Agreed. Off topic slightly, but I travelled to Sri Lanka when I was a kid. The poverty there was shocking to behold, once one travelled beyond the obvious tourist-y hotspots. Kids would chase our Landrover through the hairpin bends, begging for sweets and some coins. I am dismayed at what the IMF has imposed on them via the ESGs - not using fertilizers, indeed. Go organic! they said.
Most of the country is covered in tea plantations, where the workers make enough money to buy food for the day. Most families keep gardens to supplement their food, and only need to buy staples. Those staple grains are imported, however, and that has been stopped because the country is in debt. But, not allowing fertilizers is beggaring those tea pickers and home gardeners, because there is now less tea to pick, and fewer food crops in the gardens.
I hope that India will step in, but it is politically hard to do, because Sri Lanka is independent from India, and views them with suspicion. Why did they get sucked in by the IMF though? It is a conundrum I must occasionally dwell upon, but I cannot find answers.
It breaks my heart to see such poverty. The West have a lot to answer for and I really do think the tide is turning for the BRICS nations. On here once, I retold a picture I had seen of a little Ethiopian child (looked like a toddler) but she was crawling to an aid station further up the road. There were vultures waiting for her death. I commented on how evil the photographer was to not help her and get her to the station. This guy says. ‘He was a professional and to interfere would distract from the photo he was trying capturing’. I couldn’t believe it and told him so. I had to stop and take time to realise that evil people surround us. No compassion for this tiny little helpless child. He only saw the $ of what the picture would bring, but I could only imagine the pain of that little one as the vultures attacked. It still bothers me to think about it. That same evil spirit exists in the world today as our precious gifts from God are used and abused for one hand pleasure. 🙏🏼For our children.
Agreed. Off topic slightly, but I travelled to Sri Lanka when I was a kid. The poverty there was shocking to behold, once one travelled beyond the obvious tourist-y hotspots. Kids would chase our Landrover through the hairpin bends, begging for sweets and some coins. I am dismayed at what the IMF has imposed on them via the ESGs - not using fertilizers, indeed. Go organic! they said.
Most of the country is covered in tea plantations, where the workers make enough money to buy food for the day. Most families keep gardens to supplement their food, and only need to buy staples. Those staple grains are imported, however, and that has been stopped because the country is in debt. But, not allowing fertilizers is beggaring those tea pickers and home gardeners, because there is now less tea to pick, and fewer food crops in the gardens.
I hope that India will step in, but it is politically hard to do, because Sri Lanka is independent from India, and views them with suspicion. Why did they get sucked in by the IMF though? It is a conundrum I must occasionally dwell upon, but I cannot find answers.
It breaks my heart to see such poverty. The West have a lot to answer for and I really do think the tide is turning for the BRICS nations. On here once, I retold a picture I had seen of a little Ethiopian child (looked like a toddler) but she was crawling to an aid station further up the road. There were vultures waiting for her death. I commented on how evil the photographer was to not help her and get her to the station. This guy says. ‘He was a professional and to interfere would distract from the photo he was trying capturing’. I couldn’t believe it and told him so. I had to stop and take time to realise that evil people surround us. No compassion for this tiny little helpless child. He only saw the $ of what the picture would bring, but I could only imagine the pain of that little one as the vultures attacked. It still bothers me to think about it. That same evil spirit exists in the world today as our precious gifts from God are used and abused for one hand pleasure. 🙏🏼For our children.
I know the picture you are talking about. I read that the photographer killed himself afterwards — not sure how much of that is true.