rbomadagascar-blog

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Giver du tiggeren penge?

Giver du tiggeren penge? (part2/3)

Har du læst mit sidste blog-indlæg (det er lidt gammelt, men det har altid været meningen der skulle være en opfølgning), med samme titel? gør det først… så kan du læse denne efter.

Hvor er de tiggere, du holdte op med at give penge? 

De er nok døde… holder du op med at give tiggeren penge, forsvinder deres livsgrundlag, for der er ingen der hjælper dem og de ingen mulighed for uddannelse for de er nogle af allerfattigeste mennesker i denne verden. De kan tigge eller dø… for de “gode jobs” dem hvor man for lov at samle og sortere skrald eller prostituere sig, er taget af andre…  - markede er overfyldt. De der sortere skrald forsvare deres job og vil nødig have andre med. De prostituerede fylder Red-light district hver aften... der er altid nok i gaden. 

Og så er der børnene der tigger… Dette er stadigt svært selv efter to år på Madagaskar. Der er så mange af dem...  Når trafikken går i stå, så er de der. De bliver som mennesker - som børn, der på ingen måde kan være skyld i deres livssituation, omsat til en insisterende tappen på vinduet i min firhjulstrækker. Som en lille kold gråspurv på en vinterdag, tapper en lille negl et sted unden for dit synsfelt, lige der hvor metallet møder glasset. I regnen står den lille pige med sin søster på ryggen, kold og våd i troperegnes pisken. Det nemmeste er at ignorer dem, så forsvinder de hurtigere. Og nå de visker “monsieur, monsieur” gennem vinduet, er det jo ikke fordi jeg ikke har set dem, jeg så dem for flere minutter siden i spejlet. Så kan man give Lady Gaga lidt ekstra i radioen, selv om, “I’m on the edge of glory, And I’m hanging on a moment of truth, Out on the edge of glory”, nu runger lidt hult i øerne, når man ser dem fryse i regnen. Heldigvis kommer der gang i trafikken og vi kan køre frem til den næste gruppe bør der tigger i regnen. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Giver du tiggeren penge? (part1/3)

Giver du en tigger penge, kan du regne med at andre nok også gør det. Tiggerne sidder nemlig ikke steder der ikke giver penge. Hvorfor gør de det? fordi at de ved, at de kan tjene penge til at overleve ved at tigge. Man hjælper INGEN ved at give til tiggeren - Du får måske bedre samvittighed, men intet er gjort, andet end du gør det muligt for denne person at overleve ved at tigge. Så bliver det et “arbejde” for ham at tigge. I sidste ende er der ingen grund til at arbejde eller hjælpe sig selv, fordi “det går jo okay dette her.” Det at man får penge for ingenting er problemet og oplever man at det bedre kan betale sig at få penge, frem for at tjene dem, kan man være sikker på at tiggeren bliver siddende på sin plads. Tiggeren skal have hjælp igennem arbejde og uddannelse. 

Stater i udviklingslande fungere på samme måde, bliver vi ved med at give udviklingsbistand gennem nedskrivning af statslån og stat-stat bistand, ja så underminerer vi de systemer som faktisk fungere. Vi kommer som hvide til Afrika med den tanke at stater SKAL fungere som stater i Skandinavien - men det gør de ikke! Stater skal ikke have bistandskroner, bare fordi vi skal have krydset “bistandshjælp” af på listen over gode ting VI gør i verden. Pengene skal i større og større grad bruges på civil samfunds opbygning. De skal bruges til, at mennesker lærer at hjælpe sig selv, tager deres rettigheder seriøst og bruger de evner de har. Afrika kan selv - vi skal hjælpe dem med inspiration og viden til at ville selv! På samme måde som tiggeren skal stater have hjælp gennem arbejde / produktion og uddannelse af civil samfund. Civilsamfundet er det der skal stå vagt om rettigheder og stå imod magthaverne, når de laver fejl. Vi skal bygge balance i magtstrukturerne der hvor der ingen balance er. På den måde kommer både tigger og stat ud med et bedre resultat end hvis vi bare gav dem penge. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Hvad er det med det der Afrika der er så svært?! Nu har jeg brugte de sidste fire dage på ikke at skrive en blog... Det blev så teknisk og det var svært at finde et budskab som enhver ville kunne sætte sig ind i på den anden side af verden. Derfor dette i stedet...

Der er så mange der venter på at vi i vesten finder ud af hvad vi vil. Der er så mange der har brug for vores hjælp. Vi skifter konstant mening om statsningsområder for udviklingshjælpen. Først bygger vi brønde, giver geder, så vil vi pakke så mange som muligt ind på skolerne i Afrika, for så senere at indse at det faktisk ikke gik, fordi der var nogen der blev sure over at kun nogle etniske grupper fik geder. Andre programmer virekde ikke fordi udviklingsbranchen ikke havde gjort sit arbejde ordenligt eller bare ikke kunne gennemskue konsekvenserne på lang sigt. Op gennem 90erne og 00erne handlede det om at få så mange børn i skole som muligt. Men nu ser man så problemet i at have for mange børn i skolerne - de lærer ganske enkelt meget lidt. Man har ikke gjort nok for at højne kvaliteten på skolerne... 

Så hvad gør vi ved Afrika? Der er brug for det langsigtede perspektiv, der skal være plads til fleksibilitet og der er brug for man tænker lokale løsninger hvor de der modtager støtte i højere grad, kan være en del af processen. At regeringer i vesten ser muligheder i højere grad stat-stat bistand eller fokus på 'small business development' er en glidebane. Men dette må nok komme i næste blog... 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Det betyder ikke de der vil skære i ulandshjælpen skal have lov at gøre det. Der er altid brug for penge i udviklingslandene til nye projekter og programmer til at hjælpe mennesker ud af fattigdom eller at hjælpe med de basale fornødenheder. Bistand skal der til og som medlem af FN er alle  lande i verden forpligtede til at støtte op om udviklingsmålene (UN Millenium Development Goals)    

 "Vi" (verdenssamfundet) har selv skrevet FN konventionerne der bla. giver alle børn retten til uddannelse. Men hvis dette skal lykkes for f.eks. Madagaskar hvor jeg bor, så har vi brug for alt den hjælp ude fra vi kan få. Man har brug for hjælp til at udvikle uddannelessystemer og til at modernisere pædagogiske metoder. Hvis danske politikerer mener at pengene kan bruges bedre gennem stat-stat udvikling så tager de fejl. Stater i udviklingslandene er ikke som i skandinavien. Folk stoler ikke på dem og man er i meget lidt kontakt med statsapparatet, selv om man er borger i et land. Stater vil have penge og behøver ikke interessere sig folket fordi de er dårligt oplyste, har det overskud i det daglige og deres viden om  muligheder for at kæmpe for ændringer kender de ikke. De savner inspiration og reformer. Men problemet er at reformerne sjældent kommer fordi magthavner bliver dækket til i penge af vesten, Kina og alle de andre der vil have fingrene i råstofferne i et givet land. 

Hvad så? jo!  pengene må i højere grad gå gennem NGO programmer og civilsamfunds opbygning. Til vidensdeling og demokratiforståelse. Man må lære at man har muligheden til at ændre hvis man står sammen. Men også at ting tager tid. De skandinaviske velfærdssamfund tog tid at lave og man må give ting tid og se udviklingen i det lange perspektiv. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

The best days on the clock

Right, time for change, I have been blogging for two years about my life in Madagascar but my readers are mostly Danes and norwegian. Therefore I'll be switching language into danish in the hope that more people from this group will spend some more time on my blog. Så! Nu på dansk... "De bedste dage på jobbet" Nu har jeg været to år på Madagaskar og én ting er helt sikkert, jeg har verdens bedste arbejde med udfordringer og indhold. De bedste dage er dem hvor de lange møder slutter og vi har små møder med enkelt personer eller de dage vi besøger skolerne rundt omkring på Madagaskar. Mit gassiske sprog er ikke til de store møder og mit sind er nok heller ikke til at tale der. Men i det lille møde er jeg bedre, der kan jeg slappe af. det sjoveste når vi er ude på tur, er mødet med de der aldrig har mødt en 'vazar' (den hvide) der taler gassik. Når man så begynder at snakke med folk spreder rygtet "ah! Mahay teny gasy izy" / "Han forstår den gassiske sprog." Det synes de er spændende og så snakker vi.

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Things that matter. Pass 'em on.

There is a human story - a human face behind every person you meet in the street: business man, homeless, prostitute, street seller, model, facer and tax collector... everyone with their own challenges, everyone of us needs mercy and to feel human. So take a moment out of your day and reach out to people you meet. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Back to school... Diakonia - diákonos - servant and administrator...  

We are all servants who work through the Word of God. 

The many words and the fancy documents shall never ever overpower the creed "Kyrie eleison" -  the call from the poor "have mercy!" - help me... Never sweep them away with a "you don't fit in the program - come back next year and we might have a different program for you to participate in." This is, in some places reality, because every cent has to be accounted for and with nice audit reports and there is no flexibility for people on the edge of development frameworks. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

In the program I work, we advocate for the inclusion of more girls in primary and secondary school. According to new statistics from the World Bank, Madagascar is one of the only countries in the world, where the educational level is decreasing. Everywhere else on the african continent and the developing world, the educational level is increasing - The political crises and lack of international investment has made it's impact in Madagascar, over the last years. Especially girls, are suffering because of this. They were already in a risk-group, especially in the remote rural areas. The amount of people living under the poverty line ( $2 per day) has increased to a staggering 92% in Madagascar. The priority of girl's education has dropped with that. Girl's education is not a priority in a traditional household, In the  in the country side, girls at the age of 11-13 are often forced/pushed into marriage, to provide an extra income for their family. This usually mean they drop out of school and have their first child. Few of them return to the educational system and even fewer ever receive any form of education.  All research show that the education of girls specially has added values across the spectrum of development.

Drop in enfant and mother mortality rate. 

General Increase in the health of mother and children in the first years.

Decrease in fertility rates.

Increased social development and economic benefits.

Increase in society in general concerning importance of education.

Decreasing number of young mothers in society. 

In 2015 my program should receive new funding and perhaps a re-orientation of the program in order to increase the focus on risk-groups. Hopefully we can support even more young women in the future. If you want to help donate some nice cash for an NMS project in Madagascar. We could really use your help. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

It's All in the difference WE make...

 
In my program, we work with giving blind and deaf a proper education. Like everyone else, we believe they have a God given right, to a worthy life. Getting an education and being part of a society is part of that. 
With a solid education they can gain the abilities that will make them independent as adults and live normal lives. 
In the program we have started educating teachers, to include children who are, 'hard of hearing' and have 'low vision', in regular schools. But we want more. We want possibilities for the disabled. When they finish school we want them to be able to choose their way of life. We want there to be a range of possibilities so the choice of young people with dreams are not limited by what society think they can do. They should be able to choose from all sorts of professions. Our job is to build the program and the Church's capacity to help them. So that, in the future, a disabled wants to be a pastor, teacher, computer programmer, or accountant - we won't say "no" but we say; "let's see what we can do, with adapted material and the proper help."

- That is what raising Awareness for Autism has to do with my job. As everyone else on this planet, the disabled have the right to choose how to live their lives. There should be people standing in line, enabling them...! - And that, that is what we are trying to do here in Madagascar, through the Norwegian Mission Society and the Malagasy Lutheran Church.

[rbomadagascar-blog]

This is kind of off-topic from the regular blog and then again, not really. 

Today it's World AutismAwareness Day and across the globe people are lighting up the world in blue to create awareness around autism. The fact is that across our small earth people are challenged everyday with being different. Their challenge is that YOU can't see that they have autism. That not your fault and not their fault. But in most cases you will notice a difference - something a bit off... if you are autistic it means that you have an limitation in your ability be emphatic, understand feelings, and social context. - just think about lacking these abilities - every time you encounter another person, who doesn't know you, you hit a wall of misunderstandings. "What is wrong with him!" "Why doesn't he understand!" So today this blog for raising awareness about autism. Today's blogg is for my two nephews who are both diagnosed on the autism spectrum. It's for my brother and his wife who struggle with this every day. So plz! take a moment and raise your awareness and I promise to put this in context of my job tomorrow. But today is for raising awareness.  in english:  in danish!

[rbomadagascar-blog]

You smell it when it rains...

Latest statistics from the World Bank says that 92% of the population in Madagascar live under the poverty line (USD2 / 12NOK / 10DKK per day) and furthermore, that 74% of the families live in poverty. Confused? this means that approx. 20mil people in Madagascar are poor, and that out of all families in Madagascar, 3/4 of them have a total income per day of under 2 dollar. The whole family. Mom, dad, son, daughter in a country with fertility rate of 4,3. Every day, 365 days a year. Living cost for lets' say 6 people. 

How do I feel about all this? It's difficult. My everyday life is far the people on the street. My life is an apartment in a nice building at the FLM guesthouse Isoraka, a life with restaurants, land cruisers, housekeepers, houses with roofs, everything I can eat and then some. Working with the church, people know you are a missionary and you get the "missionary treatment" So do I really feel that backside of Madagascar. I know it's there but it's like I only smell it when it rains. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Corruption is moral degradation…

Corruption is moral degradation! fact! in places in the world with corruption, people become dis-attached from the state-system and local authorities when they see that richer people can just buy their way through the system. They see their leaders receiving money… and weather or not they give and receive bribes themselves and still loose confidence towards people with power and influence! why? "because they properly take bribes…" So think! show solidarity and help stop fraud and corruption. Help the leaders all over the world say "NO" and "zero tolerance toward corruption."

[rbomadagascar-blog]

A malagasy saying: "Maybe we all, from time to time, send a brisk gale, when meeting people, who stand fast like a tall tree in the wind. Maybe we are not always good at acknowledge that which is different or take joy in other's good fortune as we should?"

23mil live for under a dollar a day. Only 1.8mil above. This fact makes Madagascar one of the poorest countries in the world. Facts that make hope swindle and the cold wind of poverty blows over the giant island in the Indian ocean.  

But in the gale tall trees stands, unreluctant to bend in the wind. People who see the 'way trough' - a way to survive and prosper.

Hanta lives in Madagascar who in no way thought she could amount to anything but trough the church project 'Use your talents' she found renewed purpose in life, passing on agricultural methods and farming skills to fellow peasants, as Agricultural Advisor.The Church program seek to find the special talents that so many of it's members' have and empower them to use them to the benefit of other people.

[rbomadagascar-blog]

This is part of the daily scenery in Madagascar. When the sun goes down, the shops closes, the streets in the inner city empty, and ordinary people go home and the traffic jams disappear as a faint memoir. The ugly back side of big city life and the developing world shows it's face. The streets fill with people. They sell themselves and their bodies, for less money than you spend on coffee. If I drive home from a nice dinner at my friend's place outside the city, I pass the first forty women who are ready. Ready of "business as usual", they stand ready for the tourist, who wonder the streets. The fancy end of the inner city with the nice hotels. This is the part of prostitution that we know from every single city across the globe. But people from west, also travel here, to use my new country for sex tourism! Every nasty corner og it that you can think of... 

Let's stop prostitution and all the evil and inhuman things that comes with today! 

stopchildsextourism.ch

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Corruption is everywhere, it is embedded in society. "bonne année patron...?" doesn't mean happy new year here, more like "give me cash and I'll let you pass." And when you get stopped in your car, in the evening, by the police, they have no interest in you papers or if you are drunk, only how much money they can get out of you. I my case and in the case of my colleagues in the NMS the answer is: NON! We work with a zero tolerance for corruption not just when it's easy and concerns our partner but also in our private sphere and personal situations. There no situation where corruption is okay! 

Corruption kills! It kills the best ideas, it kills political initiative, kills healthy business management, kills your will to be the best at your job, kills the urge to earn money. Because in all of these cases another person can just pay a bundle of cash, and hey presto they are in the front of the line for the job you wanted, for business investment, for president, for the monthly import of bananas. 

Worst of all corruption kills hope. Hope that a new leaders will be better. Hope that you can make it in this world, with just your ideas and your intellect, hope that you can work your way to the top, not because you have the most money but because you are the best. - corruption kills! 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

Forget tractors, electricity in every home, phone lines to every village and all the other things we try to export to the developing world. This is the sort of things that can make a difference for does who needs it most. 

[rbomadagascar-blog]

In many churches women are highly regarded and respected parts of the church life and activities. But even though the discourse of 'inclusion and empowerment' of women in the church structure is present, (the church have learned to speak the right development language red.) the practical situation and possibilities might be very different.

On the surface the church says the right things and show the right values but underneath lies problems with women's access to the formal power structures, and the direct influence in church matters, and thereby access to changing rules, regulations, and formal/official debates about values and future for the churches. The challenge in many church structures is that you properly need to be a pastor, in order to be elected for the important positions, or because the leader of the diocese is a pastor, and that the leader of the dioceses' are automatic delegate for the national council that elect the church's president or secretary general.

When we discuss these things with partners in Africa we might want to ask: "how strongly are you engaged in supporting women in the formal church structure and what opportunities are there for women' to elect or be elected for formal positions in the church structures in Africa as they are today?"  Testify and let me know if I am wrong.