UN Peacekeepers and Aid Workers Abusing Children

You know some days I feel like Neo in the movie, The Matrix. You take that red pill one day and see the world as you have never seen it before. Not that we don't have our share of chronicling Satan's handiwork, but this just was so sad to think about .. Aid workers and "peaces keepers who are supposed to be HUMANITARIAN soliciting sexual favors for food:

Children as young as 6 have been forced to have sex with aid workers and peacekeepers in return for food and money, Save the Children UK said in a report released Tuesday....CNN

There is no panacea, but I've realized that the only way women and girls anywhere can truly be free is be financially independent. That doesn't mean rich, but in many places in the world, that means being able to eat on occasion. $2.80 and some chocolate. and I was complaining about $3 gas.
IF this story makes you angry or sad and you feel an overwhelming urge to DO something, you might want to investigate groups like Heifer International. They don't just come in and give aid and leave the local community begging for more, they work on sustainable development with microloans and microbusinesses that allow women to be entrepreneurs so that they can end the cycle of abject poverty that leaves their children vulnerable to this kind of exploitation in exchange for food.

Comments

[Veronica]

How many times do we need to hear that this is happening? Gawd damn fuck!! THis makes me question the existence of the Goddess or any deity that is essentially good.

[lena]

yes, it is very sad that the people who claim to want to help are actually going over to do harm. i travelled overseas to do humanitarian work in 2006 and saw how some volunteers were not truly there to do good work, but to "date the locals", "get laid", or to get an exotic "vacation" before having to go back to American corporate jobs.

I also have known of people who used their time in such organization as the Peace Corps to do drugs or purposefuly insult/make-fun-of the local people. They truly are only overseas for their own entertainment and don't care who they hurt, not in the name of humanitarianism, global exchange, or philanthropy. It is shameful.

But there are still many, many good people doing good, sustainable work internationally and I just wanted to add another to the org you mentioned:

Please check out "10,000 Girls", started in Senegal by Viola Vaughn, an African American mother. She is a graduate of Hampton U. and Columbia U. and has a wonderful story of why she went to Senegal to educate at-risk girls and to help them gain economic independence thru entrepreneurship.

The official website:
http://www.10000girls.org/

CNN Featured Ms. Vaughn: http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/10/heroes.vaughn/index.html

[Undercover Black Man]

Gina, I hope you don't mind me using this space to wish you a Happy Anniversary.

[faith]

Where is the oversight? We need to be able to monitor these people. Wherever there are vulnerable women and children the devil is right there to tempt people into doing harm. Does the peace corp - or any of these organizations - do psych evaluations to weed out the troublemakers? I think some policy changes are necessary.

[g-e-m2001]

I think the "oversight" would be Black mothers who are able to care for themselves and feed their children thus making them less vulnerable to exploitation. I th9ink protection from Black children is going to have to come from their mothers. There is no institution or organization that can replace the role of the family unit and when your family is unable to provide the basic human needs, then you are extremely vulnerable to predators of all types.

[MarilynJean]

Oversight can't be the sole burden of the mothers, especially when the mothers themselves are being raped and exploited as well. I agree with faith that we need better screening of international aid workers and peacekeepers.

[rozlips]

In our family we give gifts to heifer.org in lieu of Christmas and birthday presents. After all, none of us really need any more crap.

Economic empowerment to individuals is really the only way. Women who have their own income are able to educate their children and protect them from exploitation. There are other groups doing microloans as well.