Professor D.F. Coye
The editor of Red Tears
When I first met Dawit in New Jersey in 1986 I was of course aware of the Ethiopian famine from all the publicity around the Live Aid concerts. I had seen images of the victims on TV, but like most young Americans did not dwell on these “African problems.” The Situation was tragic, but we had seen the Biafran children in 1968, and donation requests from charities with images of hungry children were common. Africa was always hungry. We would nod our heads in approval when our government sent some grain, and maybe at Christmas, we would give a few dollars to Save the Children, and then it was on to the next thing in our lives.
Only when I began to edit Dawit’s exposé, Red Tears, did the depth of the Ethiopian crisis hit home. Reading his account was like having a movie camera first focus on a single starving little girl, then move back slowly so that you realize she is one of hundreds, no thousands, no millions of victims! A sea of humanity, all with no hope of food, no future except to watch their loved ones suffer and die. The horror turns to anger as the book unfolds: the callous arrogance of the Ethiopian regime, the apparent willingness of the West to stand by, watching a communist regime in trouble as thousands died every day.
The Great Famine opened our eyes to a world we had never imagined could be so cruel. But what have we learned from this tragedy? Unfortunately, as the saying goes, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Forty years later some lessons have not been learned.
The first lesson is that there will always be droughts and famine, not just in Africa but around the world. The Amazon Basin dried up this year, and the Horn of Africa has once again been suffering from extended drought and conflict. It can happen anywhere, and donor countries must be prepared to offer help immediately.
The second lesson is that droughts are natural, but famines are created by people. Emergency food may be available, but governments have to be ready to deliver it. In some cases, food has been used as a weapon. Withholding it will punish an opposing army, but those who suffer most are always civilians. The recent war in Tigray, the current war in Sudan, and Islamist movements everywhere create chaos in food Production and delivery that ultimately leads to Starvation, especially of children. It’s like the Judgment of Solomon gone awry: both would-be “mothers” would rather see the child they claim torn to pieces than give in to their rival. A true “parent” would make peace on any terms to save her children.
The metaphor breaks down because there is no Solomon able to justly award the children to the “real mother” who will nurture them and make sure they are safe. The impetus for a just Solution and a better life for children must come from the rival leaders themselves, perhaps from the faiths that will guide them to the road to peace and prosperity, and away from the misery that war creates. Toxic leadership haunts the world, men and women who want power for power’s sake and are loathe to give it up, who fan the flames of ethnic division, who allow corrupt officials to steal from funds that should be used to improve their people’s lives. Enlightened leadership is desperately needed in these dark corners of the world.
The third lesson is, when food runs out, people will move en masse to where they can get it. In 1984 half a million Ethiopians left the country and 2.5 million were internally displaced. Today, it’s not just famine, it’s much larger than that. It’s the inability to survive where you were born and raised for many reasons: drought, famine, bandits, war, oppression, no work. It should be no surprise that when people live where there is no hope, no future, they will try to move to a better place. This is why so many immigrants have flooded the Americas and Europe resulting in the rise of Nativist Political movements. The world seems woefully unprepared to handle this.
An accident of birth dooms some to live in places where survival is difficult. What should we do for them? In 1984 there was an unprecedented outpouring of giving. Today there is compassion Fatigue. Even so, the choices now are clear. When people cannot live in their home countries, we can build a fortress to keep them out, devise plans to let them in or help them where they live.
It is so baffling that so many of those in America who think of themselves as Christians have rushed to support a party that wants to slam the door shut on refugees and who seem unaware that Jesus condemns those who turn their backs on the needy:
“For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in….Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
The 1984 famine took the world by surprise. We cannot wait and react only when the next crisis hits. We need plans now for what we know lies ahead. If anything is Written in the book of fate, it is that the world cannot go on as it has with some nations enjoying a high standard of living while others live in squalor on the edge of Starvation. Unless some determined minds come up with some way to help those who are most in need around the world, their misery will lead to even more mass Migration, social unrest, and Political upheaval than we have already seen.
What would a good plan look like?
A good plan would include facing the reality that climate change brings: more droughts, more floods, more hurricanes, more insect pests, and more man-made disasters. Relief plans must be prepared and ready for deployment everywhere. We also need better plans to improve the standard of living in every country as a way of Preventing Migration. And we need clear, humane policies for refugees who need to flee for safety. A good plan would also include Population control. There is a finite amount of room to grow food, and freshwater is also limited.
Even the best plans will be worthless unless leaders are willing to put them in place. We saw in 1984 what toxic leadership can bring, and we see it today in news from all over the globe. Every country needs leaders who are willing to listen to criticism to allow fair elections, who do not demand loyalty to themselves, to a party, to their army, or a faith, but rather to the well-being of the people. Everyone in a leadership role today and those who want to lead in the future should be thinking about their legacy, asking themselves, will people revere me as a wise, selfless leader, someone like Julius Nyerere, or will they spit on my grave?
Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com
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