What the real story should be

It’s been a while… Since my last blog, I’ve been on my (happy and relaxing, thanks for asking) summer vacation. And after returning to work, I have spent all my time on the East Africa drought crisis. The third technology-blog I promised can wait, I want to write about East Africa.

Exept, I have very little to say. I feel sad. We are not equal. Some of us have too much, some of us have nothing. I have also been thinking about this a lot: the life or death of an African person is not as interesting in the media as that of a person from Europe or USA.

But I present two bloggers who have something interesting to say.

This crisis has finally become a story, but not as big – huge – as it should be. And it’s largely been simplified into the pictures of starving children (as seen above...). In her brilliant post Starvation pornography: How many skinny babies can you show me? AlertNet’s Nairobi correspondent Katy Migiro writes about journalists' behaviour and about what the real story should be.  

Migiro describes the horrid way a group of journalists are "racing around" the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. There is no time for sensitivity there:

It was excruciating watching two TV journalists shouting at an exhausted woman who had just arrived at the camp.
“Tell her to look at me, not you,” the producer barked at the translator.
“Get her to say what the arm tag means to her.”
The poor woman – who had probably walked across the desert with her children for days to reach the camp – clearly had no idea what the piece of paper around her wrist meant.

 Katy Migiro has been writing about the worsening situation since the beginning of this year.

I’m happy that the drought has finally become a story. 
But it’s also frustrating, knowing that this is their five minutes of fame on the global news agenda.
“I want to visit a hospital next Wednesday and see lots of skinny babies. Can you set that up for me?” a television producer in London told a British aid worker who has been working here for years.
The real untold story is that the skinny babies are always there. It’s just that there are a few less of them.
In Wajir Hospital, 32 malnourished children were admitted in May, the highest number so far this year.
Yet a chart on the wall shows that 40 children were admitted for malnutrition in December 2008.
No wonder people look bewildered when we constantly ask: “Is this the worst drought in 60 years?”
“Last year, the average was 15. But it never drops below 10,” said the nutritionist.
Shouldn't that story be told too?

Yes, Absolutely!

However, I do not envy the journalists covering this crisis (and there are also those who do that in a decent way), it can't be easy. The situation is complex. The drought certainly is not the only reason for the famine.

"Vultures and Fat cats wont help. Will you?"

Kenya is one of the countries hard hit by the drought. But Kenya is also one of the African countries with a middle class population, and the wealthier Kenyans have now started to help the starving. 

I went to read if SavvyKenya, who I wrote about in my first Southern Blogosphere blog, would have something to say about the situation and indeed, I found a reblogged post about the Kenyans’ response by a blogger called Crazy Nairobian.

Crazy Nairobian is VERY critical of the government:  

Kenya is such a beautiful country. We have amazing wildlife in our national parks like the Big Five (the most famous Kenya animals are known as 'The Big 5': Lions, Leopards, Elephants, Buffalos and Rhinos)

and an even better offering of beasts in parliament which include vultures, fat cats (fat cat, term. a wealthy person, originally one who contributes to a political campaign) and snakes. And what makes parliament even more interesting is the presence of clowns in the midst of all the animals I mentioned above...

My grandmother (who passed on earlier this year) told me the most challenging words some time back regarding food and sharing. She told me that if you have something in your plate, then you have something to share...She said the beauty of giving away food to the hungry is, while you will be filling their stomach with food, they will be filling your heart with joy and your life with blessings.

And so today, I send out a passionate appeal to each and everyone of you. It does not matter who you are or what you do. If you have food in your plate, you have something to give. Lets share the little we have with the hungry children whose smiles and laughter has been masked by the hunger pangs they feel. Lets share with the desperate mothers and fathers who have no idea where the next meal to feed their families will come from. Let no Kenyan die when you and I can help. 

Soon after reading this, my colleague told us during a meeting about East Africa that Kenyans have started to raise funds. It is the same fundraiser! I checked; they have raised about four million euros. Isn't that great news?
 

Ulla

(Photo: Katy Migiro/AlertNet)