genocides

so this past sunday, we saw the new flick hotel rwanda, starring don cheadle. It was very well done. For those of you who were living on the moon during the mid-90s, there was a nation-wide genocide, and more than one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by extreme Hutus. Eventually, the Tutsis were able to push the majority of the Hutus out of the country and into the Congo. However, imbalance still persists in the nation. If you do intend on seeing the movie, I encourage you to read up a bit about the history; if you don't, seeing the movie will definitely get you to.

The movie itself reminded me of something I heard on the radio couple weeks back. The guy on the radio was calling in and basically asking why so much aid was being raised for the tsunami relief effort (no doubt a worthy cause), while thousands more have died and continue to die in Africa due to AIDS, malnutrition, and specifically, in Darfur, Sudan, where a genocide (similar to the one in Rwanda) is taking place right now.

Probably one of the biggest differences I see between the disasters occuring in Africa and the tsunami is the public coverage of the episodes. The tsunami made headlines every weeknight in the news, on the radio, and on the internet. Yet millions are dying in Africa, without much obvious media coverage, and public outpouring of money.

Anyways, to cut to the point, I think that because the tsunami was a singular event, where the "blame" could be laid on an event out of anyone's control, the world was willing to give. In situations such as the continuing AIDS massacre and the Darfur genocide, however, multiple events and influences were and are responsible for the outcomes (culture, education, politics, business, medecine, research). Thus, there is not one single problem to be solved, but many fronts upon which the relief effort must be strengthened.

Also, perhaps there is a sense among us that the people of those nations are responsible for their own actions and should be responsible for taking care of their own problems, or dealing with their own mistakes (violence, discrimination, mis-education). Furthermore, with corrupted politics and complicated cultures, it is difficult to prioritize aid relief, and the public is less confident that their money will end up in the "right" place.

Progress is slowly being made against AIDS in African nations, it is just unfortunate that such devastations are being left off the front pages, and are left to dwell silently and apathetically in the back of our minds.

Links Rwanda SaveDarfur AIDS:Africa Unicef