With the holidays approaching, I can’t help but notice one of my favorite sweets making an appearance in almost every store I visit. Chocolate is an indulgence most of us in America can’t consider living without. However, after joining the team at the international non-profit, United Aid for Africa, I was motivated to take a second look at how and at what cost, we get our chocolate.
Over the weekend the song These Days by UK pop group Take That made it to number one on the UK Official Singles Chart. So why is that good news? Because the song took the number one spot from Band Aid 30’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?
Do They Know It’s Christmas? was first released in 1984 to raise money for the famine in Ethiopia. It was re-recorded twice (first in 1989 and then again in 2004) to raise more money for famine relief. The latest version was released last month and has undoubtedly caused a lot of controversy as it aims to respond to the Ebola outbreaks in West Africa.
While the celebrities involved may have had good intentions, their delivery is shoddy and the result is a condescending attempt at charity. Do They Know It’s Christmas? portrays West Africa as a single, poverty-stricken country in peril. The sensationalist message the title, imagery, and lyrics send is that Westerners need to save Africa because it is a place of famine and disease without any joy or hope. The lyrics read:
There’s a world outside your window and it’s a world of dread and fear
Where a kiss of love can kill you
And there’s death in every tear
And the Christmas bells that ring there are the clanging chimes of doom
Well tonight we’re reaching out and touching you
Bring peace and joy this Christmas to West Africa
A song of hope where there’s no hope tonight
The lyrics alone are insulting and erroneous, but coupled with the video, the whole thing is so patronizing. I’m utterly appalled that the producers of the music video decided to show footage of a female Ebola patient being removed (practically dragged) out of her house as the opening scene. How is that okay? Did they get her consent? Was her family involved? Also, the lack of transparency around donations and proceeds is problematic. Money is being kept in the Band Aid Charitable Trust, but the website doesn’t provide any information on exactly how the money will be disbursed and used.
As someone who has suffered a heartbreaking personal loss to Ebola I support all awareness, aid, and relief efforts, but I cannot comprehend how this whole thing came together and I’m quite disappointed in all the celebrities involved. They had the potential to do much better. They could have used their fame and influence to create something like Africa Stop Ebola which provides accurate educational information and gives all proceeds to Medecins Sans Frontieres (an organization that has been on the front lines of the Ebola outbreaks since March). But then again, celebrities and development don’t usually mix well, right? Share your thoughts below.
P.S. – check out this Band Aid 30 spoof created by the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund
For better or worse, Ebola is becoming old news. Aside from the initial case in Dallas that was transmitted to two nurses, there have been no more cases here in the U.S., and panicked predictions of a massive outbreak causing mayhem and catastrophe never materialized (much like public health experts said they would not – funny how that works).
The outbreak in West Africa is ongoing and continues to be a tragedy on a massive scale that is losing public interest. We previously posted an article by Mary Anne Mercer on lost opportunities and the weaknesses in the healthcare systems that the outbreak has laid bare. Now, the MPH@GW blog has kindly provided an infographic on the outbreak and its collateral damage.
As Dale Carnegie once said, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” The importance of making meaningful connections, or networking, cannot be emphasized enough. However, many people mistakenly think that networking is simply to attend various meetings and hand out business cards. Networking is more than that; it is an art form. In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, Carnegie highlights several important networking skills we often tend to ignore, such as smiling, listening, asking questions, and saying a person’s name. These are the “soft” or interpersonal skills that need to be practiced and often reinforced. Knowing how to and being able to network can be the single most powerful way to develop one’s professional network, make connections with people who share similar interests, and build long-last friendship.
Continue reading “Students: The Importance of Making Meaningful Connections”
In the global health field, we generally understand that investing in health is critical for a nation to prosper. But would you consider a lack of investment in health to be a social injustice?
The United Nations’ Under Secretary-General Michel Sidibe thinks so. In this short interview with CCTV News, he talks about how the Ebola outbreaks in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have exposed global health failures and explains why health is an investment, not an expenditure.
Prior to watching his interview I’d never really labeled a weak health system as a social injustice in my mind. But health is a right and a shortage of health workers, the inability to provide basic health services, and lack of infrastructure – all of which have become very apparent in the Ebola outbreak – are in fact social injustices. So I think this is a very apt way to label the current situation as it puts a broader lens on the issues and ties everything into the bigger picture of the role of health in society.
His interview made me think of universal health coverage (UHC) because the definition of UHC requires social justice. It addresses the issues of access, equity, and capacity. I wonder if there will be an increased focus on moving towards UHC for the three Ebola-affected countries as part of their rebuilding efforts.
What do you think will be the biggest social justice issues coming out of the Ebola outbreaks? And how do you think we can best address them?
IH CONNECT 