Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 122, Greencastle, Putnam County, 22 January 1985 — Page 11

Fighting famine American Red Cross official, committee travels to Africa to witness drought's effect

Special to the Banner-Graphic The Putnam County Chapter of the American Red Cross is still soliciting donations to send aid to the African countries suffering severe starvation and malnutrition, according to Director Margaret Nelson. Although some funds have been received from Putnam County residents, more is needed, she notes. Contributions, which are tax deductible, may be sent to the Putnam County Chapter of the American Red Cross in care of Miss Nelson at the Putnam County Courthouse. And in case you may believe the funds are not aiding those in need, it’s better to think again, according to Richard Shubert, president of the American Red Cross on African Relief Needs. SHUBERT, ALONG WITH approximately 40 other individuals, journeyed to Africa Dec. 1-7 to see first-hand of the devastation before them. He wrote: “Leaving a society which concentrates on discussions about how best to attain its goals, in a matter of 12 hours, we found we had arrived back at a primitive time in the history of humankind, when long lines of people were moving on the roads without any concept of destination. “Their belief was that somewhere else must offer a better chance to survive until the next morning, or must offer a morsel of food before the children die,” Shubert wrote of his personal account. “I am proud,” Shubert continued, “to tell you that among the most effective, attentive and efficient of all those who are caring and helping there in this contemporary ancient time, is the Red Cross.” THE AMERICAN RED CROSS’ involvement began with a worldwide appeal for assistance, which came from the League of Red and Red Crescent Societies, Shubert explained. The organizations consist of 135 national societies cooperating to aid victims of natural disasters all over the world. The American Red Cross was being asked to consider the “worst African famine” in this century, Shubert related. “It was beyond the scope of aid as usual,” Shubert wrote, “involving a potential disaster of almost unimaginable proportions, in which 185 million people (almost 80 per cent of the U.S. population) in 27 countries are affected by continuing drought and are in danger of slow death starvation.” Shubert points out that the Red Cross relief programs are already operating in 14 of those nations, among the most severely affected of which are Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Ethiopia. Of these four, Shubert stresses, Ethiopia is the most desperate. THROUGH THE RED CROSS societies and leagues, a committee was formed to offer recommendations. The recommendation was for a special campaign to be developed with the goal of raising the maximum amount possible to aid the African countries. It was decided, according to Shubert, that the best way to begin the campaign was by the means of a fact-finding mission, which would prepare a report and deliver it to President Reagan and the American people.

Political pOWGr play: Russellville minister looks beyond the obvious to describe Africa's troubles

Special to the Banner-Graphic Editor’s Note: For 10 months. Rev. Scott Johnson of the Russellville Community Church lived in Zimbabwe, Africa, while attending a theological university. Aware of the tragic drought and famine taking over Africa today, Rev. Johnson maintains there are other factors, mainly political, which lead to those conditions. This is his account. Persons or groups interested in having Rev. Johnson address their organization about his experiences in Zimbabwe, Africa, may contact him at 435-3086. RUSSELLVILLE--“The immediate situation known as drought is caused by the climactic factors, which keep rain from coming to the ground and giving water to both the plant and animal kingdom. “We have recently seen the effects of this phenomena in the news, particularly in the case of the African country, Ethiopia. But the tragedy of a drought has precipitating causes which are not necessarily relegated to nature’s climate. Instead, they are to be found in the sphere of human influence, primarily the political/economic climate. “I SPENT SOME TIME IN Africa studying at a theological college in Zimbabwe. I lived with the Africans from September 1982 to July 1983. During this time, I was able to witness some of the political and economic weather patterns, which determine to a great effect, what effect a drought will have on a country. “Zimbabwe is a recently independent country with majority vote in favor of the overwhelming Black population occurring in 1980. Before that time, the country was governed by the white, Rhodesian government which had been built up overthe year by European and American economic interests. “Rhodesia had vast mineral wealth and an ideal climate for growing tremendous crops. One of their principle exports was corn, the staple dietary food for the Black African people.

Banner Graphic Greencastle, Putnam County, Tuesday, January 22,1985, Vol. 15 No. 121 25 Cents

“THE BRISK TRADING OF THE white empire brought in considerable amounts of foreign currency which, in turn, is the primary way a country pays for its imports. Rhodesia had a strong military, one of the best in Africa. “The flames of independence began to spread throughout Rhodesia during the 19705, creating an inferno by the end of the decade. Finally, through political pressure from the United States and England, and trade embargos called for by the United Nations, the Rhodesian government gave in to majority rule. “This event made possible the rise in Black Africans assuming positions of power and rule within the political and economic domains. And this is where we find part of the problem when it comes to droughts. “Because the West will generally not support freedom movements with military assistance, unless it is in their economic or political interest, the local freedom fighters are most likely to turn to Marxist countries where arms are more readily available. Thus was the case in Rhodesia. “THE MARXIST ALLIANCE, consequently, continues after independence has been won. Communist-inspired governments don’t tend to produce overly stable countries economically, and some could say, politically as well. “Along this side, I noticed a ‘backlash’ effect, which tended to make things precarious. People who had no power before independence, now suddenly had power. People who had meager jobs, now had the opportunity to (hold) ‘status’ jobs, which used to be the sole possession of the whites. “People, who had just recently been living in mud huts, who had little or no education, and who had been denied responsible participation in the infrastructure of the country, now all of a sudden found themselves catapulted into blue- and white-color jobs. “THE RISE IN THIS POSITION and power was even more dramatic for those

' ""vm: jHlps jpgl

Mother provides child with nourishment

Materials detail famine

The Midwestern Operations Headquarters of the American Red Cross has two sets of educational materials available on the African famine regions of Sahel and Chad. The materials were prepared by the League of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent Societies. Included are a prepared slide series, narration script, photographs and a poster. All materials depict the African famine and the Red Cross relief efforts. A LOAN PROCEDURE is being used to make the

“Once that decision was made,” Shubert points out, “it was necessary to gather together a team not just of people from some narrow spectrum of the American Red Cross or of the volunteer community, but from the country as a whole. “As a result,” Shubert said, “the volunteer team finally selected consisted of people from all parts of the country, and was a rich mix of points of view and kinds of experience.” THE TEAM CONSISTED OF an Episcopal minister, a bank vice president, a university leader, a college student, an ac-

who were the power figures in the liberation movement. Many whites fled the country, some for fear of their life. “But with them went a great deal of technical and managerial skills which are vital for a country to thrive in the economic and political arenas. Anything connected with the imperial tendencies of the Rhodesian government became repulsive to those now in power. “Names of towns and streets were changed. Corporate positions were filled with Black Africans. Prosperous farms were confiscated and turned over to the people who had fought for liberation. And on the international scene, there is confusion. “The result is that a country that once was fairly independent, in regards to economic matters, has now become dependent. Where they once exported huge quantities of corn throughout southern Africa, they have now become an importer. “THERE IS HARDLY ANY foreign currency to purchase imports. One must wait three years in order to get a new car because of this lack of foreign currency. People leaving the country for a vacation can take out of the country less than SSOO per year. Economically, Zimbabwe is in a relative mess. Politically, they are moving towards a one-party state, which carries with it its own problems. “Then, when a natural disaster like a drought hits, the country suffers doubly. They have little internal support to give life and food to their people. They have no surplus grain supplies to give as relief aid. They do not have enough funds to drill wells for water. “Travel from one part of the country (to another) is hampered because of high fuel prices and the lack of dependable vehicles. Hunger increases and life becomes the struggle for survival for the masses. “EVEN IN THE MIDST of this, there can still be found the flaunting of precious money by the powers that be as we have seen in the case of the celebration of in-

materials available to local Red Cross chapters. Copies to the chapters will be made only on a two-week basis. Materials were prepared to be used as supplemental resources for involving young people and schools in fund-raising concerns for the Red Cross African Famine Relief Campaign. Persons interested in obtaining any of the materials are to contact Margaret Nelson, Putnam County Chapter of the American Red Cross director, at the Putnam County Courthouse or call 653-4614.

counting firm executive, a nurse, an international management consultant, two civic leaders and active Red Cross volunteers. Also taking part were members of the American Red Cross Board of Governors and two individuals from the sports and entertainment world, Mel Blount and Charlton Heston. The balance of the group consisted of representatives of the print and electronic media. The fact-finding group was organized in five teams, according to Shubert. Each team consisted of one to three Red Cross volunteers and a media component. The teams visited four countries: Mali, Senegal, Mauritania and Ethiopia. SHUBERT SAID THE TEAMS findings were as follows: -In Mali, where 180,000 are starving and where the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies operates a feeding program, rainfall continues to be so far below normal that the food deficit is estimated at almost a million tons. There is a 20 per cent rate of malnutrition among the country’s children. -In Senegal, where 110,000 are threatened by starvation, the problem is most acute in the north where the rain has not fallen in sufficient quantity for the past three years. Each year, the desert seizes more life-supporting land. --Conditions in Mauritania are worse than those in Senegal or Mali for in this country there is near total desertification. The population has had to end its nomadic, postoral lifestyle and move to relief centers where the people exist primarily through relief operations. -In Ethiopia, 6.4 million people in 12 of the nation's 16 provinces are affected by severe drought. The northern areas, always the most arid part of Ethiopia, are dust dry. There are signs of starvation with skeletal children, people eating weeds and roots and hundreds of thousands of wanderers, who are reduced to thinking of one thing: where to get something, anything to eat. SHUBERT THEN DESCRIBES what the people of the African countries are experiencing, which is known as the “hunger disease.” “The earliest symptoms are thirst, rapid weight loss and a constant craving for food,” Shubert writes. “You might think that, as the disease progresses, the pangs of hunger would increase But they do not. “As starvation intensifies, the sharp inner message that we call hunger pangs diminishes, to be replaced by a growling and generalized weakness and an increasing inability to sustain even the smallest physical effort.” PERSONS IN THE ADVANCED stages of hunger disease become too weak to stand, according to Shubert. “They lie down on the ground, cover themselves with whatever they can find, because with the flesh and insulating fat melted away, they are always cold. Apathy, depression, disorientation, decline and death form the links of a chain that draws them to the grave,” Shubert observes. “And each morning in the camps that I saw in Ethiopia, that chain had dragged out of existence sometimes

dependence in Ethiopia. “Because of the infrastructure, which keeps the country economically and politically potent, there has been a serious weakening by this backlash phenomena, a drought becomes more severe than it need be. “A drought accentuates the problems which are already there. The real tragedy is that people die in these circumstances, and this need not occur to the extent which we have seen in Ethiopia. The famine in Africa is not over. “WHAT CAN WE DO at this point? “We cannot undo the past, but we can help to fashion a humane and just future. We can begin by supporting religious and secular relief organizations, which are attempting to feed the hungry in Africa. “We must free ourselves from the im- I prisoning belief that our money never gets to the hungry people but, instead, ends up in the pockets of bureaucrats. This thinking is 90 per cent myth, since it is the human tendency to report the isolated cases of mismanagement to the detriment of the over-arching good that most organizations do. “If hunger is the tragedy of the famine in Africa, then the tragedy in America is our paranoid unwillingness to give selflessly from the abundance which we have. We can also do something else, but I doubt that very many have the courage and faith to do so. “And that is to write to our representatives in Congress to voice our support for famine relief and to object to the gross expansion in our defense spending, especially the cost overruns being discovered and outlandish sums being charged to the Pentagon by the defense contractors. “There are ways to help; we are not helpless. We only rationalize that we are so that we can continue with our hedonistic enterprises. We are our brother’s and sister’s keepers.”

as many as a hundred of our fellow human beings - mostly children.” So devastating is the hunger disease, Shubert writes, that the ratio of workers in one camp of some 16,000 is three doctors to six nurses to 32 grave diggers. OF HIS OWN PERSONAL observations, Shubert notes, “To help you visualize what hunger disease does to masses of human beings, try to recall the worst dressed, most miserable street person you have ever seen. “Then,” he adds, “take 40 pounds off the frame of that individual, drive him out into a desert, cover him with rags and multiply the result by 10,000. That is a feeding camp.” Continuing, Shubert writes, “I’m sure we’ve all heard the saying that the eyes are the windows of the soul. I can assure you that if you were to look into the eyes of one of those children, eyes that seem huge because every other feature of the body is shriveled to a skin-covered skeleton, you would be looking through an open window into the frenzy and desperation of a dying soul.” SHUBERT ALSO OBSERVED: --A Swiss nurse whose toughest job each day is to go out and select from the 1,000 who wait, a few children to fill vacancies for the supplementary feeding program. -A three-year-old child who has not eaten in so long that he has to be taught again. -An 11-year-old boy who weights 15 pounds and a five-year-old weighing less than seven pounds. -A camp, started only a month ago, that tries to feed 16,460. More than 9,000 of those people are children under 10 years. “SINCE RETURNING TO the U. 5.,” Shubert continues, “I have related these experiences a number of times, perhaps because the burden of silently harboring this kind of horror was just too much for me, and I wanted to share that burden by telling what I have seen. “The reaction has always been one of sympathy,” he writes, “sometimes followed by an expression of powerlessness. “FIRST,” SHUBERT RELATES, “let me say that the situation in these countries is bad, and that as bad as it is now, due to the poor harvest this past fall, it will get worse before it improves. The death toll, now believed by some to be 40,000 a month in all the affected countries, continues to rise." Shubert relates, “As a result of the efforts by the league, the International Red Cross and other relief and assistance organizations, the machinery for assistance is in place. There is a real affection for the Red Cross and genuine appreciation for what it is doing.” Shubert said he and the delegation witnessed first-hand the food distribution process made available by the Red Cross and contributions. “From these observations,” Shubert maintains, “I can assure the American people that every penny of their famine aid contributions will go directly for food, medical supplies, development projects and transportation. “Further,” Shubert concludes, “The flow of funds is from Red Cross to Red Cross and hence from donor to the famine victims.”

iro v >-/ " \ f t &0 * «. - v H

REV. SCOTT JOHNSON: Was in Africa for 10-month period