Africa, A beautifull nation, with ugly issues

Africa is one of the largest landmass's on the planet, it houses over 52 seperate countrys, and is populated With more than 900,000,000 people.
Africa has or currently exports almost every known mineral and natural resource.
Africa in its self provides the rest of the world with what it needs to survive,

Im going to show you Six words, some people will know all six most will know three, others possibly none

1. Lusaka, 2. Dakar, 3. Abuja / 4. Freetown 5. Mogadishu 6. Niamey,

Numbers 4-6 are the capital cities of countrys that have been destroyed by Civil war because of religion or greed from the the gouvernment and the rest of the free world..

Taking number 4,

Freetown is the capital city of Sierra leone,
On January 6th 1999 in the middle of the conflict diamond epademic the rebel group RUF stormed the capital shooting in to crowds of unarmed people,

The military not knowing who was a rebel and who was civilian did the same
and as a result the city was destroyed and burned bu nightfall,
had the ECOMOG listened to reports that this was going to happen, they may have stood a chance of defense.

Up to a quarter of the RUF rebels that fought that day were under 16 years old, manipulated in to believing that because they hold an AK - 47 they are men and respect lies within thier trigger finger, and of course there was no capture and rehabilitation.. they were simply shot on sight by military troops.

The RUF had gained control over most of the city opening prisons and releasing criminals and rebels back into the streets.In the days that followed ECOMOG and hired mercenaries from south africa fought to regain control in one of the bloodiest uprising the Capital and country had ever seen.

Thousends of inocent people including international journalists lost their lives...

The diamonds

Both the RUF and the governmant wanted to control the ever growing diamond trade that had gripped Sierra Leone, Because of huge intrest from the rest of the world and the cost that they were been sold at, non official forms of slavery were setup, the RUF captured able men and women from villages and they were forced to work in and around the diamond mines If any said no or tried to run they were tortured or shot.. or both.

In the Free world Pressure was applied to all that had affiliations with the exported diamonds because of growing concerns that the trade was fueling the conflict raging in Seirra leone.
On The 5th of July 2000 the security council adopted a ban on all imports of diamonds from Seirra Leone, that were not directly traded by the governmant in the attempt to stop arms trading to Rebel forces such as the RUF.

Other countrys that followed the same or similar Conflict diamond issues
are Liberia, Angola, and the D.R of Congo

From what i have written about, this is one country in Africa.
Take your pick of others.. Darfur, Somalia, Niger, Rwanda... to name a few..
it makes me wonder if only giving three pounds a month can really make a difference..

Maybe next time you see a diamond you will think "did someone loose their arm, maybe even their life for that poxy stone?" as it may have come from a conflict area... consumers can insist on proof that it isnt a conflict diamond.

Due to greed and poverty sustained by the free world Afirca will never be right despite those who intend to help.
Although treties and policys have been signed
these : still get traded for these :
and untill this stops places like Sierra Leone (although stable currently) will never see peace.

I wrote this just to inform people of the kind of things that happen and maybe people will see how dire the African situation is becoming,
sorry if ive bored anyone lol,

Apologies for the poor speeling and grammer as i am hung over,
all writing was by me with references from information sites

"it makes me wonder if only giving three pounds a month can really make a difference.."

Well, seeing as it's estimated that less than 1/10th of that money will reach the people who need it (as the vast majority of the food, tools, livestock, etc. it is converted into will be conviscated by the corrupt regimes and sold on the black market at a huge profit), I'd say no, it won't make much difference and there are plenty of places in the world that you could send your £3 to where it would do more good. Makes me sound like a ***t, I know, but I'm not advocating not giving. I'm just suggesting that per pound the money could be better spent in other parts of the world.

Africa, is a continent...

Originally Posted by Ceri JC

"it makes me wonder if only giving three pounds a month can really make a difference.."

Well, seeing as it's estimated that less than 1/10th of that money will reach the people who need it (as the vast majority of the food, tools, livestock, etc. it is converted into will be conviscated by the corrupt regimes and sold on the black market at a huge profit), I'd say no, it won't make much difference and there are plenty of places in the world that you could send your £3 to where it would do more good. Makes me sound like a ***t, I know, but I'm not advocating not giving. I'm just suggesting that per pound the money could be better spent in other parts of the world.

Agreed, seems to be a huge waste of time, so what can you do? As from my othere thread... if i had millions of mulahh.. id make a difference to people that need help..

Originally Posted by Razor

Africa, is a continent...

Yes it is.

I despair about Africa. Why is it that, with few exceptions, Africans never seem able to help themselves? Constant civil wars, famine, corruption, Bob Geldof did a terrific job back in 1984, but in reality what has changed? And where do all these guns come from? And where does the money come from to buy them?

It's such a tragic waste.

And if the guns weren't there - oh, the arms trade absolutely stinks.

[quote=Ed;1307542]Iwhere does the money come from to buy them?
quote]

Exported items.. such as diamonds and made okay by corrupt officials
i spoke to a lady from nigeria who said the same "why cant these african people help them selves" she explained that people can only help the civilians so much, they need to help themselves

My best friend is Zimbabwian by birth. His old man is back out there living and working there at the moment. We were having a discussion at a dinner party (probably 50:50 brits/africans). Remarkably, the overriding feeling of the Africans was that Africa needs to sort its problems with regimes out before the rest of the world help them with other matters such as famine. One thought that they needed the west to invade a la Iraq, whereas another thought that there was no reason the people of Africa couldn't (shouldn't?) displace these despots themselves.

Nigeria is the home of some of the biggest scammers and swindlers known to man. It is not all about officialdom and governments.

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

Nigeria is the home of some of the biggest scammers and swindlers known to man. It is not all about officialdom and governments.

what is it about then?

Originally Posted by lylej

what is it about then?

I dunno mate this seems to be your mission not mine. The comment made about Nigeria was based on info I have read.

Possibly more importantly Rwanda has recently been claimed a major success,(remember it was in dire straits not too long ago?) Maybe some of the other countries should take a look at what they are doing.

I can't accept that the diamond mines of South Africa are the root of all Africa's problems either.

There are innocent people with almost no hope in life over there and feel sorry for that. But it really is time these nations began to take control of their own destiny.

My apoogies if my response does not carry the level of sympathy you hoped for.