Looking for an Awake article

by Tina 16 Replies latest jw friends

  • Tina
    Tina

    Greetings all!
    Can anyone please help me out here?
    Some time ago there was an Awake article about humanitarian aid in Africa. I remember making a post after reading it. I can't locate the mag. This mag is fairly recent. Last year or so.
    This article had a pic of a vehicle w/ the WTS logo on it. It was on an African road.
    What burned into my mind(that caused me to make a public comment) is that while the article boasted about providing aid, it specifically mentioned this aid vehicle looking for JW's only!!!
    I do rememebr commenting how cold and cruel as that indicated they passed up women children elderly,ill who were NOt claiming to be JW's.
    Anybody remember this one? And I wonder if this can be tied in w/ AidAfrique??? Thanks in advance.Tina

    Jehovahs Witnesses,Proudly Serving Their Corporate Masters!

  • Kent
    Kent

    I didn't find the material you are looking for, Tina - but I did find this:

    *** g87 3/8 6 Why Can't Africa Feed Itself? ***
    The humanitarian motive behind development aid is questioned by many. “Far from aid being charity,” state the authors of the book Famine: A Man-Made Disaster?, “donor countries are getting a bargain. . . . The influence and economic opportunities that both West and East get from aid is cheap at the price.” Development aid has contributed to Africa’s staggering $175,000,000,000 debt.

    *** g87 6/8 27 Who Can Silence the 'Cry of Hunger'? ***
    “At the same time that the outside world gives with one hand, it takes with the other,” states Famine: A Man-Made Disaster?, a report for the Independent Commission on International Humanitarian Issues. “Donor governments,” it continues, “should harbour no illusions. Far from aid being charity, donor countries are getting a bargain.” Why? Because donor countries often get much in return for such aid. Africa, explains the British journal The Ecologist, “remains a major source of supply of crops that we consume daily in the UK. . . . [It] is also a major producer of rubber, cotton, tropical hardwoods, and is increasingly developed as a source of cattle, vegetables and fresh flowers.”

    *** yb00 15-17 Highlights of the Past Year ***
    When civil war in Angola escalated once again during 1999, this resulted in more than 1,700,000 refugees. The brothers have worked diligently to help fellow Witnesses who became refugees, along with many others, to have the basic necessities of life. The 34 tons of food and clothing that were sent from the Italy, Portugal, and South Africa branches were distributed to those who had to abandon both their homes and their cities. It was even possible to get some of these supplies into war zones where bombing has continued for months.
    As the service year began, the Congo (Kinshasa) branch notified the Governing Body that in the aftermath of civil war, the branch was in need of relief supplies to assist over 200,000 people. Immediate arrangements were made for the branches in Britain, Belgium, France, Switzerland, and South Africa to ship food and provide funds for purchasing additional supplies in other African countries. More than 75 tons of humanitarian aid were gathered and sent by air from Jehovah’s Witnesses in Europe.
    But the fighting in Congo was not over. New crises developed. On February 7, 1999, the following announcement regarding the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo was made to the Bethel family at the world headquarters in New York: “Due to the civil war, 30,000 publishers in the East of the country are dependent on relief. The branch office in Kinshasa is unable to contact these brothers due to the war. However, the Governing Body has approved for Belgium to bring relief by air. The first flight is during this week and a second mission will start on February 20. With the second mission a medical team will be sent.” The brothers from Europe worked along with 11 officially appointed relief committees made up of Jehovah’s Witnesses in East Congo.
    Some of the refugees had fled to nearby countries. Thousands had gone into neighboring Zambia. There relief agencies provided much help; the Witnesses supplemented this with blankets, clothing, and cooking and farming utensils. When one aged brother received a blanket, he fainted. He had never before been given a new blanket that would be his own. As a circuit overseer headed for Zambia, he found a disabled brother under a tree. The circuit overseer loaded him onto his bicycle and pushed it. When the hills were too steep, the brother would get off, and with patches of tire tied to his knees and hands, he would exert himself to move forward on all fours until they got to the top. Eventually, they arrived safely in Kaputa, Zambia. There the branch supplied all with literature in Swahili to use at their congregation meetings. In April, at a meeting with more than 2,000 of these refugees, brothers from the branch office gave loving spiritual encouragement. And the refugees—both adults and children—most of them without songbooks, sang with all their hearts such songs as “Jehovah, Provider of Escape,” “Jehovah Is Our Refuge,” “We Thank You, Jehovah,” and “God’s Promise of Paradise.”

    *** yb98 44-5 Letting the Light Shine ***
    One way that we publicly demonstrate goodwill toward our neighbors is by our active involvement in relief efforts during times of disaster. For example, for people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), a team, all of whom are Jehovah’s Witnesses, organized humanitarian aid in 1997. With the help of thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Belgium, France, and Switzerland, refugees were supplied with tons of food, clothing, vitamin products, and medicine, as well as 18,500 pairs of shoes and 1,000 blankets, all of which was airlifted to Africa. The value of the supplies provided totaled nearly $1 million (U.S.). These supplies were sent primarily as a gift to Jehovah’s Witnesses, but they were also shared with others.—Gal. 6:10.
    The France branch was assisted in the preparation of a brochure containing details about this activity. The brochure was distributed to government officials and members of the news media, acquainting them with examples of what Jehovah’s Witnesses were doing in a positive and practical way to provide assistance to people in need. A number of officials expressed sincere appreciation for this information. They were impressed especially by what was done to ensure that the supplies would be received by those in need and would be distributed in an equitable manner.

    *** g98 5/8 28 Watching the World ***
    The World Council of Churches (WCC), with 330 member churches, has “called for an end to ‘competitive’ attempts by some churches to poach new members from other churches,” reports the ENI Bulletin. The WCC “specifically criticises the use of ‘humanitarian aid’ in developing countries . . . to influence the poor, lonely and uprooted to change their denominational allegiance.” Guidelines were offered to distinguish between an ‘acceptable witness to the Gospel and unacceptable proselytism.’

    *** g93 9/22 20 World Government-Is the United Nations the Answer? ***
    “The United Nations and its various organizations have been so monstrously negligent and incompetent that they have played almost no role at all in alleviating Somalia’s misery.”
    The report also charged that some UN officials have been implicated in diversions of food aid, embezzlement of humanitarian assistance, fraudulent procurement, black-marketing, and currency-exchange manipulation. UN investigators found evidence of such fraud in no fewer than seven African countries.

    *** g92 10/8 13 Shantytowns-Hard Times in the Urban Jungle ***
    Why do the prosperous nations not do more to help? Discussing the impact of aid on poverty, the World Bank’s Development Report admits: “Bilateral donors [accounting for 64 percent of all foreign aid] . . . provide aid for many reasons—political, strategic, commercial, and humanitarian. Reducing poverty is only one motive, and it is usually far from the most important.”

    *** g87 3/8 6 Why Can't Africa Feed Itself? ***
    The humanitarian motive behind development aid is questioned by many. “Far from aid being charity,” state the authors of the book Famine: A Man-Made Disaster?, “donor countries are getting a bargain. . . . The influence and economic opportunities that both West and East get from aid is cheap at the price.” Development aid has contributed to Africa’s staggering $175,000,000,000 debt.

  • Tina
    Tina

    ((((((kent)))))))
    Thanks! Of course this all helps,and Ill be printing it out to add to my personal folder.
    I noticed in the other AidAfrique thread,it ws mentioned they do this work without making religious distictions. And that is in direct contradiction to the Awake article I'm seeking. The glaring statement'looking for JW's' imprinted itself in my mind,thats why I didnt forget that particular article.
    I'm gonna go thru my stack here at home again. It has to be from the beginning of this year,or towards the end of the last one.
    Thanks for all the data! luv,T

    Jehovahs Witnesses,Proudly Serving Their Corporate Masters!

  • Kent
    Kent

    Unfortunately my CD only includes up to 1999 :(

    But, I hope someone can scan that article and send it to me!

  • Celtic
    Celtic

    Tina

    I did two years of fairly specific research upon relief efforts abroad, in all that time, I never came across the society mentioned even once by other ngo's and faith based organisations.

    Will look for that article for you tomorrow sometime and will let you know in the evening (sat)

    Take a look at www.reliefweb.net

    peace

    celtic

  • Tina
    Tina

    Hi celtic,
    Thanks. This article was just them crowing about themselves(per usual) lol Much appreciated,hugs,t

    Jehovahs Witnesses,Proudly Serving Their Corporate Masters!

  • outnfree
    outnfree

    Tina,

    I have most of the mags from last year and this...
    I will look, too.

    outnfree

    Par dessus toutes choses, soyez bons. La bonte est ce qui ressemble le plus a Dieu et ce qui desarme le plus les hommes -- Lacordaire

  • outnfree
    outnfree

    Tina,

    Just noticed you made Emperor (Empress?) recently.
    Congrats, hon'!

    outnfree

    Par dessus toutes choses, soyez bons. La bonte est ce qui ressemble le plus a Dieu et ce qui desarme le plus les hommes -- Lacordaire

  • Tina
    Tina

    (((out)))))))0
    I didnt notice that lolol.
    Thank you for helping out here! I described the pic,hoping it would jog a memory(as it's burned into mine lol)
    Very much appreciated here!! luv,T

    Jehovahs Witnesses,Proudly Serving Their Corporate Masters!

  • Thirdson
    Thirdson

    Here's something about AidAfrique:

    A Call to Action

    Immediately, we took emergency action. We brought money and medicine, and purchased food, though in limited quantity. More than thirteen tons of help (medicine, blankets, vitamin products) were sent to Kigali, Rwanda, from Belgium and now wait to cross the border to be distributed. We organized the distribution of what we had. In Goma, this took place at the Kingdom Hall. Just as in the past, care was given to cholera victims. People received rice, beans and oil according to the size of their family.

    Waiting was sometimes long. More often than not, it was the women who waited, sitting on the black pumice floor in their brightly-colored garments. They protected themselves from the intense sun under red, yellow or blue umbrellas. Sometimes, with their beautiful voices they would sing hymns. They spoke to Joseline, about their problems–of the too-frequent pregnancies that they do not know how to prevent. The distribution of food completed, we watched emotionally as the last woman left–beautiful, upright, her child wrapped in her garment on her back. She departed with a large packet of rice in the shape of a pumpkin on her head, a yellow tin containing three liters of oil in one hand, a blue bucket filled with a few precious goods in the other.

    Anton, a young Swiss doctor, and Pierre, a graying French nurse, give essential medical help. Anton examines the sick either in private homes, such as the hotel waiter's home, or more often in the Kingdom Hall. Over a period of five days, he gave 400 consultations. For this also, the wait was long. The many children show what for us Europeans is remarkable patience. We have the needed medicine to treat common infections and money donated by the assemblies of Jehovah's Witnesses from Belgium, France and Switzerland to have more thorough care carried out. One example highlights the terrible consequences of our friends' destitute state. One man broke his leg. Nobody had the money for him to be treated so he went without treatment. When we were finally able to give the necessary money, the leg was infected and had to be amputated.

    Our activity was often hindered by difficulties particular to the region. Distances are vast and lines of communication almost non-existent. The best form of travel, if not the only one, is the airplane. Often we used the H.C.R.'s (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) planes. Administrative formalities also held us up. Just getting a pass to go from one town to the next was quite a business. It was only granted for a limited period. The dispatching of our cargo suffered delays which the urgency of the situation made painful. However, we did not come up against an uncooperative spirit in our area. Once we convinced the authorities of the purely voluntary nature of our mission, they were quite cooperative. Claude met a senior official for the region's security. Interested in our activity he facilitated our work

    For the Full article in English go to:

    ( http://www.temoinsdejehovah.org/aides_caritatives/aidafrique/actions/mission/eng/mission1.htm

    I like this quote the best. This the first WTS run relief agency andthey can now claim"

    The relief effort by Jehovah's Witnesses in Europe in behalf of the Zairians is a small part of a larger work of community service that Witnesses have performed in the past century. Jehovah's Witnesses are members of a worldwide Christian religion that has been active in Europe for about a century. Worldwide, they have helped many victims of natural disasters, hunger, famine, and war crimes.

    'To avoid criticism, say nothing, do nothing, be nothing'

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