Speaking of Economics

For Terry, these kids - and adults - will accept anything. They ask us for pens if they see we have one, or soda, doesn’t matter. Sometimes they’ll pull us aside and ask us to bring them some shoes. Some people do, especially those of us who are more religious and feel a bit of a higher need to help out. Of course giving has its complications. You won't be left alone and there are security issues too.

So, here’s some basic economics. One of the main business ventures in this country is farming. People are also starving for any number of reasons. For one thing, growing crops is not enough. One must have the infrastructure to get the goods from farm to market to the people. Roads are hard to come by. Refrigeration is hard to come by especially since electricity is scarce. Many, many districts do not even have 24 hour electricity if they have it at all. Getting crops to the consumer is not too easy. In cases like these, rich countries and people, kind of like us, send all kinds of aid. We typically send food, which we did in this case … lots of it. What did that do to the farmer? It put him (and his family) out of what little business he had. So what is a farmer to do with the field and equipment now? One thing a farmer with poor soil and very little water can grow is poppy. Opiates, narcotics, heroin come from poppy. Multiple choice test: what is the number one export of this country? A) narcotics B) automobiles C) computers D) nanotechnology-based equipment. Narcotics make up an unreal amount of the economy here, look it up. If we try to stop the trafficking, what are we doing to an already poor country? If we let it occur, what are we doing? The story is more complex and sadder than this, but we would have to move away from the economic issues a bit to ‘splain.

I spoke with Aaron, Stacey, and Sami on Skype as best we could. Aaron points to the computer to talk to Daddy. He doesn’t talk too much to me, but he smiles. He was “cooking” something with his spoon and cup and he tried to feed me some in the computer screen. I hear he is doing well at home from everyone including two important friends he has – Alyssa and Kerri.

Happy Saint Patrick’s day to all. I’m not drinking, but I am certain the Irish here are celebrating. I think they started this morning. That’s all from this side of the world for now.