SAY
IT LOUD- (An open letter to Mrs. Cherie Blair,
wife of PM Tony Blair)
With the
G8 summit drawing near we hear of more events,
campaigns, demonstrations and programmes scheduled to
draw attention to the plight of the world's poor -
Africa as usual in the limelight.
All
of these efforts, Live 8 concerts, Drop-The-Dept
Campaigns and Make Poverty History drives are indeed
good-intentioned programmes to bring pressure to bear
on those with the wealth, power, political might and
diplomatic stance to make the difference we want to
see.
British PM Tony Blair has been in the fore-front of
the fight against eradication/cancellation of
poverty/debt, or at least, eradication of some of the
causes of poverty and indebtedness.
To
this he deserves our kudos, the 'big-up' from all poor
countries the world over especially
Africa
!
Now,
he's got to prove what he's been saying all the time.
He has the opportunity to make sincere the
words of his cry.
In
less than a month from today, the most influential,
richest, and powerful world leaders will gather
in Gleneagles in Scotland for their usual 'big
man talk'. This year round Tony Blair chairs the
meeting on July 6. He wants them to think a little
deeper about the state of the world's poor especially
Africa
but some of those he is meeting could be a bit
stubborn. He knows that if he gets his close ally,
President Bush to see with him they could get the rest
to follow suit. And so he's been to see his Texan mate
but things do not look all that rosy.
I
might be wrong but I kind of entertain this fear that
Mr. Bush might even harden the soft spot the PM has
for
Africa
.
Bearing
this in mind, I have decided to appeal on behalf of
the good of my dear
Africa
to the wife of the PM, Cherie Blair, to wake his
husband at dawn and put in a pillow talk for us. I
also want her to call on all the wives of the
participating leaders to do the same for I believe
that the key to every man's heart is through his wife.
If you are a married man reading this, you should
understand my point better.
Again,
if you support what I am about to say to Mrs. Cherie
Blair, then cut it out and post it to her at the
address I will give at the end of my piece. I believe
that the more she gets this the more chance we have of
her waking the PM up at dawn and also stirring the
wives of other world leaders into action for
compassion.
Dear
Mrs. Cherie Blair,
Behind
every successful man, they say, there is a strong
woman. I believe
in your strength as a good wife, mother, counsel,
friend and a Godly woman. However, the success of your
husband, PM Tony Blair in his drive to help
Africa
from its nagging socio-economic problems now rests on
you.
As
a matter of fact, I believe that the good deeds of
every husband are as a result of the advice and
counsel he receives from a good and thoughtful wife.
Now,
there is another opportunity for you to make a success
story of your dear husband again. It is also an
opportunity for you to prod and prick the good
intensions of your fellow G8 wives for humanity and
also for the good of their own names. Think of how
beautiful the world would be if as a result of your
actions this batch of G8 leaders agrees to do
something magnificent for the world's poor instead of
half-baked promises.
On
behalf of my dear continent
Africa
, I call on you as the only person on earth now who
can actually stir and spare that sincere part of your
husband's heart for the good of my people.
Your
husband Tony Blair has already shown the willingness
to
help
Africa
. However, his alone, it is evidently clear cannot go
far
unless it is linked to the general good will of his
fellow G8 leaders. This is where you need to lobby
their wives to sweet-talk their husbands into good and
selfless actions. For humanity sake, this could be
done.
As
for me, I could thank your husband and the good people
of your country for the chances and opportunities I
may have here to change my life forever. However, the
great sufferings of my people back home make me numb
to appreciate. Their pain causes me anger. Their
hunger makes me frustrated. Their illnesses weaken my
soul and spirit. Their destitution haunts me day and
night. I walk daily on this free and glamorous land
and still heave heavily from worries because I am
burdened with the effects, ghoulish flashes and
nightmares of my people strangled in the man-made
chains of poverty. Although, my
Africa
is where the sun shines even through rain, all I dream
and see is in darkness. Their mourning, cries, and
wailings are the only things that flash light in my
dreams.
Although
I may walk on the land of endless opportunity, the
land that some say it flows with milk and honey, I
still cannot see them because I am blinded by the
horrific images of my people in Africa dying daily of
diseases that cannot even kill the weakest of plants
here in the west.
Dear
Cherie, trust me, children are really suffering in
Africa
. They are dying like plagued chicken. Every three
seconds see a child die of hunger, thirst and common
illnesses that can easily be cured if you would pay
more attention this time.
Mrs.
Blair, when a child dies amongst my people now some
say it is a great relieve. Why? This is because all
hope is gone away, probably to where the child goes
too.
I
am hurting all the time, Mrs. Blair. I cry but tears
do not flow because of anger and fear.
Over
here in your country, now, whenever I see children,
old people, and orphans, disabled and sick people my
pain increases. Unfortunately, their joys remind me so
much of the sorrows of their kind on my continent.
Whenever I have seen children of the west on
television and in the press always looking happy,
cheerful, well educated, healthy and by all means and
standard well fed, this fills me, instead, with
sadness. How many of such images do I see of my own
people? How many of such images do you see in your
media? Unfortunately, our horror stories are the most
interesting for your media.
Flies
on their emaciated bodies, a rusty cup in hand
begging, tattered-clad and rat-chasing, children in
Africa
have been shown in various forms to your world by
either self-glorifying 'charities' or people who do
not understand our problems better.
Now,
Dear Mrs. Cherie Blair let me tell you a story. There
is a woman about your age in
Africa
called Hope. Her husband, Hustler died of HIV/Aids
recently, leaving her with some seven children to look
after. The youngest is just two years old. When
Hustler was down with the killer disease they had to
sell almost everything they owned to buy brand name
HIV/Aids medicine at dear prices. As it were,
Africa
would not be let alone to produce generic types of the
medicines they wanted badly.
So
when he died he left his children nothing but for Hope
and posterity. Hope struggled day and night to cater
for her children even though she is also getting
weaker with her affliction. After a while she was made
redundant from her work because it had be privatized
and sold on to some big international investor as part
of the government's Structural Adjustment Programme.
Well, you could also say that she was sacked because
of the perception and stigma attached to HIV sufferers
in
Africa
.
Her
eldest child who had completed university and could
work to support them was unemployed. So when the going
got tough, Hope decided to 'play' a little on the side
to get some livelihood for her babies. Know what
happened? Her
children lost respect for her and became delinquents.
She not only passed on her HIV/Aids to the men she
played with but indirectly to the girlfriends and
wives of these 'ramblers'.
It
got to a time that part of the whole town was shut
down to economic activity because of the cyclical
transmission of the deadly disease right from Hustler.
Government has to chip in for everything because this
town is dormant. No income for dwellers, no revenue
for the government. Hence, it has to borrow but from
where? This is where the ugliness of poverty begun in
that town, hence district, hence country, hence
continent.
The
'medicine man' IMF came in and prescribed Paracetamol
for what an antibiotics could do. So the country
suffers in perpetuity. Every bad thing seems to go
worst in Hope's country.
(Please,
hang on a second, Mrs. Blair; I have got to answer my
telephone. It is ringing.)
(Oh,
I am back dear Cherie.)
….
Hmmm! Talk about the devil. Sad story! I have just
being told by a caller from
Africa
that Hope is dead.
See,
Mrs. Blair, now there is no hope in
Africa
. All that Hustler has left for his children in
Africa
is gone. His two-year old girl has no Hope again
neither are the rest of the kids. As for the
delinquent elder brother he is already a nightmare.
Now, they are all orphans and have to fend for
themselves. The family unit is broken down. There is
neither hope nor love again. I bet you those who can
cause trouble could now be rebels in a civil war,
y'know? I am afraid that the girls might also 'play
around' as prostitutes. Now, tell me are these the
effects of poverty or the other way round?
Dear
Cherie, what do you think would become of the poor
two-year old? No future at all is an understatement.
As for the delinquent elder brother, I know for sure
that he will try and end up here in your country
because it always is the ultimate. Isn't it, Madame?
Do you want him here at all? I bet you have no choice.
And so whenever and however he manages his way to this
country, woe betides you because he is already trouble
with a capital T. End of Story!
Madame,
unfortunately, this is how things have got in most
part of the poor worlds. My purpose, again, of writing
to you is:
1.
Please, understand that the problems of
Africa
are not hearsay, imaginary or rhetoric
2.
That real empathy is what is needed to fully
appreciate how people suffer in
Africa
3.
That such empathy should be translated in
humane solutions and resolutions devoid of political
or diplomatic hindrances
4.
And that you, the women behind these great
world leaders could influence your husbands to think
of our situation from humanity point of view rather
than some serio-comic political and diplomatic view
point. Real people are suffering remember.
Dear
Mrs. Blair, if you agree with me that partial promises
could not give back the two-year old her hope of a
brighter future please act now. Call your fellow wives
of heads of states and impress upon them the need to
soften the hearts of their
men.
I
rest my case.
Yours
truly,
BAM
Benn
Ackah-Mensah
(Ghanaian Journalist)
NB:Readers,
if you agree with me please cut this letter out, sign
your name in support and post it to the wife of the PM
using the address below:
Mrs.
Cherie Blair
10 Downing Street
London
SWIA 2AA
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