| | |||||
| Get Info On: | Government | West Chester Railroad | Links | Index to articles | |
| History | Ward 6 News | Research service | Email WCJim | ||
|
Tuesday, May 13 -- Borough Council Committee Meetings
(Public Safety, Finance, PZBID), Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay Street,
5:30pm. [See agenda.]
Wednesday through Saturday, May 14-17 -- Seventh
annual International Organ Competition at the Madeleine Wing
Adler Theatre, WCU Performing Arts Center, 9am-5pm. Call
610-436-2739 for more information.
Saturday, May 17 -- Chester County
Historical Society hosts an afternoon workshop called
"Saving YOUR Treasures" (preserving hamily heirlooms), 225 N.
High Street, 1-4pm. Admission $15 ($10 for members).
Advance registration requested. For more information, call 610-
692-4800 or email Josh
Barker.
Saturday, May 17 -- Recycle your old computers at
Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay Street. Call 610-692-7574 fir more
information.
Saturday, May 17 -- Bus Trip to NYC for the "American
Girl Show", leaves from Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay St., 7:30am
to approx. 7:30pm.
Sunday, May 18 -- Wine tasting with the Belle Voix
jazz ensemble at the Cultural Center at the Chester County
Historical Society, 225 N. High Street, 3pm. Tickets
are $20. Call 610-692-4800 to reserve your tickets.
Tuesday, May 20 -- Borough Council Work Session,
Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay Street, 7pm.
Tuesday, May 20 -- West Chester Borough Planning
Commission Work Session, Room #240 Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay
Street, 7pm.
Wednesday, May 21 -- Borough Council Regular
(Voting) Session, Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay Street, 7pm.
Friday, May 23 -- "Saluting Our Veterans" with
Congressman Joe Sestak and Repesentative Barbara McIlvaine Smith,
VFW Post #106, 837 Lincoln Ave., 10am-noon. RSVP by
calling 610-696-4990 by May 8.
Tuesday, May 27 -- West Chester Borough Planning
Commission Regular Meeting, Room #240 Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay
Street, 7pm.
Wednesday, June 4 -- Recreation Commission, Borough
Hall, 401 E. Gay St., Room #234 6:30pm.
Thursday, June 5 -- Swinging Summer Thursday, on Gay
Street in Downtown West Chester, 6:30pm-9:30pm.
Thursday, June 5 -- Historic Architecture Review
Board Meeting, Room #240 Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay Street,
7:00pm.
Friday, June 6 -- Borough Leaders United for
Emissions Reduction (BLUER) Committee meeting, Room #240 Borough
Hall, 401 E. Gay Street, 1-3pm.
Friday, June 6 -- June Gallery Walk in the Town
Center, 6-10pm.
Friday, June 6 -- Book sale to benefit the YWCA, 123
N. Church St., 5:30pm-8pm.
Friday, June 6 -- Gallery tour with local artist
John Hannafin, talking about his newest work, "The Spirit of West
Chester," at the
Chester County Historical Society, 225 N. High Street, 6-
9pm. Free to the public. Light refreshments and live music.
|
The Myanmar disaster probably offers a lot of lessons, but one of them stands out for me, since much of my professional life consists of thinking about how people from different countries relate to each other. The refusal of the "generals" (a.k.a. the military rulers of Myanmar, to allow foreigners to distribute aid to cyclone victims, appears either crazy or vicious to those of us watching it all from a distance. What kind of leaders, we wonder, could refuse offers of help for the people they are supposed to be responsible for, but who are currently suffering from a natural disaster? The generals are asking a different question: what happens if foreigners -- especially Americans and their allies -- appear as the "saviors" of the victims at natural disaster? The question has meaning because of a basic truth: the person with food gets to be king in a world where everyone else is starving. Foreign aid workers have known this for many years, and Americans got their first glimpse of it in 1994 when Somali warlords used armed followers to commandeer (i.e. steal) food aid and determine who got to eat. The message was simple -- if you support me, you and your family will get to live. If not, then go look for someone else to keep you alive. As a result of the food-power equation, aid workers have found it increasingly difficult to work in parts of the world. In order to do so, aid agencies have to spend money on security for food stocks and to maintain order at distribution points. Naturally, that's money that doesn't get spent on food, although it does create local "jobs." In some cases aid workers have become targets as well, held for ransom or to be exchanged for prisoners. All of these developments reduce the effectiveness of foreign aid by 1) reducing the resources available to help people, 2) making it harder to find people to do it, and 3) increasing local distrust of foreign donations. Of course, military aid is a completely different story, since it is given to people who want to use guns to keep themselves in power. But the notion that people should be automatically grateful when representatives of a wealthy country hand out food or medicine is naive. The Myanmar generals are not crazy or vicious, they're just trying to use foreign aid the way lots of other people with guns do. Does that mean foreign aid is obsolete? Not necessarily. It just means that it is more effective coming from organizations that have a reputation for political neutrality. That's why Oxfam, Doctors Without Borders, Catholic Relief Services and the Mennonite Central Committee work so hard to remain independent of any particular government, and why they base their willingness to help on need rather than foreign policy alignment. That's also why, after more than fifty years of seeing packages with "Gift of the people of USA" printed on their sides, people around the world are increasingly skeptical of the motives behind American aid. Individuals may give money and time for the right reasons, but by the time it gets the official stamp of approval, it becomes a tool of American foreign policy, just the same as aircraft carriers and trade agreements. And if our government is willing, sometimes it provides the means for local despots to retain control over their own people. Late developments: On last night's news (May 12), the announcer said that the Myanmar government has agreed to allow a US Navy ship to deliver packages of water and mosquito netting. Meanwhile, a huge (7.8) earthquake in China looks poised to push Myanmar off of our television sets within the next 36 hours. | ||
|
| ||||
| Copyright 2008 by Jim Jones | ||||
