Cool in Every Way

From Nancy LeTourneau at Political Animal:

Here’s a cool story: Nigerian Student Converts a VW Beetle Into a $6,000 Wind- and Solar-Powered Car. But of course you’ll need a picture for that one.

QOTD: Ebola Epidemic

From the Nation:

“This isn’t a natural disaster,” international health crusader Paul Farmer told The Washington Post. “This is the terrorism of poverty.”

Twenty Years Ago This Month

I had completely forgotten.  Or rather, I turned away from remembering when the end of the genocide turned into a civil war, then a multi-nation war, then a massive refugee and humanitarian crisis that not just continues, but continues to get worse.

So read, and remember, and think about how easily enormous permanent wars begin.

Solemn commemorations marking the 20th anniversary of Rwanda's genocide on Monday bore reminders of a festering anger as a major diplomatic row broke out over allegations of France's complicity in the 1994 massacres.

The French ambassador to Kigali said he had been barred from the commemorations after Paris decided to cancel a ministerial visit in response to the renewed accusations by Rwandan President Paul Kagame.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo also told France that it had to face up to the "difficult truth" over its involvement in the murder of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis two decades ago.

Official mourning, which began three months ago with a flame of remembrance touring towns and villages across the small central African nation, culminates on Monday when the torch arrives at the national genocide memorial.

What Happens When People Make the Most of Today Instead of Waiting for Heaven

It's easy to find examples of religion directly causing harm to people and communities - xian freakazoids are oppressing women and gays wherever you look. It's a little more difficult to find examples of atheism bringing positive good into lives, mostly because non-believers don't proselytize.  

Rarer still is the place where both phenomena are happening at the same time.

It's happening in Ethiopia:

Northern Ethiopia is rugged and poor. It is a place where people mostly get by as subsistence farmers. The government and international organizations like the World Bank have tried and failed for years to improve the well-being of locals. But then, one village went and did it all on its own.

The community is called Awra Amba. About 500 people live here in simple wattle and daub houses, and they keep busy in a variety of money-making activities.

The village has a mill, where grain is crushed into flour. There is a textile factory, where villagers make clothes for themselves and to sell. You will also find a café, a tourist hostel, and two stores that cater to people from outside the village.

With all of these businesses, Awra Amba has managed to pull itself out of poverty. Compared with the rest of the region, the average income here is more than twice as high. Literacy rates are higher than in neighboring villages. Mortality rates are lower.

“Everyone here dreams of becoming more prosperous — that’s a big reason why our economy has grown faster than others,” says Zumra Nuru, who founded the village 40 years ago as a kind of utopian community. 

He says at the time, he was dissatisfied by the injustice he perceived in traditional Ethiopian culture and wanted to organize a society along more egalitarian lines. He also saw the community as a way to increase wealth.

“We use all our time for work and to improve our village,” he says.

One reason the people of Awra Amba are able to work so hard is that they do not follow organized religion.

In neighboring Christian and Muslim villages, residents respect the Sabbath and holidays. “They have quite frequent religious days, so on those days, they don’t go to [do] farming work,” says sociologist Ashenafi Alemu of Ethiopia’s University of Gondar. “But for Awra Amba, this is not the case. They work every day.”

The lack of religion is not the only competitive advantage for Awra Amba. The village invests a lot of energy in educating its children and diversifying its economy. It also embraces gender equality.  

You will see women here doing what is traditionally considered “men’s work,” like plowing, which effectively doubles the workforce.

But by ignoring the region’s customs, Awra Amba has found itself under attack. Neighboring communities view the residents as heretics.

“They threw a grenade right into the center of the village once, but luckily, no one was hurt,” says village founder Zumra Nuru. “They’ve tried shooting members of our village. They’ve sabotaged our harvest on occasion.”

Via Divine Irony

Quote of the Day

“You can give a woman anything—all the financial help or whatever—but she will still be in bondage until she is able to say: This is my body. I will have a child when I want to have a child. I’ll stop having children when I want to stop having children.”

Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, as quoted in The Nation.

Progressives Spreading Liberty in Malawi

In some places, a progressive succeeding a nasty-ass dictator uses the opportunity to strike off the chains of repression and set her people free.

Wonkette:

Malawi has come a Lilongwe in a short time. Last month, longtime autocrat Bingu wa Mutharika died at the ripe age of 78, leaving, gasp, a vacuum of leadership! Enter Joyce Banda. She’d been deposed from Mutharika’s government, yet Malawi’s Constitution called for her to become President. Next thing you know, she overturned the country’s colonial-era law forbidding homosexuality. Like she’d never even listened to the entire Book of Leviticus on Youtube!

Emboldened by Legalizing Gay, Banda went on a roll, repealing broad police powers of search and arrest and the ability of members of Cabinet to shut down newspapers. And there’s an added bonus on top of doing the right thing(s): $$$!

“Malawi is not a poor country but Malawians are poor,” the recently dead Mutharika was fond of saying. Banda’s moves have the UK about to give her country a bunch of money. According to the BBC, Malawi’s relations with donors have already improved thanks to Banda’s actions — and the British government, which had been extremely critical of Mutharika, is now urging other donors to restore funding as soon as possible.

Now everyone in the Great Lakes region of Africa will have rich, gay neighbors just like we do here in America!

In Malawi, not far from Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, things are getting fabulous! In America’s Heart of Darkness, the Deep South, we have Mississippi’s Andy Gipson, a man who has most definitely listened to the entire Book of Leviticus on Youtube! He’s all blah blah blah burnt offering sin offering, dunno go read it for yourself. IF YOU DARE!

Hey, millionaires: looking for an international investment opportunity? Call President Joyce Banda, Lilongwe, Malawi. I am sure she has some excellent ideas.

A Challenge to Africa

Steve Benen notes that President Obama continues to address the rest of the world with straightforward respect leavening blunt challenge.

President Obama challenged practically all of Africa today in a blunt and powerful speech to Ghana's parliament today.

SNIP

The "tough love" aspect of the speech was Obama urging his audience to take responsibility for the continent's future. He conceded the serious consequences of colonialism, "unnatural" borders written by outsiders that have bred division, and unbalanced trade practices.

SNIP

As with Cairo in June, Obama wasn't rebuking the continent or issuing condemnations, he was issuing a challenge and pointing towards the basis for new growth and new relationships.

It was also a reminder that this president, no matter where he is, doesn't talk down to his audiences, or shy away from nuanced or difficult ideas.

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Read the full transcript here.