Ilusate kodanike ühiskonnast Moldovas

Kodanike p2eva puhune artikkel Maailmakooli sarjast

Natalia Morari on ilus naine. Kahetsen kohe, et Riho Västrik oma dokkfilmi Moldova kodanikuühiskonnast 'Kommunistide juhtimisel Euroopasse' nii vara valmis tegi, et fotogeeniline Morari sellest oma hiljutise Twitteri-revolutsiooniga välja jäi. Kuid paar aastat tagasi, kui Västrik Moldovast kodanikuühiskonna algeid otsis, polnud Moldova kodanikuühiskonnal ka võimalik atraktiivsete kommunikatsiooni-tehnoloogiaid ja suhtevõrgustikke kasutavate aktivistidega uhkustada.

Siis polnud moldovlastel tegelikult üldse millegagi uhkustada: dialoog kodanike ja riigi vahel oli olematu. Mõned tarkpead muidugi põlastasid, et polnud ka kedagi tõsiselt võetavat, kes oleks kommunistidelt dialoogi rahvaga nõudnud. Nõrgad ja ärahirmutatud olid need kodanike-ühendused seal.

Natalia Morari oli üks neist, kes tõestas möödunud aprilli-valimiste aegu, et IT-ga on võimalik organiseerida rahumeelseid rahvakogunemisi suletud ühiskondade raputamiseks. Moldova saatus muutus enne valimisi temagi saatuseks – ta pidi otsustama, kas emigreeruda järgmiseks neljaks aastaks taas kodumaalt või võtta midagi ette. Selles suhtes oli tema ilu kaugelt rohkem kui pelgalt füüsiline.

Püüdis ju Moldova valitsus kõik võimalike suhtluskanaleid kontrollida – me näeme Västriku filmis, et peaminister pidas suure usklike hulgaga Moldovas isegi kirikukantslist poliitilisi kõnesid; riigi kontrolli all olevas ajakirjanduses said sõna vaid võimukommunistid; kallutatud kohtunikud viitasid vaikides Vorononi pildi poole seinal iga kord, kui meediaväljaanne tahtis end valitsuse omavoli eest kaitsta. Kuid internetti vanema põlvkonna kommunistid kontrollida ei osanud. Nad lihtsalt ei valda seda meediat!

Ajanihke tõttu ei saa Västrik filmida ka tuhandeid noori moldovlasi keskpõrandal koos valimisnimekirjadesse kantud surnud hingede vastu protesteerimas. Ning hoolimata väidetavalt Moldova politsei poolt provotseeritud vägivaldsusest ja meeleavaldajate represseerimisest ei läinud Moldova parlamendis läbi kommunistide esitatud presidendikandidaat ning põhiseaduse järgi tuli korraldada uued valimised. Kommunistid kaotasid augusti kordusvalimistel varasemaga võrreldes 12 kohta, mis ei lasnud neil enam valitsust moodustada. Voronin astus tagasi ja endine opositsioon moodustab valitsuse! Mõelge, see kõik algas mobiiltelefonidest, Twitterist ja Facebookist!

Eesti kodanikepäeval, 26. novembril võiks küsida, mis on meil kodanike-ühiskonna esimesi samme astuvast Moldovast? Me oleme ju, khm... palju etemad?

Tegelikult peegeldume Moldova pealt iseendale mingis mõttes tagasi – meilgi on kaudselt samad probleemid mis Moldoval. Võim võõrandub meiegi rahvast ja noored inimesed unistavad Eestis leviva kolkliku mentaliteedi eest lehvida maailma, kus on vabam hingata. Minu Eesti mõttetalgud ei saanud ju samuti osalejate hulka kõiki kodanikke, kes oleks pidanud ennast aktiivse osalejana tundma. Meie valimistel osaleb ju samuti vaid kuuskümmend protsenti kodanikest! Mis on ülejäänute vabandus?

Selles suhtes on elektroonilised vahendid (nagu Eesti e-valimised) tänuväärsed vahendid kodanike kaasamisel, kuid need pole siiski mitte kõikvõimsad. Ilusaid, aktiivseid inimesi on ka vaja. Ja seda Natalia Morari selle aasta alguses ka veenvalt tõestas: IT ilma inimesteta veel maailma ei muuda.

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Foto Twitteri-revolutsioonist on p2rit siit http://www.flickr.com/photos/creepysleepy/3429118253/

How to reduce poverty?

As soon as my kids start whining about the next cool toy they have to have, I immediately talk about the hunger of African children. It goes something like: "Do you think African children have a video game at the age of seven?“ Or: “Do you think African children have dessert without eating supper first?"

I have used the mythical "African children" as a personification of poverty so many times that one day I decided to bring one of these children into our home. My goal was to erase their stuff-centered perception of the world and show them that not all the children live like they do in the Glebe.

About one week later, a thick envelope arrived in my mailbox with two photos of small Brety. For only one dollar a day, we could support Brety and her poverty-stricken community through Plan Canada. The pretty three-year-old, with braided hair, lives in Kenya by the Victoria Lake. It is the very same community where the late father of U.S. president Barack Obama used to live. Brety belongs to a Luo tribe and lives in a house made of mud and sticks and a metal roof. They don’t have toilet and they carry water a distance of 2 or 4 kilometres, depending on the season.

According to the development organisation's letter about Brety, there is no well in her village. Many people live with AIDS and HIV. There is a shortage of nurses, doctors and teachers, as well as a lack of supplies for its medical centre and local school.

October 17 is the United Nations day of poverty reduction. But what is the best way of achieving this objective? Through personal donations like this, which sets up cute little African girls as the economic development engines for their villages? Or is it better to give government funds directly to African countries’ state budgets, so they can decide how do they spend the money?

In her book "Dead Aid”, Dambisa Moyo, a Western-educated economist from Zambia opposes donating money directly to African countries. She argues that this practice should be gradually stopped over the next five years, because, as she points out, those state budget-directed dollars lead to corruption, a culture of dependency and self-pity. Moyo says Africa should follow the example of China and India. These two nations have achieved almost 10 per cent economic growth annually by encouraging investments and creating a favourable business environment.

Moyo goes on to suggest that "Africa should service China in its need for natural resources!, adding that "Africans should grow vegetables for China, which has little arable land!"
Distrustful journalists ask the African scholar if this could result in Africa going through another and more painful expolitation. I imagine Chinese businessmen exchanging African riches for colourful glass beads, and I too am uncomfortable with this idea.

"Chinese are horrible exploiters! Never trust Chinese business people!“ exclaimed my Alliance Française French teacher from Congo whenever we talked about African development. A Finnish documentary about NOKIA suppliers’ factory in China called ‘Decent Factory’, illustrates the type of economic development that occurs a'la China, with its catastrophic environmental consequences, exploitation of working girls and abuse of human rights.

I wonder: What would bring more suffering to the little girls like Brety in Africa? An economic development plan run by Chinese businessmen or the current situation where poverty increases despite billion-dollar-development-aid?

Or maybe it would be better if Africans lived in an innocent poverty after all? In that type of, um… decent, museum-like idyllic pastoral lifestyle? Maybe they should enjoy their poverty as Dutch artist Renzo Martens cynically suggests in his documentary?

Throughout the film, he travels to African villages with a portable neon sign that reads "ENJOY please POVERTY", meaning that worse things could happen than poverty. Well, I hope there is a third solution to African poverty, aside from these two extremely poor choices. What about removing trade barriers for African goods and increasing the amount of fair trade we consume?