achieved long-term growth and reduced poverty in a meaningful way by relying on aid. It’s just never happened. So we’re pushing a strategy that has no evidence of working anywhere on Earth. And we have years of evidence that the aid strategy doesn’t work.

It boils down to incentive. We have to ask ourselves: Are African governments incentivized to do what governments all around the world are expected to do, that is, deliver public goods: education, health care, infrastructure and security? Unfortunately an aid system has allowed African governments to abdicate their responsibilities…. So until African governments live or die based on job creation and providing goods to Africans and not rely just on getting aid money, we will continue to see a situation where the private sector has not developed and Africans do not have job opportunities. The billion dollars that go from government to government … can make African governments lazy with respect to doing what they are supposed to be doing. It also fuels corruption, can fuel civil wars, inflation, the debt burden, and so on.

Q What do you see as the better way?

A It is a mixture of trade, foreign direct investment, capital markets, the bond market, remittance and microfinance. It is basically fostering a private sector investment into these economies so you actually get job creation. The fundamental problem with the aid model is there are no jobs being created for Africans. It is a band-aid solution. Over 60% of Africa’s population is under the age of 24. These people need jobs or we’ll have a continent of pirates or young people with no opportunities. It is critically important that people understand that Africans want what Westerners want.

Q In order to raise aid money, foundations and aid agencies often turn to television commercials panning across impoverished people amid a damaged wasteland. That hardly inspires confidence that any private funding would be worthwhile as a financial investment.

A I completely agree and that is one of the fundamental problems with the celebrity culture. The focus is so negative. In the book I call it the four horsemen of African apocalypse. They want to focus on war, disease, poverty and corruption. I met with an African woman in Kenya who said to me it is hard enough to raise a teenager anywhere in the world, but try to raise a teenager to be an engineer or a doctor or to really contribute to the global society when you are constantly being told you are poor, you’re inefficient, you need a handout. This is not a formula for success. It is a great disappointment that, by and large, celebrities use their platforms to basically push a negative story. That is not going to encourage anyone to Africa to invest.

Q So you advocate turning off the taps. How soon, how suddenly and how completely should they be turned off ?

A I appreciate you asking that question because I have been completely misrepresented and, I have to say, I think quite deliberately misrepresented, particularly by the NGO community.

I give a five-year example in my book. Very foolishly, the NGOs have jumped on that and [suggest I] said aid should be stopped immediately or, in the worst case, within five years. I’m not saying that at all. What I am saying is we need to have an exit strategy. Aid can, perhaps, only work when we know the tap will be turned off at some point. We need a phase-out plan to make sure that African governments can wean themselves off of aid. I have also said that countries have very different levels of economic development. My own home country, Zambia, is at a very different level than say, Ghana, or Kenya, or Somalia for that matter. You cannot have one blanket exit strategy for all of these countries.



Bono and Geldof at a DATA press conference in Berlin.

Q Much has been made in the media of pitting your ideas against major celebrities, musicians Bob Geldof and Bono of U2. Not that long ago we saw Bono sitting with our prime minister, eliciting a promise to increase Canada’s spending on Africa. What is your take on the rock star advocacy?

A They have become the de facto faces of Africa. The fact that they globally are viewed as the people defining the policy agenda, attending the G8 and the G20, is completely absurd. It is particularly ridiculous because I believe that the aid system has made many African governments so lazy they have created a vacuum where anyone–in this case celebrities –feel it is OK to jump in and start propounding policy on Africa.

We, as Africans and as a global society, should want to hear from the African governments — what their plan is, what their strategy is. I don’t want to hear from the celebrity about what they think Africans should be doing any more than a Canadian would want to hear from Michael Jackson about the credit crisis.

Q Not all National Post readers are policy-makers, so on a personal level, if someone in Canada is moved by the situation in Africa and would like to help, what would you recommend they do?

A We should be questioning our policy-makers about what they are doing….After a trillion dollars in aid over 60 years and the situation is getting worse, it beggars belief. Those are very poor returns and we would ask those questions about anything else, about any policy for business in the Western world…. I very much hope that if there is one thing that the book does, it is give people permission to ask the hard questions. Someone said to me last week that one of the problems for someone born in Western society is if they even begin to question the aid model they are labelled racist or categorized as insensitive or heartless and I think that is unfair. Also there is a Web site, kiva.org,where you can lend as little as $25 to support entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Q Your book has become a New York Times bestseller, you were named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world and yet many object to your ideas. Who is not liking what you say?

A The pushback tends to come from a minority group in the Western countries. By that I mean the NGOs. Some NGOs, rather than have a debate about it, they prefer to label me a genocidal maniac or try to take pot shots or make personal attacks…. I understand they are very interested in keeping the status quo because that is where their jobs are.

Q Speaking of people who might not agree with you, on Monday you will be in Toronto debating your ideas with, among others, Stephen Lewis, a very well-known and passionate Canadian advocate for African aid. Do you see Mr. Lewis’s advocacy any different than Bob Geldof’s or Bono’s?

A By and large it is the same thing, raising money for Africa using what I call a negative platform. All I am saying is their interventions are not meeting the fundamental problems in Africa.

Q Mr. Lewis can draw a tear from almost any eye when he speaks about the problems in Africa. Are you nervous about facing him in public debate?

A No, because I am speaking from the heart. I’m speaking from growing up African. It breaks my heart that people continue to push a model of economic development that does not work and they know it does not work. So I believe it would be a much better use of Mr. Lewis’s time to actually agitate for the things that can meaningfully put a dent in poverty across the African continent instead of pushing a strategy that means that, in another 50 years … your children and your children’s children will basically be paying for my children and my children’s children to go to school and get health care. That is completely ridiculous and not a long-term solution.


Canadian Stephen Lewis speaking out for aid in Africa

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[Canmore, AB 05-08-09] There are times that I measure how to share with people what we do in our shop. There are those who are taken aback by the changes from conventional traded clothing to fair + sustainable clothing. I try to stay on the positive when describing that the cooperatives/companies that we buy our products from have treated the workers well and paid them fairly. It’s like either that is an assumed premise or they don’t really give a damn about who or what happened in the origins of what they wear. I understand the journey towards creating awareness and educating people is long and arduous but there are times I want to take a short cut and let out the frustration regarding the injustices and failure to really care.

I so appreciate those who have gone before us at ee like Yvon Chouinard who founded Patagonia and the Patagonia leadership team. They have journeyed faithfully to uphold people and the environment for over three decades. Through this long season of time they understand and accept their role in bringing incremental change in textile manufacturing and the marketplace. There is lots to learn and do for sure.

[Canmore, AB 04-22-09] Today is Earth Day 2009. It is an opportunity for people across the nations to show our gratitude for this planet and humongous ecosystem that we share every day of our lives and even after. Please take some time today to act kindly towards the beautiful world you live in. Here are some websites to check out for events and opportunities to participate in: earth day canada earth day usa earth day network

Below is some information about Earth Day Canada. encounter earth is hoping to partner with this organization in the future to demonstrate our value of the earth and the ecosystems we share.

Mission: To improve the state of the environment by empowering and helping Canadians to take positive environmental action.

Vision: Earth Day will remain Canada’s strongest positive voice in promoting constructive and sustainable environmental values, actions and solutions.

Goals:
* CREATE positive public awareness for existing and developing environmental solutions.
* EMPOWER and ENCOURAGE Canadians to take environmental action in their communities.
* ADDRESS the challenges to Canada’s environment by working in partnership to create programs that can be delivered by communities, organizations and individuals.
* FOSTER and MAINTAIN the positive celebration of Earth Day annually.

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide.

More than 6 million Canadians join 1 billion people in over 170 countries in staging events and projects to address local environmental issues. Nearly every school child in Canada takes part in an Earth Day activity.

Environmental challenges abound as our daily actions pollute and degrade the fragile environment that humans and wildlife depend on to survive.

What can we do?

Earth Day provides the opportunity for positive actions and results.

First launched as an environmental awareness event in the United States in 1970, Earth Day (April 22) is celebrated as the birth of the environmental movement.

Earth Day is a powerful catalyst for change. The first Earth Day, spearheaded by Wisconsin Governor Gaylord Nelson and Harvard University student Denis Hayes, involved 20 million participants in teach-ins that addressed decades of environmental pollution. The event inspired the US Congress to pass clean air and water acts, and establish the Environmental Protection Agency to research and monitor environmental issues and enforce environmental laws.

In 1990, two million Canadians joined 200 million people in 141 nations in celebrating the first International Earth Day. In many countries, the global event brought pressure on heads of state to take part in the UN Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to address issues such as climate change and the world wide loss of species.

In Canada, Earth Day has grown into Earth Week and even Earth Month to accommodate the profusion of events and projects. They range from large public events, such as Victoria’s Earth Walk (5,000 participants), Edmonton’s Earth Day Festival at Hawrelak Park (30,000 participants), and Oakville, Ontario’s Waterways Clean-up (2,000 participants) to the thousands of small, private events staged by schools, employee groups and community groups.

[Canmore, AB 04-05-09] Encounter earth is still in early development as a business and way of thinking. There are some very complicated ideas to process when making a priority on partnering within the third world. Looking at Africa for instance, there are many critics who believe that any aid is wasted because of compromising government officials. The result is that a large amount of aid is redirected to the few and the whole cycle of exploitation is recycled.

Here within the encounter earth brain trust we believe that there are other, renewed ways to approach or broach this briar of greed and manipulation. The big idea is to work directly with the entrepreneurs/creative hard working individuals and communities. Aid and development on their own can create dependence but resource appropriately given through pay for work or loaned to people (with dreams to provide for their children and communities) is sustainable!

Check out the TED video below to see what happened to Jane in the slums of Nairobi and what can be the reults of creativity, hardship, and resource:

[Canmore, AB 03-23-09] So here are the new digs at encounter earth. We took about 3.5 hardworking days to take the shop from the old canoe style to the beginnings of the ee-xperience. Big thanks to Hans at Hans Painting, Adam at Epic Custom Woodwork and the ee team (Leah & Corey) for all the effort made! Take a look at the pics and please give some feedback! Stop by the shop when you are near main street in canmore.


This is our logo on the wall behind the counter.

Looking in from the front door towards the counter.

A few steps closer to the counter…

In front of the counter is the indigenous jewelry table.

This is the corner of the shop next to the front door… lotsa windows.

This is still the front corner but continuing along to the beginning of the men’s wall.

Now you are looking in the middle of the store looking towards the front at the women’s wall.

Another angle of the last pic with some customers looking at the women’s clothing.



Yet a few more steps back looking towards the front door.

Here is a shot looking towards the back of the shop.

The new chill area where people can sit and read with jean wall behind.

A different angle of the seating area and jean wall.

Close up of the jean wall… well done Adam at epic woodworking!

A look at the outdoor ee sign from the interior of the shop.

Well this is a start… I have a few more to post but that will have to wait for a day or two. Thanks for taking the time to take a look. Please give some feedback by clicking on the comment link below.

[Canmore, AB 03-20-09] The article below was written for the BBC in mid 2008. As the globalized world becomes more blurred with people from poor nations crossing borders for employment exploitation will become more rampant in developed nations. Even here in Canmore we have workers on one or two year work permits from Colombia, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. Based on what is written in the article below it is interesting that human nature has an inherent evil to manipulate and leverage for gain. The call for integrity and value of others continually needs to be the clarion call for the “least among us.” We need to live by example to counter the malice and avarice with kindness and generosity.

BBC Article - Two Million Workers ‘Exploited’

Up to two million workers in Britain are at risk of exploitation because of their vulnerable work status, a report by the TUC has suggested.

Its research found some employees being paid £1 an hour, some working 70 hours a week and others facing sexual abuse.

The union body, which set up a commission to uncover the extent of such poor treatment, described the situation as a “national scandal”.

The government said it was boosting penalties for rogue employers.

The TUC, which set up the Commission on Vulnerable Employment last year, said exploitative employment practices seen in the 19th Century were still being used by some employers today.

It found home-workers being paid £1 an hour, fast food employees working 70 hours a week and domestic staff facing physical and sexual abuse.

‘Blind eye’
Kate Wareing, director for UK Poverty for the charity Oxfam, said there was an “invisible army” of exploited workers in the UK, who were doing some of the “lowest paid, most insecure and unpopular jobs in the country”.

The report called for a campaign to raise people’s awareness of workers’ rights, extra funding for bodies such as the Heath and Safety Executive and the setting up of a special Fair Employment Commission to police rogue employers and enforce workers rights.

Commission member Kevin Beeston, chairman of public service management company Serco, said it was “time society stopped turning a blind eye to these workplace abuses”.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the treatment uncovered by the commission was a “national scandal” and said urgent action was needed.

“Good employers have nothing to fear - and much to gain - from policies that stop them being undercut by bad employers who break the law or use loopholes to get round it,” he added.

‘Clear exploitation’
As part of the commission’s report, a Community union survey of 8,000 workers also found three out of four workplaces used temporary and agency workers, with some on contracts of a week or under. Some were on just two hours’ notice.

General secretary Michael Leahy said this was “clear exploitation” of agency workers, who, he said, were being used to undermine the pay and conditions of permanent staff.

Employment relations minister Pat McFadden said the TUC’s report would be looked at as part of the government’s vulnerable workers’ forum, which is due to report back in the summer.

But he said the exploitation of such workers was “unacceptable” and the government had worked hard to bring in extra employment rights such as the national minimum wage, paid holidays, health and safety regulations, statutory maternity and paternity leave and sick pay.

“Most employers do the right thing, but some are doing the wrong thing, so it’s vital we enforce the law,” he said.

“That’s why we’re boosting penalties and enforcement to catch those who don’t pay the national minimum wage and doubling the amount of agency inspectors to investigate abuses.”

New regulations also ensured bosses could not unfairly deduct accommodation and other expenses from people’s wages, he added.

[Canmore, AB 03-12-09] Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the author of bestseller books “End of Poverty” and “Common Wealth,” believes that GM/North American auto industry is vital for the future of the planet as we transition from the combustion engine for vehicles to battery/fuel cell. He refers to this transition as the “sustainability transformation.”

We are certainly in the midst of a critical shift in so many sectors - financial, transportation, marketplace, etc. This is a global shake up that allows for radical and creative change… an opportunity to change mindsets and patterns that under normal circumstances would have taken years, and more likely, decades.

[Canmore, AB 03-10-09] Always good to surf the internet with the world in mind. The shop is very slow as the windchill has kept the street outside in the -20’s C. So I just popped onto the UN site and rummaged around… found a new awareness campaign regarding ending human trafficking led by the UNDOC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime.) If you have read our journey on this website you will know that a human trafficking story in Calgary was the catalyst to beginning the journey towards encounter earth. Please read the below information and join the Blue Heart campaign. Lots of options including twitter and facebook… make a difference and start today!

Human trafficking is a crime that strips people of their rights, ruins their dreams, and robs them of their dignity. It is a crime that shames us all. Human trafficking is a global problem and no country is immune. Millions of victims are entrapped, and exploited every year in this modern form of slavery. To rally world public opinion against human trafficking, UNODC is launching the Blue Heart Campaign.

By wearing the Blue Heart you raise awareness of this crime and join the campaign to fight it. The Blue Heart represents the sadness of those who are trafficked while reminding us of the cold-heartedness of those who buy and sell fellow human beings. The use of the blue UN colour also demonstrates the commitment of the United Nations to combating this crime against human dignity.

Thank you for joining with us in this fight! …click on this link for more info…

[Canmore, AB 03-07-09] In May 08 I wrote two blog entries regarding the tragedy that was unfolding Myanmar (formerly Burma.) This tragedy could have been minimized by the government of Myanmar responding to the need of its citizens and the opening of the country to international aid. The sad results of denial and control led to over 100,000 deaths and millions displaced without shelter and hope.

As I researched the news this morning I discovered a troubling update. Yes, the government finally opened the doors to international aid after far too many people died before the aid was made available. Now it seems that the long road to recovery and a survivable existence for the people will be cut short for the sake of control and ultimately pride:

HUA HIN, Thailand (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar has cut the timeframe for a post-cyclone recovery plan as the regime gears up for general elections in 2010, officials at a regional summit said on Friday.

A United Nations-ASEAN coordinating group said earlier this month the recovery from Cyclone Nargis, which left 140,000 people dead or missing and 2.4 million severely affected last May, would take three years and cost $700 million (495 million pounds).

But the regime has only agreed to extend the group’s work to the middle of 2010, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya told reporters after meeting his counterparts from the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“The reason for a one-year extension is that there will be a general election next year and they didn’t want to make a decision for the next government,” Kasit said.

The military, which has ruled the former Burma in various guises since 1962, has promised elections in 2010 as part of its seven-step “roadmap to democracy.”

Western governments have criticised the poll as a sham aimed at entrenching nearly 50 years of military rule.

It was not clear how Myanmar’s decision would affect foreign aid groups working in the Irrawaddy Delta, where many people are still living in temporary shelters since the cyclone struck last May. Access to clean water also remains a challenge.

One foreign aid worker in Yangon told Reuters he did not think his group would be kicked out of Myanmar in 2010.

But he said it could hurt fund-raising efforts for the coordinating group’s Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) launched in Bangkok earlier this month.

The plan called for $700 million in aid over the next three years to improve nutrition, health and livelihoods in the delta.

The global economic crisis is squeezing foreign donor governments, which have been reluctant to provide aid to Myanmar over its dismal human rights record.

A new report by health care activists on Friday accused the regime of blocking aid to the delta, forced relocations, and using forced labour in reconstruction projects.

The report was based on interviews with 90 relief workers and cyclone survivors compiled by the U.S.-based Centre for Public Health and Human Rights and the Emergency Assistance Team, a group of aid workers based in Thailand.

It called on the U.N. Security Council and International Criminal Court to investigate the regime for rights abuses.

“The charge of crimes against humanity is a very grave and serious one,” Dr. Chris Beyrer, director of the U.S. centre at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told a news conference in Bangkok.

“But in the context of a relief effort like this, where you have evidence of forced labour, forced relocation and confiscation of relief aid, these are documented violations that need to be taken seriously,” he said.

(Reporting by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Bill Tarrant)