A Brief Glimpse at Africa

Recently the issue has been raised over American solutions to African problems. Arguments arise and ideas are conflicted, and so my opinion on Africa exists below:

First of all, helping Africa grants more than just material wealth. America as a Superpower taking the time to try to help destitute citizens in Uganda and Sudan gives the people in those countries hope (It also makes us look good, not that we're selfish enough to care about that). When Senator Barack Obama visited Kenya in 2006, he took an HIV test to encourage people to get themselves tested, something especially important on a continent with over 22 million people living with AIDS or HIV, 2/3rds of the world's total. His visit there also included dealing with corruption and poverty in Kenya as well. Today, Obama is the president of the United States and wields much more power, both physical and influential. How much is hope worth? If President Barack Obama of the United States of America came out with a statement with intention to help end African poverty, corruption, and genocide, how much hope will that give the people in Africa living with poverty, corruption, and genocide? America wields influence, and it doesn't cost much to use it.

Secondly, I'd like to talk about Uganda. One of the major issues unique to Uganda is the fact that a band of terrorists called the Lord's Resistance Army, led by Joseph Kony, that has been kidnaping children for use as child soldiers. In the last few years, the organization Invisible Children has emerged, with aims to help liberate the child soldiers and bring Joseph Kony to justice. Since then, the organization has expanded to include several others, notably Schools for Schools, which has raised over $320,000 and nearly 80,000 books for use in new Ugandan schools. The original intent of Invisible Children has never been carried out, however. Despite years of lobbying and raising awareness, the negociations with Joseph Kony for a cease-fire and end to genocide failed when he decided to stay in hiding. Since 2005, Joseph Kony has been wanted by the ICC for crimes against Humanity and is one of the most wanted individuals on the ICC's list. All diplomatic attempts to bring him to justice and stop genocide in Uganda has failed.

I encourage you to google these arguments and read much more eloquent summaries of these arguments.