Feeding the 2000

FOOD RELIEF

The church is also doing a major food relief distribution which is wonderful. MCC gave money for food relief for 2000 people for the months of May, June, and July. People have been so touched and blessed by it. Due to a poor crop year with little rainfall, people in TZ, and Dodoma have been in severe danger of hunger this year. I talked to the guy who owns the huge business wearhouse where we bought the maize, and guess where the shipment came from? America via dar es salam. Until next month, there isn’t enough maize in TZ to order his shipments from. Although its wonderful that this grain is available to purchase from US markets to provide for people who are hungry here, I wonder. How exactly did this grain get here? Is it from the subsidized farmers in the US? Is it AID maize? Here we get all this money, 13 million from a US/Canadien NGO to buy this American maize in TZ. How does it all work out? I am still not sure exactly. 2000 people are less hungry, at the moment right now, and I am glad for that don’t get me wrong…but I wonder. What are the causes and long-term results of buying foreign grain and is it always necessary? Are there other ways to reduce the risks of hunger/drought? Is it just drought that makes hunger an inevitable issue, or are there other things? Are there other ways that would benefit people more? The price for maize and other food items has gone up greatly the last 6 months. Fortunately there has been some rain which has increased crop yield.

A lot of the questions are just speculative. I guess I am interested in knowing the price range of food how it fluctuates and how it depends on where the grain is from…all the factors. I am no wise economist (I could use a lot of help from some of you) but I do see the MAJOR role in the importance of knowing and managing economies. If Tanzania was not so poor and had less unemployment and those without economic livelihood, its people could survive better than depending on AID (that’s obvious). If people were better off, such fluctuations would not be a big deal. And then I also just continued to wonder, oh, is this some of the subsidized grain from the US that can afford to flood the world market at cheap prices which only hinder the buying and selling power of other less developed countries particularly in Africa in the long term? I just have some unanswered questions. Am I too skeptical?

Maybe all these questions seem silly. I can't help but wonder. But, I am glad for the opportunity the church had to give food to people and families who are really hungry right now. And people were very touched.

Before every distribution there was a short service where the pastor talked about where the food came from, that it was a gift of love and was given freely to people in the community with no strings attached. The food was given regardless of religion and it was stated that this was not a tactic to increase membership in our church or convert people. This was just to help people. Mzee Adam, our beloved Muslim elder/community member came multiple times to talk and address the audience sharing and encouraging good relationships among all members of the community adn helping one another. I love that guy. Some people were afraid or did not want to enter the church because they were Muslim. I remember hearing some older women chuckle as they walked by into the sanctuary that they had never stepped into a church before.