Spectateur du Monde

Man is a social being, but in the last decades this idea seems to have little meaning. In the Western societies, individuals are more concerned about their needs and ways of improving their lives, even if that can negative affect others. Their existence is determined by the clothes they wear, the restaurants they go or the car that they have. It is only a question of appearance and not of being.
However, in the other side of the world, people are struggling to have a piece of bread on the table or a roof where they can put their heads. Sometimes these images enter in our house, through the magic screen, while we are seated at the table. Then, we loose our appetite or we just decide to turn off the television trying to pretend that is not our business. We are just sick of the same problems in the developing world (hunger, wars, diseases) and, by the way, where is that?
We feel that we live in different dimensions, in separate worlds, but it is not true. Of course our living standards are completely different and maybe that is why we tend to forget that we are interconnected. In other words, our actions, good or bad, can have a deep impact to the ones that live in the other part of the world. For example, many of the recent so called “natural disasters” had man’s hand involved. It is predicted that more floods, draughts and earthquakes will occur due to climate change. In 2004, the global insurance Swiss Re reported that “there is a danger that human intervention will accelerate and intensify natural climate changes to such point that it will become impossible to adapt our socio-economic systems in time”.
If nothing is done, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that there could be 150 million climate refugees, by 2050. UN scientists believe that, by 2025, droughts will mean that five billion individuals (two out of three people) will lack sufficient water and millions will starve and, by 2080, 290 million people will be at risk from Malaria.
The developing countries are particularly vulnerable and unprepared to deal with these disasters. According to the Natural Catastrophes and Developing Countries Project, from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria), less than 2% of the costs of catastrophes are covered by any kind of insurance compared with 50% in the United States. In other words, the poor countries don’t have enough internal resources to meet the demand for reconstruction.
The lack of opportunities in the Third World is one of the main causes of illegal immigration, for example, from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea, especially via the Strait of Gibraltar . Europe is seen as the land of dreams (due to higher wages and better living standards) and that is why many individuals are willing to risk their lives to reach that continent. In October 2005, dozens of Sub-Saharan emigrants died trying to bypass the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta. What happened was that Morocco's authorities expelled them, leaving hundreds in the desert, without water or food. A clear violation of human rights, criticized by Europe, but forgotten with time. If the Western politicians gave more support to the developing countries, instead of scratching their heads in the parliament, situations like this one could perhaps have been avoided.
However, many can argue that is up to each country to develop itself and find solutions for its problems. In theory it is true because it is only when people are together facing their unique challenges and disadvantages that they can give enough value to the things they achieved and also feel they are a part of a nation, in the sense of having an identity. However, they need things that for us in the West are basic like food, clean water, medication, education and democratic governments. So, the help they need is more than a question of giving money once in a while or forgiving their depth. If it was only about that we would enter in a vicious circle of them spending and us trying to cover the holes. It is about thinking in a sustainable way: not simply giving them the spade, but teaching them how to dig. That is how we can give them wings to fly.
In conclusion, from my point of view the developed countries have a moral obligation to help the ones in need. I am talking about moral which is something very subjective, but we can´t be indifferent to other people´s suffering. Closing our eyes will not hide the problem. By doing that we are dismissing ourselves of our condition as human beings. It is time to show that the term “globalisation” is more than opening borders for trade. It is about having the same opportunities.

After travelling for almost 17 hours, loosing Peter on the way and not having much sleep, we arrived to Lindersvold, Denmark, where the Development Conference was going to take place. It was around 8 o’clock and we were tired, but we had a nice meal waiting for us. We chat for a while and, as time was running, we decided to go to bed because we had to wake up early next day.
On Saturday all the schools from Denmark and DRH Norway had breakfast together. I had the opportunity to talk with some of the people with whom I spend 4 months in England, doing GAIA. It was good to see them again! After a while we all went to the conference room. Tina Whittington, the headmaster from Holsted, introduced us to this year’s theme “Necessities facing solidary humanists in the 21st century”.
After that we were organised in groups to discuss the changes we need to promote in the world. I was the team leader of the Mozambique group and I was quite surprised because they were very pro-active. So, we concluded that everyone should have access to food and clean water, education, medication and the same rights as human beings.
In the afternoon, it was time to hear presentations from the different groups about the most important issues in the world. For example, our school had the theme “Peace and Security” and we gave the example of Angola.
After dinner, we had a guest speaker. His name is Jan Oberg, from the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, and he talked about “The challenges and possibilities facing the world and its people in the 21st century”. He spoke about the USA foreign policy and the invasion of Iraq, despite the opposition of the United Nations. That is why he thinks that USA empire is ending as it as the conditions mentioned by the economic historian Arnold Toynbee for civilizations to fall.
On Sunday we started the day talking about Humana People to People, its charter and its projects. After that we discussed in the groups the most important qualities a DI should have (patient, persistent, hard working, flexible, solution finder and so on). In the end of the morning it was time to talk about HIV (facts and figures) and the TCE (Total Control of Epidemic). For that we had two guests that visited the project in Zimbabwe.
After lunch we talked about how a DI can take part in the fight against HIV and then it was time to prepare our TCE Action that it was going to take place on Monday. In the case of my group, we did posters, prepared a couple of songs and also a short play.
In the evening it was time to relax. So, we all gathered in the dining room to drink coffee/tea and sing.
On Monday morning each group went to a different city. The goal was to collect 60000 kronas, more or less, but it was raining a lot and many people didn’t stop. After dinner the results were announced. We reached half the goal, but if we think that 1 dollar is enough for a person to have access to this program for a year, then it is quite ok.
The Development Conference finished and it was time to say goodbye. However, it took us almost 24 hours to arrive to our school, due to a small incident (our bus lost two wheels on the way to Copenhagen) and also because we waited seven hours in Oslo.
In the end, I think that the highlight of this conference was the speech from Jan Oberg that was able to catch everyone’s attention and made us think more widely. Besides that, I was happy to see some of my friends and to know how everything is going on. Who knows when am I going to be with them again? The future is a question mark for all of us, so it is good to be able to enjoy some time with the ones that shared with us moments of joy and also frustration during this program.