Every year I write a special note regarding Thanksgiving. I think it is always good to examine our national myths as well as our national realities. And, as I indicated during my recent comments on Columbus Day, my thoughts regarding America's foundation myths have been recently affected both by my realization that my own family never would have survived had America not existed as a haven, and by the realization, reading about King Leopold II of Belgium's genocidal regime in the Congo, that the effects of colonialism on the natives of a nation for centuries after that colonial regime ends. But this year I have more hopeful thoughts at Thanksgiving, after the election, than I did at Columbus Day, before the election. The hope of the election reminds me of the real intention behind Thanksgiving, separate from its myth and its reality.

First off, one thing that Americans seldom consider is that Thanksgiving is an ambiguous holiday when viewed objectively. I, like most of us, love Thanksgiving because it is essentially our main feasting holiday, the day we all get together with friends and eat as much good food as we can stuff into our bloated bellies. But Thanksgiving, like Columbus Day, has two basic messages beyond the excuse to eat lots of food. The first, and most commonly recognized, meaning is a celebration of key events that led to our nation’s founding. We celebrate those who made our life today possible. Many of us have a particular reason to celebrate these holidays because without the founding of the United States, our families would not exist. I come from a family whose roots go back to Jewish communities in Germany and Lativia. We came to the United States early in the 1900’s, escaping one of many waves of anti-Jewish attacks in Europe. We came to the US and succeeded. Those of my family who remained in Germany or Latvia would almost certainly not have survived World War II. German and Latvian Jews were largely exterminated in the Holocaust. So in a very real way, I owe my life to the events celebrated (in almost mythical form) on Columbus Day and Thanksgiving. Without these events, the United States may never have been founded and my family may have had no place to go and we would have been exterminated. These holidays represent the opportunity given many of our families to find better, safer lives apart from the Old World prejudices.  read more »

In a GOTV email from Howard Dean, he outlines the values that the Democratic Party stands for. And they represent what I stand for and these are the reasons why I am a Democrat. As I have said before, it is not a lack of ideas that is the problem with the Democratic Party. It is a lack of unity in achieving those ideas. Here is a list of Democratic Values according to Howard Dean (and I agree):

Honest Leadership & Open Government
We will end the Republican culture of corruption and restore a government as good as the people it serves.

Real Security & A New Direction in Iraq
We will protect Americans at home and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens and our allies, and we will heed the advice of our commanders on the ground and force a change in the failed Republican strategy in Iraq.

Energy Independence & Lower Gas Prices
We will create a cleaner, greener and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, eliminating billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and developing energy alternatives.

More Jobs, Better Pay & College Access for Everyone
We will create jobs that stay in America, raise the minimum wage, and open the doors to college for every American.  read more »

In my last article on this topic, I reintroduced KIVA and showed how 1.) what they do really can help create successful small businesses in East Africa and how those businesses help the community in which they exist, and 2.) how our efforts on the blogsphere have helped KIVA become so successful that they cannot keep up with the outpouring of help. But they are also bringing on the businesses in need of loans faster than ever, so jeep checking back. Congratulations to all who are making this such a success.

In this diary I want to reiterate the context in which KIVA works and how we also have to help that context. This will partly be a reiteration of diaries I have written before, explaining why I am calling for an "integrated" approach to development that we in the blogsphere can participate in. This is my vision of how you and I can change the world from the bottom up.

KIVA works to create small businesses in developing nations so that those small businesses can be the foundations of stable economies. But the areas that we are talking about are facing massive problems: considerable environmental degradation, lack of education, economic exploitation by the developed world, etc. And currently there is also massive famine. Within this negative context, I question the value of KIVA's approach. Can the small businesses they help survive long term within such a negative context?

The solution is not to give up. Nor is it to hope the UN and governments of developed nations will come to the rescue. The efforts of the UN and developed nations have mostly simply put developing nations deeper into debt and profited mainly big corporations. This is not to say that the UN and developed world have done nothing. But their approach has too often been inappropriate and ill timed resulting in debt and instability in the very nations they seek to help. I propose a grassroots approach where regular people like you and me help through small scale efforts to improve the context within which groups like KIVA operate. You and I, by pooling our efforts, can help the environment, the role of women, the education and the availability of food without having to hope that George Bush suddenly decides Africa is worth helping.

My proposal is this: a coordinated effort by the progressive blogsphere that will focus on several interconnected issues with a view towards REGIONAL and COMMUNITY based development. I have been proposing the target area of Uganda/Kenya/Tanzania (roughly the Rift Valley/Lakes region of East Africa) as a trial run for this idea because of the critical environmental issues, the presence of excellent groups like Kiva, and the fact that these nations are just stable enough have a chance for becoming actually prosperous if the immediate crises can be survived. In a later diary I will discuss, in the spirit of KIVA's expanded efforts, an expansion of my own proposal.

Here I cover ways we can help deal with the famine, environmental issues (including population control), women's rights, education and economic development (focusing on small businesses, the bedrock of any healthy economy). Pick your favorite issue and PLEASE act upon it in a big way. If we ACT, we will make a difference.

An outline of my proposal:

I. Dealing with the immediate famine: East Africa needs food. Now. That cannot be ignored. The scale of the famine is huge and so far is not being addressed by the international community anywhere near adequately. The only way they will get it is if human beings from all over the world, including us, help them out. You and I can start by helping to get East Africa food aid. A donation to Oxfam is probably the best thing you can do to help East Africa in its most immediate crisis.

II.Dealing with the environmental root causes of drought and famine: What are the root causes of this famine? People can point to several. But fundamentally there are some fundamental problems that quite simply trump all other root causes. Currently Africa is facing, simultaneously, a rapid decline of its fresh water lakes, a rapid decline in its forests, and a rapid increase in population. The combination creates an environmental situation that inevitably will lead to more and more droughts and hence to more and more famines. These environmental issues are on all levels the most important long-term issues that need to be addressed. No economic development plan, no food aid, no political changes from within can end African instability if these environmental crises are not addressed. These African environmental issues are also part of a global trend. The entire WORLD is facing a decline in fresh water sources, decline in forests and increased population and these trends are leading to wars, famines, and global warming.

Across the globe, one of the most destabilizing factors in any society's history, be it Japan or Haiti or Kenya, is deforestation. Sane forest management, after economic problems caused by deforestation, is one of the secrets of Japan's success. Bangladesh, on the other hand, faces an annual cycle of devastating floods followed by devastating droughts because of deforestation in the Himalayas. The theme of the devastating effects of deforestation and the benefits of forest management and reforestation recurs often in Jared Diamond's book Collapse though it is also obvious to anyone familiar with the problems of a nation like Bangladesh. Diamond simply argues it more formally and globally than I have heard before. And, of course, deforestation is also one of the factors contributing to global warming. One of the most important thing that any human being can do to help Africa as well as the world is to contribute to forest management and/or reforestation.

The NY Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has three programs trying to preserve the forests, lakes and wildlife of East Africa. Their focus is on BOTH the environment and the human populations in the area, integrating the economic and social needs of communities with the needs of the environment. One program focuses on preserving the entire regional environment in Albertine Rift region of Africa, mostly centered on Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. This is one of the most critically threatened regions of Africa's environment. Preservation of this region is critical for the economy and freshwater supply of the region, the ecotourism industry of the region, and for preservation of the world's forests as a buffer for global warming. I strongly urge a donation to the WCS Albertine Rift Program. A second program focues on the preserving the Uganda environment in particular. The third program focuses on preserving the entire habitat of the mountain gorilla, an effort that includes some of the East African environment that provides the watershed for the nations we are focusing on. I include this program partly because it covers some of the same environmental regions as the other two programs, but also because the preservation of the Mountain Gorilla is another of my pet projects. So this is an opportunity to urge people to help two of my pet projects: helping East Africa and saving the Mountain Gorilla.

Overpopulation is also a global problem, as many pointed out in the diary on Daily Kos discussing the politics of African famines. We are all familiar with Planned Parenthood, which addresses BOTH population issues and issues of women's reproductive rights and health. To those who view Africa's and the world's problems as primarily a population issue, Planned Parenthood's International organization will be of considerable interest to you. I also can recommend Engender Health, a wonderful group that deals with population issues within the general context of women's and children's health. But this concatenation of population and women's issues leads to my next section.

III. Women's Rights: One of the most important measures of development is the place of women in society. As a first approximation, women's rights go along with development. A more equal role of women in society seems to correlate well with improvements in health, education and prosperity. The equation is not simple, but women's rights are, in my view, an integral part of stable, sustainable development. Furthermore, in addition to access to family planning services (see above for International Planned Parenthood Federation for this), the best means for controlling population increase is through women's literacy and economic empowerment.

So, I want to highlight some groups in East Africa that are addressing women's rights. The Uganda Women's Network (UWONET) is an advocacy and lobbying coalition of National Women's NGOs, institutions and individuals in Uganda, founded in 1993. UWONET was born out of the East African Women's Conference held in Kampala in 1993. Their aim to "engender policies, laws and programmes, structures and processes in order to address the needs of both women and men leading to the achievement of gender equity and equality." In Tanzania, Kivulini Women's Rights Organization is a registered Non-Governmental Organization based in Mwanza, Tanzania. In Kiswahili, Kivulini means "in the shade." The word implies a place under the tree where people discuss and support each other.

IV. Education: Education is one of the most important aspect of any individual person's or any society's formula for success. In East Africa, education is not free. School fees prevent many individuals from getting even a basic education. Girls, in particular, are poorly served by education in Africa. You can help sponsor the secondary school education for a child in Kenya or Tanzania, though in this case you have to send a check to the Canadian Harambee Education Society. Find out more on their website.

V. Fair Trade Export Economy: In addition to small business that are the foundation of the local economy, we need to help the developing world enter the global economy not just as exploited victims, but as partners in fair trade. This movement is still in its infancy, and there are not many products that you can purchase from East Africa through fair trade. But there are some. Here are a handful of products you can purchase that are fair trade and will help the economy of East Africa:

Fair Trade Coffee from Ugaqnda. Most of us love coffee. Why not use your addiction to help out farmers in Uganda?

Fair Trade baskets from two companies in Uganda. Very beautiful looking items, if you are into baskets.

How about cool handicrafts from several companies in Kenya? All fair trade, these companies sell items like sculptures, jewelry and drums.

And there are a couple of handicrafts companies in Tanzania as well  selling fair trade items.

Finally, SERRV International has wonderful fair trade items from around the world, including many from East Africa. Baskets, coffee, tea, nuts, musical instruments, jewelry, etc. from cooperatives around the world. Great company!

Thank you to all who are joining me in making a difference.

Please join
Letitia James
City Council Representative
Bill Batson
Co-Chair Community Board 8 Fire Safety Committee
in a Benefit Performance for the
Arson Victims of the
1033 Pacific Street Fire

Featuring the music of Kakandé
Playing the powerful & beautiful melodies of West Africa
Famoro Dioubaté, traditional xylophonist from Guinea, music director
with Raul Rothblatt on cello

Wednesday March 15, 8pm
Dakar Restaurant
285 Grand Ave (between Lafayette & Clifton)
718-398-8900

Suggested donation: $15
Please donate what you can

Make checks payable to:
The Fofana Family Fund
Reference #800764350
Carver Federal Savings Bank
4 Hanson Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217

For more information, please call Council Member Letitia James
718-260-9191

It has been one of my little projects to develop within the blogsphere what I call an integrated approach to helping East Africa as a new vision for international development that can be applied anywhere the blogsphere wants to focus on. This approach was inspired by the wonderful efforts of KIVA, a microlending agency that connects small businesses with small investors like you and me. My intention has been to build on the idea of KIVA, creating an integrated context in which KIVA's efforts will be all the more effective. I will reiterate that contextual approach. But first, I think it is good to show just how successful our efforts can really be.

First off, KIVA has received a great deal of attention across the blogsphere. The result is that they have had the enviable problem of too much success. In the past month or so, they have three times had a batch of loans filled within 24 hours of posting them. I haven't plugged them for a while simply because they didn't seem to need my help. They have expanded the partners they work with (from one to five) and the number of countries they work in (more on that in a later diary) and yet they still cannot keep up with the willingness of people like you and me to help small businesses in developing nations.

For those who aren't familiar with how KIVA works, here's the deal:

Kiva's microlending directly connects small lenders (you and me) who can lend as little as $25, with small businesses who need small loans. Up until recently KIVA only worked in three nations in East Africa--Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Recently they have expanded to several other nations, but that will have to wait for a future diary. You get your money back within 6-18 months, though without interest. The business that KIVA works with have already gotten a boost from a partner agency and have shown some track record of success. For example, Kiva's first partner site, the Village Enterprise Fund, gives training and a small seed grant (usually about $100) to get a small business owner in East Africa started. Once a business that VEF has helped has shown promise, KIVA then helps that business get a loan (often around $500 worth, sometimes more, sometimes less) compiled from people like us to help that business expand. One way to help KIVA find more promising businesses to meet lender eagerness is to donate to Village Enterprise Fund so that they can help business at an earlier stage.

I have lent money to several KIVA businesses. The success of these businesses, helped by the loans I have participated in, is quite gratifying and shows how successful this approach can be. Let me give you three examples that I am proud to have been a part of.

1. Lakev Groceries is a small shop in Eregi, Kenya owned by Petronilla Shivachi, nicknamed "Betty" by her customers. She and her twin sister lost their father's land to neighbors because in Kenya girls cannot inherit land. They, due to lack of school fees, did not go to college, but rather married early. Petronilla was deserted by her husband and now is a single mother bringing up two children without any child support.

She started her business with assistance from VEF. After first establishing her small store, she received a $500 loan through KIVA. Petronilla used this loan to introduce new products to her store for which there is a demand but there had previously been little supply. Primarily she introduced new Mobile phone air cards. This new product brought in 70 new customers in 4 days! Her business has exploded thanks to the loan, bringing what appears to be a much-desired commodity to her town.

2. Fur Ber Fish is a fishmongering business in Tororo, Uganda owned by Penina Oburu. She received a grant in 2001 from VEF to start her small business and has gotten this business off the ground in a small, but successful way. She then received a $300 loan through KIVA, to hire a truck to go directly to Lake Victoria and buy fish for herself rather than having to go through a middleman.  Eliminating this middleman will allow her to sell her fish at a lower price.

With the KIVA loan Peninah Obure, has expanded her purchases of fish from 1-3 baskets to 10 - 18 baskets per day. This economy of scale allows her to sell more fish cheaper, at a profit of 45% as opposed to her previous 15%. She is also able to bring the fish closer to her customers, making their walk to get fish shorter. She uses her profits to support her family and to pay school fees (public education is NOT free in East Africa) and medical bills, and to buy clothes and bedding for her children.

3. Kuro Chiki Hotel is a restaurant (hotel means restaurant in Uganda), also in Tororo, Uganda, owned by Lovisa Asinde, a widow with five children. She started a small business baking pancakes, chapatti and mandazi with a donation of 100 dollars from Village Enterprise Fund in 2000. After receiving training in business skills from VEF, she decided to open a eating house in the local trading center. She received a $500 loan through KIVA to expand this eatery.

With that loan she bought a large amount of new kitchen equipment, hired new staff, and expanded her menu, allowing greater choice to her customers. She now serves around100 customers a day and makes about 80% profit. This allows her to buy new clothes for her children and to pay to send them to school.

You can imagine how gratifying it is to be a part of these women's successes. This is how an economy can be built in developing areas--through small businesses that slowly grow while serving their community. By loaning through KIVA or donating to KIVA or VEF, you can be a part of this process and help not only these small business owners, but their children as well.

KIVA and VEF (and KIVA's other partners) are doing wonderful work. But this cannot alone solve the problems of East Africa or any other part of the world. In my next diary on this topic I will once again discuss the education, environmental and economic context in which KIVA's efforts must exist and how we can help that context.