In many parts of Central and South America, providing food and/or medical
aid to the poor can often be
a very tricky (and even life-threatening) matter, not only for the provider
but for those in need as well.
This is a reality many persons from developed countries may have much
trouble envisioning.
I believe that many persons and even agencies have not thought through the
'consequences' of providing such assistance ahead of time. A movie
entitled, "Men with Guns," (in Spanish with English subtitles) eloquently
portrays what happens to 5 young doctors who were trained by a good-willed,
idealistic doctor to practice medicine in the most impoverished areas of
the countryside/mountains in Latin America. This movie is definitely a
reality check for anyone working in the area of food security and/or food
aid who has not lived in this part of the world, or similarly violent
countries.
Many persons in a position of power - whether it be the military,
guerillas, or paramilitary troops DO
NOT want the poor - or any of their rivals - to have access to additional
resources. Providing such resources - if not thought through carefully
ahead of time - can end up doing much more harm than good.....
Chris
At 12:21 PM 03/08/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Klaus: as part of your comment, you said:
>
>what we would need, is a reader from these regions or someone, who
>lived there for quite a long time, who could tell us about the real
>and practical food problems there. i know parts of south america,
>where the peasants face problems, a european would not even think
>about and which seem to be just unbelievable to him. the same might
>happen in asia in the rice regions.... in short: i don't trust
>WESTERN experts, the eastern countries have their own !! and i
>would like to hear from them, what they have to tell us.
>
>unfortunately none of these poor (blind) people has the slightest
>chance of internet access (the gap between the "information rich"
>and the info poor in the future will become almost as important as
>education)
>
>If memory serves, it was exactly such a message - from Dr. Vanadan Shiva
>- which started this Sanet dialogue. She is Indian, lives in India, and
>has made it her life's work to understand and discuss these types of
>issues. Ann
>
>
>
>
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