OT: Innocent?

Absolutely nothing, and I am very proud of it. Most nations who are not doing too well, have only themselvs to blame, IMHO. If all the money now spent on aid to nations who are not doing too well, was spent on educating the women who live there, most of their problems would be solved in a generation or so. But in places where this needs to be done most urgently, the men are such male chauvenistic pigs that they will *never* allow this to happen.

-- Jim Cripwell. From Canada. Land of the Key Bird. This creature of doom flies over the frozen tundra in winter, shrieking its dreaded call; "Key, Key, Key, Key rist but it's cold!!"

Sorry, I took your post to mean that I was just mouthing and not necessarily making any attemtp to help. I do what I can but it is only a drop in a bucket, unfortunately.

I am extremely disappointed to find out, since I came back, that Canada is sending a Joint Task Force Unit to Afghanistan - we should be peacekeepers and nothing more. Trust the government to do it while Parliament is gone for the summer.

Good one and very necessary, some small pay back for the world sitting back and letting genocide take place ten years ago.

I see someone delurked to criticize us poor stitchers - seems we are not necessarily as bad a painted lol It's nice to hear these things.

In most cases they don't even need teaching. In India a programme is running that lends small amounts, $50 or so, to a village woman. She buys a sewing machine (usually a really old Singer) sews, repays the money, hires another woman to keep the machine going while she sleeps and voila, from little acorns big oaks grow.

They do not necessarily buy sewing machines, but that's how it works. All that stopped them previously was that a bank would not consider lending them even $50 as women. This association lends specifically to women and they have rarely been let down over repayment of the loan.

So it doesn't always take millions of bucks.

I have heard great things about this too. I'm glad that you mentioned it. Judy

It is hard to tell how things are being said on newsgroups. I am never sure of the tone either. Judy

Actually, the money is not in any way available to the despots if you're sending a live human being to work hands on. The money my cousin collected is in a bank account in her name, and gets spent as she and her supervising priest see fit.

When my cousin took it into her head that she was going to Rwanda, she had some doubts about her decision. She needed to raise over $30,000 for her support and supplies for the year. The money came in incredibly quickly, and from unexpected sources. For example, when she went to turn off her electric, the clerk asked where she'd like it turned on, she said "nowhere, I'm going on a medical mission", and the clerk gave her a donation that to her seemed more than a low-paid clerk could afford.

Now she's decided to stay for a second year, and again, the money came in unbelievably fast. The ease with which she's been raising the money has convinced her that God wants her to do this.

They've been doing some incredibly creative things. They noticed that the same people come to all the AIDS lectures in the city, don't really see any new faces from the boonies, which is where the problem is worst and information is least available. It's an oral tradition culture, so printed literature wouldn't help. They came up with a solar-powered recorder/player, got some actors and singers to do plays/poetry/songs about AIDS prevention, and these players are being sent out to the backwoods, where batteries may not be available, to spread the word. I was really impressed by the cleverness of that invention.

Dear, dear, now she has innocent people shooting down angels OMG

Cheryl Isaak wrote: >I don't think the problem is that the women don't want to do it, but >that >their fathers, brothers, husbands prevent them from doing it.

I suspect you're right. If the women are reliant on men for their money, they must do as the men say. If they're earning money on their own, they'll be more apt to stand up for what they want, because they have the ability to walk away from the relationship and support themselves.

If if they are not "supported" by the family member monetarily, they still must ask permission to apply for the loans, get a job, sell their own produce, etc.

Therein lies the heart of the problem. While it doesn't look bad to let your sister starve, for example, it does look bad if she starts selling the extra corn she grew.

Cheryl

Pat was the OP so once again, I have lost the whole post on hitting Reply.

I don't think Indian men are the problem, they have been pretty good about their women going into the professions, politics etc. It's the banks that won't lend small business loans to women for whatever reason. It takes very little for them to get started on cottage industries and when they do, often a whole village benefits. So it has fallen to an association to raise funds that then lend in small increments to women with plans.

"Lucretia Borgia"

Oh well, not a real angel, just me---more or less like shooting a decoy! Dawne

Well so long as you have a good quacker too !

"F.James Cripwell"

There are many organizations that do much much more than just send cheques--look into some of the "on the ground" aid organizations, and you will find many opportunites to educate women.. Much of the work with AIDS prevention in Africa is carried out through educating women. There have been special projects to help recover the education system for girls in Afghanistan. On a "each one help one" level, over the years, I have sponsored a number of girls through a very reputable organization, all of whom are educated women today. Dawne