Scribbles

Pete is a friend I got to know end of last year. He was my watch mate during our long sailing adventure from the UK via the Canaries onto the Caribbean. He just sent us a transcript of his handwritten log. Reading through it brought back quite some memories of this two month’s trip.
Here is one, inspired by Pete’s log:

“
We lifted anchor at 1600 from the Sandy Spit – see picture- in the British Virgin Island, and headed south. We sailed through Thatch Island cut and then tacked upwind towards “The Bight” on Norman Island. Mark, SJ and Peter had visited this bay before and rated the “Pirates Bar and Restaurant” very highly. Peter said: “Leave the booking to me”, and he disappeared down below to read the Pilot Book for communications channels. A couple of minutes later back on deck he came and picked up the VHF handset. The Pirates Bar call up was on Channel 16. Once contact was made, “Pirates” asked to switch onto channel 69.

So off went Peter (of course): “Hello Pirates Bar this is Persuader Too. Just love calling you on my favourite channel, lets get to it. I’ve got seven hungry crew who had nothing but solitary intercourse for the past two months. So we would all like to have some fun at a table. Can you do anything for me, here on channel 69. Or related to 69? Are you seeing anyone, by the way? And please, what are you wearing? Over!”
The gentleman at the other side picked up on the joke, and the conversation went on for a while. It set the scene and mood for the rest of the day, the evening, and the loooong night.
“

With courtesy to Pete Pressland, “a man for all reasons”.

In a previous post, I contemplated on the role and usefulness of humanitarian aid, just at the moment the G8 countries pledged $60 billion more to Africa…

The rich world has spent $2.3 trillion over 50 years on aid to the worlds’ poorest countries, yet poverty grinds on relentlessly. Bono still thinks aid can be effective as long as it’s “backed up by the right concepts and strictly monitored”, according to this alertnet article.

And then there are the world’s billionaires, all 946 of them. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates tops the list, as through his Gates Foundation, he contributed $1.5 billion budget for health projects in the developing world. This equals the entire annual budget of the U.N. World Health Organisation. No wonder developmental economist Jeffrey Sachs thinks billionaires alone could “save the continent” by donating only a 5 percent of their income per year.

“Not so”, says Michela Wrong in Britain’s News Statesman: “Aid has been hugely oversold, both by those who think it works miracles and by those who blame it for Africa’s woes. It has probably added just one percentage point to the annual growth rates of the poorest countries in the past 30 years”.

Pfft.. We are still no-where.. Where is the real meat in all of this? Where can we really see if aid helps, without the retoric debates in posh retreats with wine and rich food on the table? Maybe this article can help, reporting on a project in Western Kenya that aims to produce conclusive proof that development aid actually works, demonstrating that when the donating countries honor their pledges, poverty disappears.

Who else has example project like this? Who of you out there has more of examples where aid made a practical longterm impact, and was not a band-aid on a wooden leg?

News items picked up from The Other World News.
Picture courtesy WFP.

In an article in Der Spiegel, the Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, says aid to Africa does more harm than good. He explains the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem. Even though it is an older article (which hit digg.com again today), the question is still a right one to ask today.

To be honest, as an aidworker with a conscience, I often struggle within myself “if we really make a difference”. In both general and in specific cases. Up to what level can we, “the West”, “the Industrialized Nations”, stand by and watch poverty, decease, starvation, lack of education take its toll in poorer countries. And as of what level is the aid we are providing, starting a vicious circle of making people dependent on this foreign aid. Corrupting their economy? When do we stop? And how do we stop? How do we, the aid agencies, ensure that we do not fall into a trap of ‘inventing aid-needs’ just to ensure we still have a job?

Even more so, and a more burning question: in what way, do we, “the West”, “the Benefactors”, have OUR economy stimulated through our own foreign aid? In what way is foreign aid just a way to offload the excess commodities we produce in our heavily subsidized economy, and thus act in a very selfish way?

In what way have we, the humanitarians, become so effective during the aftermath of armed conflicts in eliminating the human suffering fast, that in the end we indirectly encourage armed conflicts? Would there be less armed conflicts if the ‘humanitarian consequences” were graver, and hit the media harder?

I do not have the answer. These are questions which we often do not ask ourselves (us = aid workers) enough. And we should. I see it as one of my tasks, being part of this ‘humanitarian world’, to ask these questions aloud, from within the “aid world”. Even if they see me as a pain in the ass. I know deep down inside, these are the right questions to ask.

Have a look also at the comments the Spiegel article generated.

Picture courtesy Irin. For updated humanitarian news, check out The Other World News

Warning: this piece is highly opinionated. It is nevertheless my honest opinion. My impression of the reality, my interpretation of the facts, and my reflection on the state of affairs. Mine only.

Today:

Today’s headlines: “Mortar strike wounds Israeli troups”, “Lebanon camp offensive continues!”, “Seven US soldiers killed in Iraq”… The Middle East… How did we ever let it come this far?

In a previous post, I stated that today, 5.7 million people in the world were long term refugees. That excluded the Palestinians. 4.3 million Palestinians have been “Refugees for Life” since 1948. 4.3 million… That is about the whole population of Norway. Or half of New York city.

Since 1948, time and again, the “Palestinian Issue” became front page news. An excellent historic overview, you find in this summary. But have a look also at the UNRWA overview of the issue, which includes a lot of pictorial data.

According to me, the “Palestinian Issue” has been at the basis of most conflicts in the Middle East, as well as at the root of the artificial split the US foreign policy has made in the world since 9/11: on one hand they put the Muslim world, and the other hand, the non-Muslims. “With us or against us..”.

Turn back time: August 2001. One month before 9/11

Why am I saying that? In one of my short stories “M- Requiem for Baghdad”, I wrote: In August 2001, I told Tine just before I left home: “I do not have a good feeling. The stars are not right. Something is up.” That feeling was in sharp contrast with the one month holiday off the beaten track in Hawaii we just had. But the sixth sense was there, with big warning signs.
That feeling was mostly based on something that happened a year before that:

Turn back time again: September 2000.

The US was in full presidential elections battle, and after years of a US (and an international) push for peace in the Middle East, there was less attention on “the Palestinian Issue”. “At last”, Sharon, the then leader of the hard-line opposition party Likud, must have thought, and he took the opportunity of the distractions to provoke the Muslim community, inspired by his political ambitions: In September 2000, he visited the Temple Mount, a site in Jerusalem sacred for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike. This visit was internationally seen as a direct provocation amidst a very volatile situation.

That particular day of his visit, was to me the start of re-newed trouble in the Middle East. Fighting started during his visit, resulting in several days of back and fro firing fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen. Amidst the fighting, there was one occasion where a young Palestinian boy, called Muhammad al-Durrah, and his father got caught in a cross fire..

Video footage, shot by France 2, showed the father and son hiding behind a barrel, until in the end both were shot. Muhammad died, and his father was seriously injured. There is a lot of controversy if this was all a clever media setup. Still, the picture of a father trying to protect his son, in the midst of a violent shoot-out, stuck in my mind forever. A father, who could have been any father, trying what any parent does: protect his child. And the overwhelming violence resulted in what must be the greatest sorrow of any parent: not being able to provide safety for your child. Muhammad died in the hands of his father, he himself half shot to pieces. In a conflict they had no part in.

That picture, those thoughts, did not only stick into my mind. The picture of Muhammad Al-Durrah and his father squatting for cover, was painted on walls all over the Middle East. They became a symbol of oppression. Senseless violence.
So, Arafat called for an intifada, a civil upraising, and the umpth Middle East civil war started.

Al Qaeda jumped onto the media frenzy, claiming to act on behalf of the oppressed Palestinians, and off we went. 9/11 here we come! After that, Bush took the opportunity to bash El Qaeda in Afghanistan, and while at it, went for the oil in Iraq.

We can all guess what would have happened (or preferably NOT happened) to the world, if Sharon did not visit Table Mount in September 2000. But to me, that one single act, and the attitude behind it, is one of the reasons why we still have 4.3 million Palestinians without a home. With millions of children without a future. Lost generations. Lost opportunities. And why? Because of political ambitions. International ill-meddling.

A sad state of affairs.

Suggested reading: Hanan Ashrawi’s Miftah site: a Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and democracy.

Pictures courtesy UNRWA, Wikipedia

There are many things I love about living in Italy. The food is one. Here you are in good hands of the mamas behind the furnace. They might have a few emancipated papas also… ha!

Restaurants plenty. And the average quality is way up there. Even from the down-to-earth “family restaurants around the corner”. Plus living right at the sea, gives plenty of sea food offerings too. I was raised at the Belgian coast, as you might know, so I never say “no” to fresh fish.

The Italian way of cooking is straightforward. Nothing fancy. Concentrated on the food, not the presentation (unlike French food). However, the Italian servings are a bit complicated… They strictly separate certain dishes, we (the other members of the world) would normally see as part of a main course, into different courses. Antipasti (the appetizer), Primo (typically the pasta), Secondo (the meat or fish main course).. Easy once you get used to it.

The main challenge for foreigners, however, remains the language barrier. Not many visitors to this country speak Italian. So often I see people choose blindly. Hoping they will not be served bull testicles on vinegar or seasoned intestines. In addition the average Italian speaks little or no other languages. No lack of trying. Even though the effort sometimes leads to more confusion, in this land which thrives on (trying to be politically correct here!) utter confusion and comic anarchy.

That also goes for the food and the restaurants. They try. But the more they try, the more confusion it often creates (sounds like their politics).
The other night, one of the owners from a restaurant we regularly go to, proudly presented an English and German version of his menu.. I think he might have use the Internet for the translation… Some excerpts:

“The voices marked by asterisk could be frozen if the sea doesn’t allow the coolness.”
And: “The chef is to illustrate and to propose the consequential alternatives from the fished fresh.”.
Or: “The fish from the navies tirreniche of Anzio and Brings Saint Stephen, and from the navy of Mazaro of the Go him/it.” Eh.. Sounds pretty good, no?

But that was just the introduction. Then come the dishes (again, all from real life examples):

• “Croccantini of it gleans” (Croccantini di spigola) Would it be radioactive?
• “Hypocrites of sea” (Tartufi di mare) – Must be Shakespearean
• “Carpaccio of it gleans raw” (Carpaccio di spigola crudo) – More radioactivity.
• Of course “Paccheri con gallinella e pachino” translates into “Paccheri with gallinella and pachino”. Clearly!
• “Taglioni with porky mushrooms” (Tagliolini fungi porcini) – only for pork lovers.
• “Half sleeves to the granchione” (Mezze maniche al granchione) – I hope it was a clean shirt!
• “Scorfano in the crazy water” (Scorfano all’acqua pazza) – Must be with vodka
• The Germans get a hard time too: “Funghi porcini” translates in German to “Porcini schiebt wie Pilze aua dem Bodem” (something like “Porcini dug like mushrooms out of the earth”). And “Pinzimonio” is clearly “Rohe Gemuese mit kurzem Bad auf der Seite” (in English, this is as much as “Raw vegetables with a short bath on the side”).
• Luckily Ovoline is just “Ovoline”. - That is clear.
• Sometimes the portions must be huge. Like the “Fig trees of Indian” (Fichi d’India)
• And others are unintentionally poetic “Twisted to the Kiss with peanuts” (Torta al bacio) or “Twisted to the fruits of wood” (Torta ai frutti di bosco)
• Sometimes it does not sound too kosher: “Fried dor-mouse” according to the German translation, these must be mice: “Gebratene Hasel Mause” (Moscardini fritti).

Well, what can I say? At least they try. And that is more than other nationalities would do! I am sure this menu must attract tourists too. Who want to have a laugh while they eat!

Picture Italian dish, courtesy of AnnaMaria Volpi

Continue reading The Road to the Horizon’s Ebook, jump to the Reader’s Digest of The Road.