Browsing: Politics

People flee from violence in the Congo

During its years as Zaire and more recently as Congo, the people of this huge Central Africa republic have battled against many different types of adversity – everything from civil war to the eruption of Mount Nyiragongo that sent hot lava running through the streets of Goma. However, the new clashes between warring factions – once again on the streets of Goma – have led to thousands of people being displaced into temporary camps. Food is short. Water is contaminated. And there is the lurking nightmare that this might slip into a genocide reminiscent of horror that occurred just across the border in Rwanda during 1994.

While the international community decides whether it has the guts to intervene and prevent further violence and bloodshed, the aid agencies are rapidly deploying programmes of aid. To help fund those initiatives the Disaster Emergencies Committee (DEC) has launched a co-ordinated campaign to raise the much needed funds. For more information see our main story.

I posted my vote for you October 25, as one of more than a million Americans living abroad who voted in the Presidential election decided today in the early hours of the morning. Congratulations, we won! At my election party in Newcastle-upon-tyne, England, you had the united support of my British colleagues and my partner from Indiana, who also voted for you.

By any definition it was a record voter turnout, but an even bigger turnout could be counted at the parties and public gatherings like mine around the world, where the not-so-silent majority were rooting for you. True, you’ve won the vote of Americans, but the real landslide is that the world has voted for you. This is perhaps no more apparent than in the impoverished country of Kenya, where your relatives and supporters danced in the street to celebrate your victory – Kenya has even declared a national holiday in your honour.

People around the world feel you are part of them in some way be it a multiracial, multiethnic, or multinational dimension. Please make the most of the hopes and dreams of all of us who have voted for you and lead as President with the world’s collective interests in mind. For starters, America’s economy needs saving, but please don’t forget the critical need to expand Fair Trade with the poorest countries, including paying it forward to those same Kenyans who celebrate you. And you must challenge the world to end war, perhaps you could substitute a global green revolution in its place – I wouldn’t mind if we were all fighting for a more sustainable world.

Please do your best to make the dream a reality. We’re here to help.