Out of Africa

No I don’t mean the stupendously wonderful 1985 film starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford; I’m talking about three important stories that have come out of Africa in the past few days. While I am aware of the recent news out of Nigeria with the military being accused of war crimes I am not going to cover that in this post, I will cover that later however in a more encompassing look at war crimes.  I volunteer with a respite program for special needs kids and their siblings. At the end of the night when their parents return to pick them up we practice what we call the Oreo theory. What’s the Oreo theory? It’s simple, you start with something good, slide in something not so good and finish on something good.

So now our first good out of Uganda. In February, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law an anti-homosexuality act that went into effect in March. Members of the LGBT community in Uganda have long suffered from discrimination and the new act only made things worse, with many of them fleeing the country under threat of their life and loss of their income. Sadly, the message of homophobia is often preached from the pulpit and homosexuals are portrayed in an almost demon-like manner (clearly the love thy neighbor and do unto others message has been missed here). However, on Friday, August 1, Parliament overturned the law on a technicality stating that when the act was passed Parliament did not have the required quorum to make the vote legal. Now it remains to be seen whether or not the bill is reintroduced into Parliament for another vote but for the time being this is a small victory for the LGBT community in Uganda.

Now for the not so good. West Africa is experiencing one of the worst Ebola outbreaks in history with more than 1,600 people diagnosed and almost 900 deaths. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 90% of patients that contract Ebola die. Ebola first appeared in 1976 and since that time outbreaks, of varying intensity, have occurred from time to time. While the outbreaks are typically reported as a quick blurb on the evening news something has changed in recent weeks. Why is that? First, one of the leading doctors fighting the disease, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, contracted the disease and died. Second, two Americans, Dr. Kent Brantly and a missionary named Nancy Writebol were infected with the disease. Both Americans have been flown to the United States for treatment and an experimental drug has seen some very promising results. So why am I calling this something not so good? It’s simple, I predict that by the end of 2015 if not sooner there will be a vaccine for Ebola, or this experimental drug will be readily available to West Africans and the world. All it took was two, white, Americans to contract the disease to save thousands of others. If you don’t think that race plays a part in the decisions of major corporations you would be badly mistaken.

And for our last good. For months the world was riveted by the plight of Sudanese Doctor and Christian Meriam Ibrahim who was sentenced to death- for the straight out of Genesis archaic law of apostasy – which means to renounce your religion. Meriam gave birth to her daughter shackled to the floor awaiting her execution. I signed every petition that Amnesty International sent my way with every email address I have. It’s against international law to execute a pregnant woman or a woman who is nursing. The UN Declaration of Human Rights also protects a person’s right to practice the religion of their choosing. Meriam is marred to a Sudanese-American and they now have two children. After intense international pressure she was released from prison only to be rearrested by the Agents of Fear when she and her family were trying to leave Sudan. After intense negotiations between the Italian and Sudanese governments Meriam and her family were finally allowed to leave – stopping in Rome to meet Pope Francis – before finally arriving last week in Manchester, NH. Despite the fact that her case was a serious misstep in US foreign policy – everyone knew the danger she was in and she should have been taken immediately to the US embassy and sent to America – this story has a happy ending. Not only are Meriam and her family free but her story goes to show that ordinary people all over the wolrd signing petitions and taking action really can make a difference even if it is for one person.

The Talmud (or the ending of Schindler’s List) says it best: And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.