July 13, 2005

Africa

I recently had the good fortune of being able to attend the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia. The concert was held to raise awareness about global poverty and the situation in Africa. Many of you probably watched it on television or the Internet.

I got an encouraging message in my Inbox from one.org yesterday. Here’s a bit of it:

In Scotland this past Friday, overcoming the shadow of a tragic day in London, President Bush joined G8 leaders in an unprecedented deal to cancel debts and double aid to Africa.

For African nations fighting poverty and corruption, this means a $25 billion increase in aid and wiping out 100% of their debts. With this funding, Africa can halve deaths from malaria, put millions of children into school, and 10 million people across the world will have access to lifesaving AIDS drugs. Behind each of these numbers is one person, one life that will be changed forever.

For the complete announcement, click here.

It’s an amazing and historic step and I want to applaud all of G8 leaders for taking it (especially to Tony Blair for spearheading the effort). There is a lot more to be done in Africa but the tone has been set and let’s hope that this generation can be the one to finally put an end to senseless poverty and disease.

To wrap it back to LearnOutLoud I thought I would share a few audio titles that you can listen to that will help you more fully understand a continent that most people will never visit. I’m particularly interested to listen to Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux and Love is the Driest Season by Neely Tucker. Here are some other noteworthy ones:

An Affair with Africa by Alzada Carlisle Kistner
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
A Short History of Africa by Roland Oliver
Land of a Thousand Hills by Rosamond Halsey Carr

For more information on how you can help end global poverty, please go to www.one.org.