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Consequences of Corruption in Africa

Child Soldiers

 
A 2003 UNICEF report found that there were 300,000 children serving in 72 government military forces, or in armed rebel groups, in 20 countries around the world during 2002. The devastating happenings of children and people in the and N. Uganda are disheartening. At times it seems overwhelming to think this war has been going on for over 18 years now and 1.4 million people have been displaced. UNICEF estimates that the LRA has kidnapped more than 25,000 children since the conflict began and 5,000 kids in the past year alone have been taken. Upon hearing such devastating news one can only ask themselves why such an evil has been taking place and for so long. Corruption is the heart of the circumstance but it can no longer be tolerated. God is bigger then corruption or the LRA and desire for each of those kids to know and to be known. So what does that mean for the church today?  When Jesus says leave all you have and follow me what does that mean for the church, the community of believers who have died to themselves and now live in Christ? Matthew 21 talks about asking God in faith for his response and I wonder what the world would look like if we
 really did what Jesus said and believed he would do it? God changes circumstances and he will, we just need to ask and be obedient to his response.   

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Poverty

The facts about hunger and poverty in Africa are sobering.  In sub-Saharan Africa, 70% of the people live on less than $2 a day.  200 million people, including children, go hungry every day.  Across the continent, 6,300 people will die from HIV/AIDS related causes.  Every year, sub-Saharan Africa spends $30 billion repaying debts to the world richest nations and often have little left for their own health care or education. (Statistics compiled by DATA).  The root causes of what are trapping African people in poverty are complex and widespread, but international systems and ways of interacting with the continent have contributed much to institutionalizing poverty.  For an example of how corruption in Western and African nations played into the current debt crisis, visit here.

Spirituality

The rise of Christians in Africa is extremely exciting and continues to be a tremendous work of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, Africa is geared to be the new center of a new Christianity- one that more closely resembles Christ-followers in action than churches in North America or Europe.  With that said, it has only been less than a century since missionaries have come and only a couple of generations, if that, have heard the Gospel.  The beliefs of the past loom within the thoughts of the people as Christianity is still seen as a Western religion that is not purely African.  Part of this is the nature of the missionaries witness and the lack of connection of the Gospel to the heart of the people, but part of this is also the roots of demonic power fast at work.  Even Christians constantly struggle with returning to old ways in the face of crisis in the belief that spirits are causing these things because they are Christian.  Daniel Etounga-Manguelle states, "Contrary to what some might believe, the Christian religion, far from putting an end to witchcraft in Africa, has legitimized it," and "Witch doctors surround African presidents, and nothing that really matters in politics occurs without recourse to witchcraft."  (Harrison and Huntington, 73-74) The only way to solve their problem or gain something they desperately need is to resort to old practices.  The consequence of this is now the mixing of faith in Christ with fear of the spirits and submitting to the power of authoritative witchdoctors and spiritists.  The power play is intensly spiritual as witchdoctors claim to have signs of war, thus causing a normally peaceful people to shed innocent blood and wreak of immoral behavoir in attempts to appease the spirits.  It seems as though corruption continues to spread the past darkness and it is time for the light of Christ to truly penetrate the continent.

Media

As we look to the mass media and the role they play in corruption we see remnants of the US in the way they give out information.  Much like the US they use radio and television to evoke FEAR and WORRY.  Making situations seem far off worse than they really are.  Through television and radio the content given to Africans is unacceptable to God and it is their responsiblity to give them music and news that can enhance their relationships with God and make their continent a better place.  There is a shining light that brings forth the word of God.  Sations such as TBN  and Joyce Myer Ministries are bringingGod's word to the people of Africa.  It is amazing to know that there are internet sites that have 24 hours of Gospel Music and God's word.  I know through the NEW media that the people of Africa will be a changed and prosperous people.

 

Family Structures

 As a result of corruption, extended families are brought together as the weak are forced to care for the weak: elderly people end up living with their orphaned grandchildren and grandchildren end up caring for and raising their younger relatives.  Unemployment results in substance abuse and many households are left without paternal support and the women having to care for a large family on her own.  For more information on how African family structures, see the following: http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm

http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/wp/169.pdf

http://www.jicef.or.jp/wahec/ful217.htm

Genocide

Genocide is occurring now.
There are an estimated 2 million people in camps for Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Darfur and another 200,000 in camps in neighboring Chad. There are an unknown number of additional IDPs in inaccessible regions of Darfur. The UN’s World Food Program estimates that up to 4 million people in Darfur do not have enough to eat.  Approximately 400,000 people have been killed in the past two years.  It is estimated that 10,000 Darfuris are dying each month.  All of these facts and figures are drawn from the research of Prof. Eric Reeves.  He is the leading researcher on the ongoing genocide in Darfur.  Additional facts can be found on Africa Action’s website where this definition of genocide was obtained:
 

The international legal definition of the crime of genocide is found in Articles II and III of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Article II describes the two elements that constitute the crime of genocide:

(i) the mental element, meaning the "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such", and
 (ii) the physical element which includes five types of violence described in sections a? through e? as follows:

a? Killing members of the group;
b? Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c? Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its                 physical destruction in whole or in part;
d? Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e? Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

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Practices and Structures that Give Rise to these Problems

Child Soldiers

The perpetual cycle of child soldiers can be attributed to numerous factors, each contextualized to individual circumstances and dilemmas.  Religion (religious beliefs), economic situations, cultural identity, political turmoil and social disadvantages contribute to the children’s unfortunate circumstances as child soldiers. Even more some are influenced personally to seek justice for the death of family members or friends.  Many children who find themselves orphaned and alone are weighed down by  feelings of fear and uncertainty as their home life is shattered and schooling impossible.  Many become bored with their situation having few, if any, choices and the attractive life of warrior engagement seems like a quick solution.

For more information please visit this site.

A refugee camp in Northern Uganda

Poverty

Practices and structures that lead to poverty and hunger are many, and often a complex web of interwoven factors, involving not only African practices, but international practices as well. Here are some examples:

-African countries must pay back wealthy nations and institutions for debts incurred decades ago, leaving them little left over for healthcare and education (more) -Cultural practices and lack of education about the disease helps to spread the AIDS epidemic -Practices of gender preference and exclusion leave many women and girls behind – to the detriment of all.

Spirituality

 Corruption in General

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/corruption.html

http://www.u4.no/themes/education/educationwhere.cfm

Child Soldiers

World Vision

-In Gulu, a northern district of Uganda, World Vision runs the Gulu Children of War Center, a counseling center for former child soldiers. Started in 1995.

-Advocating for Peace in N. Uganda. Send a letter to you senator. It's easy, it takes about 1 minute.

 

International Responses-

-Coalition to Stop the use of Child Soldiers. Headquarters are located in London

-UNICEF

-Human Rights Watch

-Church Mission Society pleads for prayer

African Responses-

-Fields of Life is an African initiative that serves refugees of the war

Poverty

American Responses-
www.one.org An organization with broad faith-based support that raises awareness and encourages Americans to advocate the government to do more for African poverty, hunger, and AIDS.

Spirituality

Here is an example of a church facing a daily battle.  Does this give you a picture of what it might take?

Greg and Mindy Yost are full time missionaries in East Africa.  There ministry has transformation written all over it.  Greg confronts withcdoctors and actively works against the sources of evil.

Africa Hope,  World Relief, and Dream for Africa are great examples of holistic ministry.  Holistic ministry is more than physical needs- it must also address spiritual need.

 Pastoral Training in action!

Dear Francis is one way a creative person used his creative skills to raise awareness.  His desire is that this film can be shown country-wide and in every church and promote awareness and movement.  Not everyone can go make a film, but the idea is that raising awareness is a huge way to take action.

 Media

Paul Crouch gives a wonderful example. He went to Africa and looked at the households and what they had in terms of media communication.  He then went to a satelite dealer and priced systems for these houses.  He found that each cost $250 and thus he purchased 5 systems for those families so that they too could hear and watch the Word of God.  As he took part he came back to the states and petitioned fellow clergy members to dig in their pockets, and purchase these systems so the families can see and hear about Christ.

Family Structures

Helping in the U.S.  and/or Globally-

Viva Network  This organization works with children around the globe by providing them with holistic care.
Cross-cultural Solutions allows people to short-term volunteer their skills (i.e. medical, psychological etc.) in another country.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep98/over.html is an article by the American Psychological Association (APA) that talks about being in conjunction with the above organization, Cross-cultural Solutions, (allowing people to go short-term to other countries to use their counseling skills to train and/or help local people.
Center for Third World Organizing; www.actingonaids.org; www.unaids.org; www.worldrelief.org; www.worldconcern.org; http://www.commissionforafrica.org/english/home/newsstories.html (Tony Blair and the UN's response); www.worldvision.org   

Africa focused/African based-
Global Democratic Citizens' Union takes an active stand against social problems by employing men and women who live in injustice and work to liberate. The "Microfinance for Youth Project" provides high school students in poverty-stricken areas an opportunity to battle poverty through microfinances. Specifically, the organization gives the student a small loan to start their own business.
Empowering Lives This agency focuses on East African countries. The approach is to first attempt to understand the culture through observation. Second, they empower the people by training them with beneficial skills pertinent to the society (i.e. agriculture). This organization seems to embody the call to empower the people while engaging the culture.
Oasis Africa
Again, this organization is commendable for emphasizing the caring for the minds of African people. This organization works with the "emotionally-impaired" people and trains people in Africa for trauma counseling.

http://www.orphancare.org.za/files/response.html

Genocide

I am totally convinced after this research that the best way to address solutions to African issues is via communication with other Africans.  "African solutions for African problems."  Support can be given to the African Union Troops, fighting with little support and subsequently inadequately against the rebels in Darfur.  South Sudanese Friends is an African founded, American based organization that exists to support Sudanese through their long history of civil war and violence.  A plethora of resources can be found by visiting my blog site.

Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress edited by Lawrence E. Harrision and Samuel P. Huntington. It is an intellectual reading that often challenges how Christians have done social transformation.

Walking with the Poor by Bryant L. Myers. Myers creates a practical approach of transformational development through principles and practices of holistic ministry while diligence with the biblical understanding of holistic mission. As a westerner he addresses the tensions that lie in social transformation in third world countries.

Good News About Injustice by Gary A. Haugen the founder and president of IJM (International Justice Mission). It is a mission minded book that engages with the injustices of suffering in the world from a Christian, biblical perspective. Gary Haugen writes of his experiences of dealing with such atrocities as the Rwandan genocide and the trafficking of young girls in Asia. This book serves as an encouragement in a world that may seem at times to evil to penetrate, but Haugen reminds us of God’s love for justice and spends a good amount of time engaging with hard questions of God and injustice in the world. This is a good book to read to understand God's heart for justice and the churches role within.

The Transfiguration of Mission: Biblical, Theological and historical Foundations edited by Wilbert R. Shenk (a fuller prof). Before we can create social transformation it is important to see how the mission of God has been working through history beginning with the bible and through church history. This book is a good book for us to get a theological grounding on transformational mission and challenges the way in which we have been doing missions. It is something to think about before we dive in.

Missional Church by Darrell Guder. This book challenges the local church to be involved. Although some of his theology is far to the right he successfully challenges and engages the church to be involved.

Transparency international is a non-government agency that addresses corruption globally. It's main emphases are to raise awareness, "advocate policy reform" etc. by working with different governments, businesses, agencies etc

*Within the John Templeton Foundation, this section focuses on reconciliation and forgiveness,specifically Archbishop Desmond Tutu's response.

Jesus and the Victory of God N.T Wright

Liberating News: A Theological of Contextual Evangelization by Orlando E. Costas. 

The Politics of Jesus by John Howard Yoder

Resources on Child Soldiers:

-Achvarina, Vera and Simon Rei Why do Children ‘Fight?’ Explaining Child Soldier Ratios in African Intrastate Conflict.   

-Anderson, Rory E, Fortunate Sewankambo, and Kathy V. Pawns of Politics: children, conflict and peace in northern Uganda.   

-Kilbourn, Phyllis ed. Children in Crisis: A New Commitment. Monrovia, CA: MARC Publ. and Healing the Children of War. Monrovia, CA: MARC Publ. 

-McDonald, Patrick Children at risk: Networks in action. Monrovia: MARC Publications.

-Child Soldiers Global Report 2004. United Nations (UN)

-Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Children. Impact of armed conflict on children.
-Amnesty International attempts to call the attention of the use of children as soldiers within the US.
-The Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children in Armed Conflict is a UN initiative to study, advocate and act as a facilitator for children in armed conflict.
-The UN addresses the concern of children soldiers and makes recommendation for future prevention.
-The Ugandan national recruitment legislation report and the political situation that allows for the situation.
-This is an important article that speak of the abuse of children as soldiers all over Africa. It is especially important because it engages with the use of girls in the military that are being used as sex slaves among many other things.
--Accounts of children's stories who have been used as child soldiers.
-Child Soldier 2004 global report.
-The Psycho-Social Support for war affected children in N. Uganda and what the coalition to stop the use of child soldiers has learned.

-Eldis has a collection of articles on children soldier, from corruption of gun sales in the west to the rebel groups, to abuse of girls, to psychological effects.

 "Where are all the men?" is an article from Christianity Today dealing with essentially the unbalanced gender roles in rural areas of Africa. It observes men's lack of contribution and how this leaves the women having to carry all the workload. The article makes the major observation and critiques how so many humanitarian groups from the West are targeting women.

 "Do men matter?" is a related topic, in that, it addresses the concern as to why men aren't equally addressed in gender and development policy. I found it applicable because perhaps part of the falleness/corruption that exists is a result of the emphasizing focus on women in rural Africa, as opposed to the men.

 J.Momsen, V.Kinnaird, eds. Different Places, Different Voices: Gender and Development in Africa, Asia and Latin America,London: Routledge, 1993. This is a book consisting of a collaboration of different authors, each chapter addressing a specific issue under the broad topic of the title. Some of the chapters are applicable to gender roles, specifically in Africa.

Roosevelt, A.C. “Gender in Human Evolution." Pursuit of Gender: Worldwide Archaeological Approaches. Ed. Sarah Milledge and Myriam Rosen-Ayalon. Oxford: Alta Mira Press,2002. Pp. 355-61 

"How gender roles influence sexual and reproductive health among South African adolescents," Stud Fam Plann. 2003 Sep;34(3):160-72.  This article examines links between gender roles and the social impact of adolescent childbearing in the lives of rural and urban adolescents in a specific region of .

Afonja, Simi, "Changing Patterns of Gender Stratification in West Africa," Persistent Equalities:Women and World Development, ed. Irene Tinker (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 198-209.

Amaidume, Ifi, Male daughters, Female Husbands, (London, Zed Books Ltd., 1987).

Amadiume, Ifi & Abdullahi An-Na'im, The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing & Social Justice (London: Zed Books, 2000)

Larbi, Madonna Owusuah, "New Gender Perspectives for the Millennium: Challenges and Successful Models of North-South Collaboration," West Africa Review, vol. 2, no. 1 (August 2000)

These last four resources are written from an African perspective (being that the authors are native). These also may be applicable because they all brush on the subject of the fallennes in gender roles in Africa.

                Final Exhortation             

Churches and Jesus-followers operate within a world that suffers from fallenness: in systems, structures and individual lives.  Jesus followers have a responsibility to be agents of change within these fallen pieces of the world, first by attempting recognize what is corrupted, and then acting to transform and redeem them.

What are some responses for Jesus followers?

1) Awareness.  Share these what you learn with others, encourage others to care, pray and process this information.
2) ACT.  Plug in to some form of engagement with the issues in Africa.  For some, it may be advocacy, for others short or long term mission, for others yet, it’s preaching on the issues.
3) Engage – more than once.   Build a meaningful relationship with Africa and Africans. 
4) Listen for what God is moving you to do next.

And through all of this – pray!

The issues listed above are all areas in which the church can and should be engaged.  By no means is it an exhaustive list.  We hope that by browsing you encouraged to learn more and do more.  For more information visit www.jesuswiki.com.