Although I have never read any of the past winners of Canada Reads, I nevertheless made sure to tune in to Q this morning to see who this year's panelists and their books would be. I'm not surprised that I haven't read a single one of the five books put forward this year, but I hereby pledge to read at least two of them- the winner and one other.
What I have been reading is a book by the father of one of the panelists- Stephen Lewis' Race Against Time, which is the transcript of his Massey Lectures and deals with the Millennium Development Goals as pertain to Africa. Everyone should read this book, really, and then when you have time turn to the Canada Reads books. In a nutshell- the world is failing Africa.
There are a thousand appalling things in that book, but one figure I found interesting in a timely way is Africa's debt. The entire continent of Africa has a debt of $200 billion dollars (it was $240 billion but the international community canceled $40 billion. Thus far African nations have paid back $260 billion- mostly interest). $200 billion is not a lot of money- not when you consider the Americans were able to come up with over $700 billion to cover the asses of some incompetent bank managers (I know it's a little more complicated than that, but not by much). I hope the Obama era turns things around.
In the meantime here are some places you and I can go to donate some money to the cause of Africa, which is really the cause of humanity:
The Stephen Lewis Foundation- I especially like the "Give A Day" campaign- give a day's pay to help fight AIDS before World AIDS day on December 1. Less than a week to go!
Doctors Without Borders
Africa Action
Malaria No More