The recent images of men, women and children starving in the Horn of Africa tell a painful story of famine and suffering. How does a nation recover from a devastating food crisis? To find out, Chip Duncan and Salim Amin returned to a Ethiopia, to a place where famine caused a massive death toll over 25 years ago. What they discovered was surprising and hopeful. In partnership with One, they created a documentary showing the contrast between 1984 and present-day Tigray. Read their words below, view a preview and watch their powerful short film. << click on link for VIDEO
In Somalia, innocent people are dying needless deaths due to a famine driven by politics and war. Those who are dying need our help and our voice.
Drought is a challenge faced by people around the world. Climate change is now making droughts more common and less predictable. But drought shouldn’t equal famine. Famine is the outcome of poor infrastructure, corrupt governments and warring factions who choose to use food as a weapon.
During our recent work in Ethiopia, we had a chance to revisit the site of the 1984 famine. Our film uses footage and stills from that famine to remind us of the suffering and of its causes. Our story also chronicles the policies and infrastructure put in place during the last two decades to build sustainable agriculture. Water retention systems, irrigation, improved transportation systems, terraced farming, training programs, improved seeds and fertilizers – this is the new legacy in Tigray Province. It’s a story worth sharing so people everywhere can promote small scale agriculture while motivating governments to make similar investments in the future.
Chip Duncan Director, “The Untold Story”
I made a journey following the footsteps of my father from 25 years ago. When Mohamed Amin made that journey a quarter of a century ago, he never imagined it was one that would change his life forever. He had covered every major story in Africa over four decades, but nothing prepared him for what he saw in Korem in October 1984.
A famine of biblical proportions, with more than 5 million people on the verge of starvation. A famine that was, to a large extent, man-made. The ruler of Ethiopia at the time, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu, was using the famine as a tool to suppress the rebel movement that was rising against his brutal regime from the north of the country. He didn’t want the world to know this famine existed.
The pictures that my father shot on the plains of Korem changed his life and changed the world. They prompted the greatest single act of charity of the 20th century and saved the lives of millions of Ethiopians. After this story, he changed the way he looked at news coverage. He cared for the first time in his life and did everything he could to keep the story in the headlines. Those images were amongst the most powerful and iconic images in television history.
I was expecting to see Korem still reeling from the effects of that massive famine. It takes generations to repair that kind of damage, but I was in for a shock. I went in with the best TV production team I had ever worked with, and what we saw stunned us all! A massive drought is taking hold of the Horn of Africa once again, but Korem and Tigray Province is an oasis of crops. Irrigation schemes that have been put in place over the last decade. There’s also a new awareness of the types of crops to grow and how to market and sell them for the best prices; and new resilient seeds have all transformed a community from being “takers” to being “providers”.
The farmers of Tigray Province have proved that drought doesn’t have to equal famine, and smart aid can work.
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about abortion, jobs, guns, our debt/deficit religious freedom and more seem to be just lying in wait while some Republicans have edged over the cliff to bring up these topics now. Those on the extreme right who belong to the birther crowd and getting more airplay are demanding or questioning the validity of our President’s birth place while demanding people stay out of their personal lives. Both factions are odd and offensive … just sayin
Is it just me or is “this do as we say not as we do” Political Party of NO have your blood-boiling like mine because as the comments, complaints and vile talk about our President’s background, history and earlier behavior became major topics of discussion on the airwaves crops back up. The same people who call themselves Republicans, Tea party members and or Conservatives continue to feel they are above the questions and cannot be held accountable, questioned or treated just like the President. These same people have accused President Obama of withholding information from the public yet they get offended when asked to provide more information please because they are running for public office. I feel their constituents deserve to know, the public and Americans deserve to know how these people will vote on issues of religion…will their beliefs dictate to how the vote and impact our constitutional rights.
If you are listening and are paying attention conservatives and some conservadems are pushing the discussion of women’s rights, religion, race and gender preference up to the surface to rile their base again and leading up to the 2012 the talk will become even more vitriolic. I have to say how confusing it is to hear conservatives, mostly southern men still having a need to control women, their bodies, our healthcare needs, and our rights in the year 2011/2012.
It’s bad enough that women on the Republican side mostly extreme tea party members say they are fiscal conservatives and want less government in their(our) lives yet topics like abortion, stem cell research/experiments and religious freedom have them not just flustered but their undies are in full bunch mode. I could not vote for anyone let alone a woman who feels I have no right to choose because they are pro-life. I am pro-life but people …women and families should have the right it choose alternative options. The fact is no one chooses to have an abortion just because and if nothing else having a safe procedure is better than having a woman be desperate enough to take actions that would put her life at risk. I happen to feel strongly that the notion of “It is my body” is has been pushed aside and The Hyde amendment should be enough for folks on the right and or left to accept as the law of the land though more laws banning abortion creates more babies, families with more need more poor. I also wonder if as one conservative woman said… the need for babies to adopt is great and banning abortion could create the environment for parents who want to adopt…. What? My first thought was these people say they are pro-life, against anchor babies yet they want to implement some sort of baby factory for American families, which is so odd for a Political Party with that Family Values Platform they seem to live by. It always makes me want to scream hey, stay out of my life and like others I am sounding off the alarm because they will be working on making it harder for women to have the right to choose . We must all ask how many in Congress will support the good’ole days and back up these archiac bills . Though we are in 21st Century the ideology is barbaric and because the old school dogma crosses the line, it solidifies how elitist the comments and behavior from Republicans as of late. If you live under a Republican State or conservative ideology, which promotes a class system, that feels they want government out of their lives but not the people they represent or practices systematic discrimination or blatant hate, you should think about the impact repealing, replacing and eliminating will have on his or her own families, friend’s co-workers. The idea that some Republicans want to go back to a time when women and people of colour had no rights sounds silly but before you laugh, take some time and listen closely.
just when I thought, we were all moving into the 21st century
The Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) league — home to World Cup stars like Hope Solo and Abby Wombach — could be completely disbanded. Change.org members and fans around the country have just 4 days to save it.
The US Soccer Federation, the governing body for the sport in America, is planning to withdraw it’s top accreditation from the league for having fewer than 6 teams (two recently shut down because of financial hardship during the recession, though expansion is expected next year).
If US Soccer strips the WPS of its “Division 1” status, the league loses key support and credibility, almost undoubtedly leading to full collapse.
Alex Sahlen, a defender for the Western New York Flash, is feverishly trying to save her sport, and her petition on Change.org has already attracted 10,000 signatures. But with US Soccer making a final decision on December 5th, there are just days remaining to amp up the pressure.
US Soccer’s stated mission is to “make soccer a preeminent sport in the United States,” so they are very sensitive to public opinion. If 20,000 of us stand with Alex, we can make sure the governing body knows that a key part of that goal is making sure that women’s soccer thrives.
Abby, Hope, Alex, and the players, coaches, and owners of the WPS know that building a women’s sports league during a recession is an uphill climb. But the fan base is slowly building, and new TV contracts may be on the way. The league could still fail, but it’s up to you to help give them a fighting chance.
Click here to sign Alex’s petition to save the Women’s Professional Soccer league:
Be a Seed for Change 
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